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Basic Concepts in
Translation
Amin Marzban
Peyman Nouraey
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Basic Concepts in Translation
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:1000
:-1390
5-00-6366-600-978 : (ISBN)
:43000
.
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:1359-
Marzban, Amin
Basic Concepts in Translation/ Amin Marzban, Peyman Nouraey. :
: :1390=2011.
:164.
43000 978- 600- 6366- 00- 5 :(ISBN) :
:.
:
:1365- Nouraey, Peyman :
P :139094/306 :02/418
:2454480
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Contents
List of figures i
Acknowledgements ii
List of abbreviations iii
Introduction iv
About the authors vi
1 Theories 1
1.1 What is translation? 3
1.2 Types of translation 4
1.3 The history of translation 6
1.4 What is Translation Studies? 7
1.5 The Holmes/Toury “map” 7
1.6 The methods of translation 11
1.7 Introducing the methods 12
1.8 Other methods 20
1.9 Exercises 22
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2 Applications 27
2.0 Introduction 29
2.1 Steps in translation project 29
2.2 Exercises 40
3 Unit of Translation and Equivalence 45
3.0 Introduction 47
3.1 Unit of Translation 47
3.2 Nida and equivalence 48
3.3 Koller and equivalence 49
3.4 Problems in finding lexical equivalence 51
3.5 Exercises 54
4 Translation “shift” 59
4.0 Introduction 61
4.1 Catford’s translation “shifts” 61
4.2 Vinay and Darbelnet’s model 65
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4.3 Exercises 71
5 How to Be a Good Translator 75
5.0 Introduction 77
5.1 The features of a good translation 77
5.2 Exercises 82
6 Translation Practice 83
Glossary 128
Bibliography 143
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i
List of figures
1.1 Translation 3
1.2 Intersemiotic translation 5
1.3 Types of translation 6
1.4 Holmes’ “map” of Translation Studies 8
1.5 The applied branch of Translation Studies 11
1.6 The flattened V diagram of translation
emphasis 12
2.1 Steps in a translation project 30
4.1 Catford’s translation shifts 62
4.2 Vinay and Darbelnet’s model 70
5.1 Dolet’s “principles” for a good translation 78
5.2 Tytler’s “rules” for a good translation 79
5.3 Nida’s four basic “requirements” for a good
translation 81
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ii
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to appreciate thefollowing copyright holders who kindly allowed us to
use their work in this publication (in order of the
alphabet):
Ali Afshar, M.A in Dramatic Arts
Asadollah Eftekhar, active author in poetry
Aziz Shabani, Ph.D. in Persian Literature
Eric Ode, American poet
Edite Kroll, head of Edite Kroll Literary Agency INC., for the
permission of the poems by Shel Silverstein
Farzaneh Farahzad, Ph.D., faculty member at Allame
Tabatabaee University
Nezamadin Moqadassi, active author in the realm of
Persian literature
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iii
List of abbreviations
4T’s Text, Target, Team, Tools
DTS Descriptive Translation Studies
L1 Language 1
L2 Language 2
SL Source Language
ST Source Text
TL Target Language
TT Target Text
UT Unit of Translation
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iv
Introduction
There are various books written on differentaspects of translation. Lots of such books are being
taught in different universities around the country, some
of which seem to have put learners into difficulty,
though. One of the problems we have long faced in our
translation methodology classes is that students who get
familiar with the theories and methods of translation are
not commonly asked to put theory into practice or there
would not be a chance to do so; namely, the application
of such theories in real language tasks is mostly
neglected. Another persistent problem is that the type of
language some of the books use to convey information is
too difficult to understand for many university level
Translation students. The available textbooks containexamples, often presented in French, Spanish and many
other languages, which are usually incomprehensible for
Persian EFL learners. Regarding translation courses, too,
what most instructors commonly do is to have the
students translate English texts into Persian, which is not
technically recommended to act as the main job in such
courses. Nevertheless, translating from Persian into
English is what most Iranian Translation students are not
able to do or interested in because of the lack of practice
or non-applicable frameworks and lexicon.
The present work is thus assumed to have
incorporated beneficial issues regarding theory and
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v
practice in most essential translation issues in an easily
understandable language for Iranian EFL undergraduate
and postgraduate students along with M.A entrance
exam candidates.
There are a number of issues which make this
publication different from similar ones in the same field
including:
1. An effort has been made to focus on thetranslation of Persian texts, rather than the
English ones.
2. After introducing each item, students will dealwith some useful Persian examples, so that the
item in question would be better understood.
3. The authors have tried to explain the items in thesimplest and most comprehensible language
possible. Many well-known theories and models
are thus rephrased.
4. The practical perspectives of translation have been put into consideration through the
translation tasks presented at the end of the book.
5. The texts are presented for translation with the permission of the original authors; except for thecases that the author is deceased.
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vi
About the authors
Dr. Amin Marzban is a faculty member in Applied Linguistics. He has been teaching English to
major and non-major students at various levels in
several academic contexts and works as the president
and founder of Shamim Arghavan Language Academy
and Shamim Danesh International Student Recruitment
Center. He has continuously published in well-known
international journals such as Asian EFL Journal,
Linguistics Journal, Iranian EFL Journal, JLLS, and
Canadian ELT Journal and has been the author of a few
bestselling textbooks available on the market.
Peyman Nouraey is currently an M.A candidatein English Language Translation and an English
instructor at well-known centers in Shiraz such as Iran
Language Institute (ILI) and Shamim Arghavan
Language Academy. He has never ceased to impress his
students and colleagues with his charming taste of art
and language. He has also proved to be research
oriented by working enthusiastically on several projects
as in the present textbook.
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1
Theories
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THEORIES 3
ST in SL translation TT in TL
1.1 What is translation?
The term translation refers to the act of translator changing an original written text in the original verbal
language into a written text in a different verbal
language (Munday, 2001, p.5). The original text is called
the Source Text (ST), while the other text is referred to
as the Target Text (TT). Likewise, the original verbal
language is called the Source Language (SL), while the
latter verbal language is called the Target Language
(TL). Figure 1.1
Translation
Although the act of changing the original verbal
language (L1) into the target language (L2) is referred to
as interpretation, the main focus of this book will be
translation, as defined above.
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4 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
1.2 Types of translation Czech structuralist Roman Jakobson in his paper
“On Linguistic Aspects of Translation” (as cited in
Munday, 2001, p.5), defines three main types of
translation, which the above mentioned involves the
second one:
1.2.1 Intralingual translation, or “rewording”: “an
interpretation of verbal signs by means of other signs of the same language.” Intralingual translation is the act of
rephrasing or paraphrasing a text in the source language
in order to explain or clarify the text:
Pass away: to die
To add insult to injury: to make one‟s relationship withsb. even worse by offending them as well as
actually harming them
“Look out!”: be careful!
1.2.2 Interlingual translation, or “translationproper”: “an interpretation of verbal signs by means of
some other language.” The main focus of this book will
be on interlingual translation, which is the act of
translating from SL into TL:
Pass away
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THEORIES 5
To add insult to injury
“Look out!” !
1.2.3 Intersemiotic translation, or “transmutation”:
“an interpretation of verbal signs by means of signs of
non-verbal sign systems.” Intersemiotic translation
involves translating a written text into a non-verbal
language (e.g. film, painting, music, etc.), vice versa.
Figure 1.2
Intersemiotic translation
The following figure shows different types of
translation according to Jakobson:
Intersemiotic
translation
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6 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
Translation
translation(written)
intralingual
translation
interlingual
translation
intersemiotic
translation
interpretation(oral)
Figure 1.3
Types of translation
1.3 The history of translation
During the history, al lot has been sacrificed for
the term translation. As an example, the French humanistEtienne Dolet was burned at the stake after being
condemned by the theological faculty of Sorbonne
University in 1546, being charged with blasphemy. The
same story happened to Tvndale; Wycliffe's works were
banned and a lot of other sad endings happened during
the history of translation.
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THEORIES 7
However, translation, as a nascent, academic
discipline began in the past sixty years. Holmes (1988)
and Snell-Hornby (1988) were the first theorists to treat
translation as an independent academic discipline.
Nida (1964) attempts to put translation into a
more scientific era, borrowing a lot from Noam
Chomsky's work on syntactic structure, which formed
the theory of generative-transformational grammar
(Chomsky 1957/1965).
1.4 What is Translation Studies? As Munday (2001, p.5) believes, “In the English-
speaking world… [this independent discipline] is nowgenerally known as Translation Studies”.
1.5 The Holmes/Toury “map” In the original paper given by Holmes in 1972 in
the translation section of the Third InternationalCongress of Applied Linguistics in Copenhagen, he
stresses the need to forge “other communication
channels, cutting across the traditional disciplines to
reach all scholars working in the field, from whatever
background”( as cited in Munday, 2001, p.10).
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8 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
Translationstudies
Pure
theoretical
general partial
mediumrestricted
arearestricted
rankrestricted
text-typerestricted
timerestricted
problemrestricted
descriptive
productoriented
processoriented
functionoriented
Applied
translatortraining
translationaids
translationcriticism
Figure 1.4
Holmes‟ “map” of Translation Studies (from Munday 2001, p.10)
The following descriptions are from Munday
(2001, pp.10-3):
According to Holmes (1988/2000), the objectives
of the “pure” area are:
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THEORIES 9
1. the description of the phenomena of translation(descriptive translation theory).
2. the establishment of general principles to explainand predict such phenomena(translation
theory).
The theoretical branch is divided into general and
partial theories. By general, Holmes refers to those
writings that seek to describe or account for every type
of translation. However, the partial branch is restrictedaccording to the parameters below:
a. Medium-restricted theories: whether thetranslation is being done by humans or machines,
or if by machine, whether it is working alone or
as an aid to the humans as translators and also,
whether the human translation is written or
spoken.
b. Area-restricted theories: are restricted tospecific languages or groups of languages and/or
cultures.
c. Rank-restricted theories: are linguistic theoriesthat have been restricted to a specific level of
(normally) the word and sentence.
d. Text-type restricted theories: look at specificdiscourse types or genres; e.g. literary, business
and technical translation.
e. Time-restricted theories: refers to theories andtranslations limited according to specific time
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10 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
frames and periods. The history of translation
falls into this category.
f. Problem-restricted theories: can refer tospecific problems such as equivalence- a key
issue of the 1960s and 1970s -or to a wider
question of whether universals of translated
language exist.
The other branch of “pure” research in Holmes‟
map is descriptive. Descriptive Translation Studies(DTS) has three possible focuses which include
examination of (1) the product, (2) the function, and (3)
the process:
1. Product-oriented DTS: examines existingtranslations. According to Holmes, “one of the
eventual goals of product-oriented DTS might
possibly be a general history of translation”
(p.11).
2. Function-oriented DTS: is the study of contextrather than the text. It examines which books
were translated when and where, and what
influences they exerted.
3. Process oriented DTS: is concerned with the psychology of translation, i.e. to find out what
happens in the mind of a translator. As cited in Munday (2001), the “applied” branch
of Holmes‟ framework would look something like the
following figure (p. 12-3):
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THEORIES 11
"Applied"
Translator training
teachingevaluationmethods
testing techniques
curriculum design
Translation aids
IT applications
translationsoftware
on-line databases
use of internet
dictionaries grammars
Translation
criticism
revision
evaluation of translations
reviews
Figure 1.5
The applied branch of Translation Studies
Thus, as the students of translation, you are
studying the applied branch of translation, combined
with other branches of this field of study.
1.6 The methods of translation
How to translate has always been the main
question in this field. Whether to translate freely or
literally, whether to keep the sense, the spirit and the
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12 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
SL emphasis TL emphasis
Word for word translation Adaptation
Literal translation Free translation
Faithful translation Idiomatic translation
Semantic translation Communicative translation
message, or the words and the form. Walter Benjamin
and Vladmir Nabokov were two of extreme literalists
who strongly believed that the translation must be as
literal as possible (Newmark 1988, p.45).
According to Newmark (1988), a two-way
emphasis is made during the process of translation that
one refers to SL and the other to TL. Figure 1.6
The flattened V diagram of translation emphasis (from
Newmark 1988, p.45)
1.7 Introducing the methods
In Newmark's explanation of this diagram (1988,
pp.45-7), the definitions of the methods are as followings
(for the better understanding of Persian students of
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THEORIES 13
English, at the end of each definition, a Persian example
of the method is introduced): 1.7.1 Word for word translation: This is often
demonstrated as interlinear translation, with the TL
immediately below the SL words. The SL word-order is
preserved and the words translated singly by their most
common meanings, out of context. Cultural words are
translated literally. The main use of word-for-word
translation is to understand the mechanics of the source
language or to construe a difficult text as a pre-
translation process.
She went. . University of Paris
Go to hell! !
Although this method seems just in a number of
cases, in a lot of other sentences would be problematic:How are you?
I saw her shopping yesterday. .
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14 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
1.7.2 Literal translation: The SL grammaticalconstructions are converted to their nearest TL
equivalents but the lexical words are again translated
singly, out of context. As a pre-translation process, this
indicates the problem to be solved.
How are you?
Rome wasn‟t built in one day!
!
I know it like the back of my hand!
!
There‟s light at the end of the tunnel. .
Rule of thumb
His heart is in the right place. .
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THEORIES 15
1.7.3 Faithful translation: A faithful translation
attempts to reproduce the precise contextual meaning of
the original within the constraints of the TL grammatical
structures. It “transfers” cultural words and preserves the
degree of grammatical and lexical “abnormality”
(deviation from SL norms) in the translation. It attempts
to be completely faithful to the intentions and the text-
realization of the SL writer. Call it a day!
!
It was a blessing in disguise! !
The penny finally dropped! !
He is on the fiddle. .
1.7.4 Semantic translation: It differs from faithful
translation only as far as it must take more account of the
aesthetic value (that is, the beautiful and natural sound)
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16 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
of the SL text, compromising on “meaning” where
appropriate so that no assonance, word-play or repetition
jars in the finished version. The distinction between
“faithful” and “semantic” translation is that the first is
uncompromising and dogmatic, while the second is more
flexible.
There‟s light at the end of the tunnel. .
When hell freezes over! !
Still waters run deep! !...
1.7.5 Adaptation: This is the “freest” form of
translation. It is used mainly for plays (comedies) and
poetry; the themes, characters, plots are usually
preserved, the SL culture converted to the TL culture and
the text rewritten.
… Although
He thought he‟d „list, perhaps,
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THEORIES 17
Off-hand-like_ just as I_
Was out of work_had sold his traps_
No other reasons why.
From “The Man He killed” by Thomas Hardy
(1840_1928)
...
. .
.
1.7.6 Free translation: Free translation reproduces the
matter without the manner, or the content without the
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18 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
form of the original. Usually it is a paraphrase much
longer than the original.
… I would
Love you ten years before the Flood,
And you should, if you please, refuse
Till the conversion of the Jews.
From: “To His Coy Mistress” by Andrew Marvell (1621-
1678)
.
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THEORIES 19
.
1.7.7 Idiomatic translation: It reproduces the
“message” of the original, but tends to distort nuances of
meaning by preferring colloquialisms and idioms where
these do not exist in the original.
I‟ll keep my fingers crossed! !
Good job! !
My account‟s in the red! !
Piece of cake!
!
1.7.8 Communicative translation: It attempts to
render the exact contextual meaning of the original in
such a way that both content and language are readily
acceptable and comprehensible to the readership.
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20 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
-Bless you! -!
-Thanks! -!
As Newmark(1988,p.47)believes, of all these
methods, only two methods can fulfill the two main aims
of translation, which are first, “accuracy”, and second,“economy”. These two methods include semantic and
communicative translations.
1.8 Other methods
According to Newmark, the followings are someother methods used in different situations. The last two
methods are presented by Newmark for the first time
(1988, pp.52-3). 1.8.1 Service translation: Is translation from one‟s
language of habitual use into another language.
1.8.2 Plain Prose translation: The prose translation of
poems and poetic drama initiated by E. V. Rieu for
Penguin Books. Usually stanzas become paragraphs,
prose punctuation is introduced, original metaphors and
SL culture retained, while no sound-effects are
reproduced. The reader can appreciate the sense of the
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THEORIES 21
work without experiencing equivalent effect. Plain prose
translations are often published in parallel with their
originals, to which, after a careful word-for-word
comparison, they provide ready and full access. 1.8.3 Information translation: This conveys all the
information in a non-literary text, sometimes rearranged
in a moral, logical form, sometimes partially
summarized, and not in the form of a paraphrase.
1.8.4 Cognitive translation: This reproduces the
information in an SL text converting the SL grammar to
its normal TL transpositions, normally reducing any
figurative to literal language. 1.8.5 Academic translation: This type of translation,
practiced in some British universities, reduces anoriginal SL text to an “elegant” idiomatic educated TL
version which follows a (non-existent) literally register.
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1.9 Exercises A. Answer the following questions:
1. What does the term “translation” refer to? 2. What is the original text called?3. What is the original language called?4. What is the translated text called?5. What is the language you are going to translate
into called?
6. What does the term “interpretation” refer to? 7. What is the difference between the terms
“translation” and “interpretation”?
8. What are the three types of translation introduced by Jakobson?
9.
What does intralingual translation deal with?Provide some examples.
10. What does interlingual translation deal with?Provide some examples.
11. What does intersemiotic translation deal with?Provide some examples.
12. What does the term “translation studies” refer to?
13. What do we mean by “methods of translation”?
B. Choose the correct answer:
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THEORIES 23
1. What is the correct term for the act of written rendering from one language into
another?
A. interpretation B. rewording
C. translation D. transmutation
2. What is the correct term for the act of verbal rendering from one language into another?
A. modulation B. intersemiotic translation
C. translation proper D. interpretation
3. Which of the followings was/were burnedat the stake for his/their translations?
A. Dolet B.Wycliffe
C. Tvndale D. choices A and C
4. Whose translated works were bannedduring the history?
A.Wycliffe B.Tytler
C. Nida D. Chomsky
5. For how long has the translation turned
into an academic discipline?
A. more than a century
B. less than a decade
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24 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
C. more than ten centuries
D. less than a century
6. Which of the followings were the firsttheorists to treat translation as an independent
academic discipline?
A. Holmes and Munday
B. Nida and Newmark
C. Tytler and Holme
D. Holmes and Snell-Hornby
7. Who introduced the generative-transformational grammar for the first time?
A. Dolet B. Tytler
C. Chomsky D. Koller
C. Write T for true or F for false:
1. Word for word translation is a useful method for all types of contexts. _____
2. A faithful translation tries to be completelyfaithful to the intentions and text-realization of
the SL. _____
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THEORIES 25
3. In a literal translation, grammatical structures andlexical words are translated according to the
context. _____
4. A free translation is usually a paraphrase shorter than the original. _____
5. Adaptation is the freest form of translation._____ 6. A semantic translation is more flexible than afaithful translation. _____
D. Apply the following methods on these sentences.
Then, if the translation seems fine, put a check,
and if not, put a cross:
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26 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
sentence method of
translation
translation final
comment
We talkedyesterday.
word for word
literal
It‟s written
on the wall.
semantic
idiomatic
I know itlike the
back of myhand.
literal
semantic
The pennyfinally
dropped!
word for word
faithful
E. Discuss the following question in your class:
Which method of translation do you think
is the best of all? Explain your reasons.
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2
Applications
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APPLICATIONS 29
2.0 Introduction
In order to have a good piece of translation,different steps should be taken. A good job is, most of
the times the product of having a systematic design,
through which you can have an overview about what
you have done so far, and what to do next.
The main aim of this chapter is to familiarize the
students with the framework of the translation project.Careful attention paid to these steps in order to do a
translation project, especially while translating a book, is
of utmost importance.
2.1 Steps in translation project
In order to have a good translation, it is essential
for every translator to know what steps should be taken
during the process of translation. Different steps have
been pointed out up to this day; however, the translator
is the final person who decides what steps to be taken.
The following steps are taken from Larson (1998, pp.51-6):
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30 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
Figure 2.1
Steps in translation project
steps in
translation project
establishing the
project
text
target
team
tools
Exegesis
preparation
analysis
initial draft
evaluation
accuracy
clearness
naturalnessrevised draft
consultation
accuracy of
content
naturalness of
style
effect on the
receptor language
audience
final draft
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APPLICATIONS 31
2.1.1 Establishing the project
There are a number of items that have to beunderstood and well defined by all people who are
involved in the project of translation. These items are
explained by the term four T‟s- the text, the target, the
team and the tools.
2.1.1.1 The text refers to the written material or
document in the source language which is to betranslated. Different texts are translated for different
reasons. As for the first step, the translator should
determine the type of the text to be translated and clarify
the reasons in his mind.
2.1.1.2 The target simply refers to the audience. For
what age level is the text going to be translated? Arethey kids or adults? What are their cultural features? In
what context is the text going to be used? Is it going to
be used in universities as a reference book, or just being
read by students at school, or even lower educated
people? These questions should be answered before
starting the translation process.
2.1.1.3 The team refers to the people who are involved
in the translation project. The translator, the consultant,
the reviewer, the typist, the publisher and the distributor
of the final work form the team.
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32 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
1.1.1.4 The tools refer to the written source materials
which will be used by the translator in order to get help.
Dictionaries, encyclopedias, lexicons, etc., can be used
as tools of translation.
2.1.2 Exegesis
Exegesis is formed via preparation and analysis,which finally leads to the process of discovering the
meaning of the source language text which is to be
translated (Larson: 1998, p.53).
Before starting to write anything, the translator
should read the material several times in order to get
prepared and analyze the data and all ambiguities withinthe text. When having a clear idea about the text and the
author‟s purpose, you may take the next step, which is
the initial draft.
2.1.3 Initial draft
Drafting the text piece by piece takes place after
analyzing the text carefully. This act of transferring the
data from the source language to the target language
leads to the initial draft. According to Larson (1998),
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APPLICATIONS 33
there are two ways a translator can approach the initial
draft:
Some translators prefer to do a quick rough
translation, so that the material flows naturally.
Then they go back and tighten up the details to
be sure that there is no wrong information and no
omissions or additions…others prefer to prepare
a proposition-like semantic draft, being sure that
all the information is accounted for, and then
reword it for naturalness….either method will
lead to an idiomatic translation if careful work is
done (pp.53-4).
2.1.4 Evaluation
As Larson (1998, pp.54-5) believes, this step
consists of three levels, which are evaluating the
accuracy, clearness and naturalness of the work done.
2.1.4.1 Accuracy means that the translated work should
convey the same meaning as in it does in the sourcelanguage.
The following translation has not been able to
convey the exact intention of the poet due to the
translator‟s lack of information:
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34 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
“Good morning,” and he glittered when he walked.
From “Richard Cory” by Edwin Arlington Robinson(1869-1935)
"". As you see, there are a couple of
misunderstandings within the translated text which are:
a. the author has used a passive structure on the first lineof this stanza, which has to be changed into an active
structure while being translated into Persian. Thus, the
better translation for this line would be:
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APPLICATIONS 35
b. on the second line, there seems to be a misspelling,
which changes the whole meaning of the line. The better
translation would be:
c. on the third line, by fluttering pulses, the author‟s
intention is to express the nervousness of the main
character of the poem, but again, the unprofessional job
of the translator has ruined the whole feelings of the
author. The better translation for this line would be:
Another example is from the poem “The Man HeK illed” by Thomas Hardy (1840-1928), which shows
that the translator did not have any idea about what is
going on in this poem, and that is why the reader cannot
understand even one word of this translated text: … Although
He thought he‟d „list, perhaps,
Off-hand-like_ just as I_
Was out of work_had sold his traps_
No other reasons why.
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36 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
.
. .
A better translation for this stanza would be as
followings, through which, at least the reader can get the
theme of the poem: ...
. .
.
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38 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
a. on the first line, a word for word translation leads to
lack of clearness. The following translation seems better
for this line:
. b. on the second line of the translated text, what the
reader might get is that the speaker(s) of the poem had
no meat and no loaves of bread to eat, which is not
correct. In fact, by adding one simple word, you can
reach the exact translation and the intention of the
author:
().
2.1.4.3 Naturalness means the work should look natural
and easy to understand in the receptor language. The
following translation is correct, but does not seem
natural:
He started eating. .
2.1.5 Revised draft
Surely during the process of evaluation, a lot of
suggestions will be made by those who are checking the
draft. In this step, all the necessary changes should be
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APPLICATIONS 39
made in order to prevent any errors or mistakes. This
step leads to the production of the revised draft.
2.1.6 ConsultationIt is necessary to have a consultant to check your
work in terms of not having any problems. According to
Munday (1998, pp.55-6), there are three topics inquestion a consultant can help a translator with, which
are(1) accuracy of content, (2) naturalness of style, and
(3) effect on the receptor language audience.
2.1.7 Final draft
Before going to final draft, there are a number of
items that should be taken into account. First, the
punctuations and spellings should be checked. Then,
additional materials like pictures, diagrams, charts,
tables, etc. should be added. Accuracy of the final work
is a credit for the translator(s). You can even choose
some people randomly to read the final work. In this
case, you had better choose them from your target
audience. However, you have to be careful about the act
of plagiarism, for you have tried hard to do your best.
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40 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
2.2 Exercises
A. Answer the following questions:1. What does the term 4T‟s stand for? 2. What are the items that form the exegesis?3. What are the three items which are checked
carefully in the evaluation step?
4. What is the main aim of revising the initialdraft?
5. What are the things to be done through thestep of final drafting?
6. What are the two ways of drafting as inLarson‟s opinion?
B. Choose the correct answer:1. Which one refers to the written sourcematerials used to help a translator?
A. target B. tools
C. text D. team
2. Which one refers to the audience?A. text B. target
C. tools D. team
3. Which one refers to the written material inthe SL?
A. text B. source text
C. target D. choices A and B
4. Which one refers to the people who areinvolved in the translation project?
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APPLICATIONS 41
A. team B. text
C. tools D. audience
5. Which one is not checked within the step of evaluation?
A. accuracy B. clearness
C. naturalness D. adding tables, etc.
6. Which one is not an item a consultant canhelp the translator with in Munday‟s opinion?
A. accuracy of contentB. the design of the cover
C. effect on the receptor language
D. naturalness of style
7. Within this step, the charts, tables, diagrams,etc. are added.
A. initial draft B. evaluationC. exegesis D. final draft
8. Which one refers to the act of takingsomeone‟s ideas as if they were your own?
A. plagiarism B. drafting
C. rewording D. translation
C. Write T for true and F for false:1. Revised draft takes place after the final draft.
____
2. Clearness means the audience shouldunderstand the text clearly. ____
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42 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
3. The translator should analyze the ST throughthe step of exegesis. ____
4. Naturalness means the translator shouldconvey the same meaning as in it does in the
SL. ____
5. The spellings should be checked at the levelof exegesis. ____
D. In the following table, if an item is present, put acheck, and if you feel the lack of that item, put across:
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APPLICATIONS 43
ST Translation Accuracy Clearness Naturalness
Any luck?
Chairman
Don‟t let the
cat out of the
bag..
Rule of
thumb
Rainy days
of life
Godspeed
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44 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
E. Discuss the following question in the class:
In Larson‟s opinion, there are two ways atranslator can make a draft. Which one do you
think is better? Explain your reasons.
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3
Unit of
Translation andEquivalence
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UNIT OF TRANSLATION AND EQUIVALENCE 47
3.0 Introduction
The methods of translation were discussed before(see chapter 1). Now, the question remains as to what the
main issues are after choosing the method. In fact, these
two topics are related to each other. In other words, the
choice of equivalence and unit of translation simply has
to do with the kind of method you chose in order to do
your translation.
But, what does the concept of equivalence refer
to? What is the unit of translation? These are types of
questions which are going to be discussed in this chapter.
3.1 Unit of Translation
There always has been an argue among the
theorists as to what the Unit of Translation (UT) is. Is the
UT the word, meaning that the text should be translated
word by word, is the UT phrase, clause, sentence or the
whole text?
According to Vinay and Darbelnet, the Unit of
Translation is “the smallest segment of an utterance
whose cohesion of signs is such that they must not be
separately translated” (as cited in Newmark, 1988, p45).
As Hass believes, the length of UT should be “as short as
is possible, as long as is necessary” (p.45).
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48 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
Newmark's reflection about UT is as
followings:
The freer the translation, the longer the UT, the
more literal the translation, the shorter the UT.
…Free translation has always favored the
sentence; literal translation the word. Now, since
the rise of text linguistics, free translation has
moved from the sentence to the whole text (1988,
p.54).
3.2 Nida and equivalence
The old terms such as literal, free and faithful
translation, are rejected by Nida in favor of "two basicorientations" or types of equivalences (as cited in
Munday, 2001, pp.41-2):
3.2.1 Formal Equivalence:
Formal equivalence focuses attention on the
message itself, in both form and content… One is
concerned that the message in the receptor
language should match as closely as possible the
different elements in the source language (as
cited in Munday, 2001, p.41).
Thus, formal equivalence is ST-oriented.
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UNIT OF TRANSLATION AND EQUIVALENCE 49
3.2.2 Dynamic Equivalence:
Dynamic equivalence is based on what Nida calls“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” (as cited in
Munday, 2001, p.42). Dynamic equivalence is TT-
oriented.
3.3 Koller and equivalence
Among German scholars during the 1970s and
1980s, Wolfram Wilss, Otto Kade, Albert Neuber and
Werner Koller were the ones who worked on the conceptof translation equivalence. Koller describes five different
types of equivalence. The followings are definitions
made by Koller (as cited in Munday, 2001, pp.46-9):
3.3.1 Denotative Equivalence is related to
equivalence of the extralinguistic content of a text.
Here, by extralinguistic contents of a text, we
mean different linguistic aspects that form a text, also
known as metalinguistic levels of a language or meta-
systems. As an example, morphology, syntax, etc. are
different metalinguistic aspects of a text. Generally
speaking, we can say these meta-systems lead to the
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50 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
process of finding the primary meanings of the words,
which mostly exist in dictionaries. For instance, the
denotative equivalence for the word “night” would be
“the part of the natural day when the sun is beneath the
horizon”.
3.3.2 Connotative Equivalence is related to the
lexical choices, especially between near-synonyms.
To explain this type of equivalence, we could saythat sometimes, some words carry a figurative meaning.
For example, the word “night” might have some other
connotative meanings rather than the primary meaning it
has which include “darkness” and “presence of cruelty”,
“ignorance” and “death”.
3.3.3 Text-normative Equivalence is related to texttypes, with different kinds of texts behaving in different
ways.
By this type of equivalence, Koller means that
any kind of a text should be translated in accordance to
its target audience and the context which it is going to be
used in. Thus, the suitable equivalence for the word“dog” in a context which relates to the children would be
«» .
3.3.4 Pragmatic Equivalence or “communicative
equivalence” is oriented towards the receiver of the text
or message. This is Nida’s “dynamic equivalence”.
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UNIT OF TRANSLATION AND EQUIVALENCE 51
3.3.5 Formal Equivalence which is related to the form
and aesthetics of the text and includes word plays and
individual stylistic features of the ST. This is sometimes
referred to as “expressive equivalence” and must not be
confused with Nida’s formal equivalence.
3.4 Problems in finding lexical equivalence
In her meaning-based translation, Larson (1998, pp.195-
202) mentions some special problems in finding the
proper equivalence for a translator. Among these
problems are:
3.4.1 Key words: are the words which are used over
and over in a text, being crucial to the theme or topic indiscussion. As they are the words which represent an
essential or basic concept of the text and are often
thematic, finding adequate lexical equivalence by the
translator is of utmost importance. Check the following
translations for a key word like “base” in different
contexts:
General
Military
Agriculture
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52 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
Mathematics
Chemistry
Electronics
Sports
.
3.4.2 Symbolic words: are the words which may carry
a figurative or metaphorical meaning, as well as the
basic meaning of the word. “Rose” might be the symbol
of love, “White”, can be the symbol of peace, etc. The
important thing here is that these words are directly
related to the cultural backgrounds. A word might be the
symbol of something in a language, while represents
another figurative meaning in other languages.
3.4.3 Word combinations and false literal
translation: In most languages, there are groups of
words that when are added together, function as a simple
word. For instance, a compound is a new word which is
created by adding simple words together. Thus, the
proper equivalence for “hotdog” in English would not be
«» in Persian. In fact the word “hotdog” should not
be broken into pieces during the process of translation.
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UNIT OF TRANSLATION AND EQUIVALENCE 53
3.4.4 False friends: are the words in SL which look
much like and cognate to the words in TL, but in fact are
different in their meanings. As an example, the word
"machine" in English refers to a device consisting of
different parts that work together on a basis of unity,
while the word «» in Persian refers to any kind of
vehicle.
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54 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
3.5 Exercises
A. Answer the following questions:1. What does the term “UT” refer to? 2. What is the definition of UT in Vinay and
Darbelnet’s opinion?
3. In Hass’s opinion, to what extent is the length of UT?
4. What is Newmark’s approach toward UT? 5. What are the two types of equivalence introduced
by Nida?
6.
What are the five types of equivalence introduced by Koller?
7. What are key words? Provide some examples.8. What are symbolic words? Provide some
examples.
9. What are false friends? Provide some examples.10. What are cognate words? Provide some
examples.
B. Choose the correct answer:
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UNIT OF TRANSLATION AND EQUIVALENCE 55
1. Which one did not have his focus on the termequivalence?
A. Wills B. Neuber
C. Nida D. Kade
2. In Vinay and Darbelnet’s opinion, what is thesmallest segment of an utterance whose cohesion of
signs is such that they must not be separately
translated?
A. translation strategy B. equivalence
C. shift D. UT
3. What are the words used over and over in a textcalled?
A. symbolic words B. key words
C. false friends D. word combination
4. What are the words which carry a figurative or metaphorical meaning called?
A. false friends B. keywords
C. simple words D. symbolic words
5. What are the cognate words with different meaningscalled?
A. compounds B. word combination
C. false friends D. symbolic words
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56 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
C. Write T for true or F for false:1. Koller’s “formal equivalence” is the same as
Nida’s “formal equivalence”.
____
2. Koller’s “pragmatic equivalence” is the same as Nida’s “dynamic equivalence”.
____
3. According to “text-normative equivalence”, eachtext should be translated according to its context
and readership.
____
4. Nida and Koller were the only theorists whoworked on the concept of equivalence. ____
5. The freer the translation, the longer the UT. ____
6. Free translation has always favored the word,literal translation the sentence.
____
D. Discuss the following question in your class:
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UNIT OF TRANSLATION AND EQUIVALENCE 57
What unit of translation do you think is the best
for the translation of different literary texts, such as
poems, literary proses, etc.?
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4
Translation
“Shift”
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62 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
shifts in
translation
level shiftcatagory
shift
class shift
unit shift
structuralshift
intrasystem
shift
translation. These reasons can include cultural, religious,
linguistic reasons, etc.
The term “shift” was pointed out by Catford
(1965) for the first time. According to this notion, shifts
may occur within the words level and category.
Figure 4.1
Catford’s translation shifts
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TRANSLATION “SHIFT” 63
4.1.1 Level shift: according to Catford (as cited inMunday, pp.60-1), this would be something which is
expressed by grammar in one language and lexis in
another.
Example:
It is certified that the above-named person has been
working in this factory since 1997.
7991
. In the English sentence, the notion of «» is
introduced at the level of syntax, while in Persian, we
change that into the level of word (Khazaeefar, 2008, p.45).
4.1.2 Class shifts: are shifts from one part of speech toanother. For example, "the good teacher with a smile on
her face" in English would be:
" "
in Persian.
The word “good” is an adjective appearing
before the noun in English, while its translation appears
after the noun in Persian. Thus, there has been a change
in part of the speech (Khazaeefar, 2008, p.45).
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64 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
4.1.3 Unit shifts or Rank shifts: In Munday's (2001)definition: “These are shifts where the translation
equivalence in the TL is at a different rank to the SL.
Rank here refers to the hierarchical linguistic unit of
sentence, clause, group, word and morpheme” (p.61).
For example, in changing the phrase «
» from Persian into English, the exact translation
would be “with the suit” or “wearing suit”. Another example is in translating the English clause “according
to Steve” into Persian, which would be «»
Thus, a unit shift has occurred here.
4.1.4 Structural shift: Catford (as cited in Munday,2001) believes, this is the most common form of the
shifts which involves mostly a shift in grammatical
structure (p.61).
To give an example, English is an SVO language,
while Persian is an SOV one. Thus, the rules of the
target language should be taken into account.
I saw Mary. (SVO (
. (SOV) 4.1.5 Intersystem shifts: these are shifts that take
place when there is approximately a corresponding
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TRANSLATION “SHIFT” 65
system between SL and TL, but is not applicable in the
process of translation.
As an example, in both English and Persian we
have singular and plural nouns. While the word
“information” is a singular noun in English, it has to be
translated as » «in Persian, and not «» .
4.2 Vinay and Darbelnet's model According to Vinay and Darbelnet (as cited in
Munday, 2001), there are mainly two general translation
strategies: Direct translation and oblique translation (or
indirect translation) (pp.56-9).
4.2.1 Direct translation: as Vinay and Darbelnet pointout, “literal” is the name given to direct translation by
the authors (p.56). It consists of three sub-categories:
borrowing, calque and literal translation.
4.2.1.1 Borrowing: when an SL word is directly
transferred into TL. An example can be the words:“telephone, telefax, address, television, ambulance and
lamp”, directly transferred into Persian as:
» «,
respectively.
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66 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
There is one important thing you have to put into
consideration about borrowings, and that is while
transferring the words, the number one filter would be
the pronunciation filter the words have to pass in order to
be accepted by the TL speakers. That is why, in the case
of borrowings, although a word from SL enters TL, but
the pronunciation of the word may (or sometimes may
not) differ.
4.2.1.2 Calque: this is a special kind of borrowing(p.56) where the SL expressions or structures are
transferred in a literal translation. For instance, the words
“E-mail and skyscraper” are changed into the following
Persian words through this process respectively:
«.»
4.2.1.3 Literal translation: this is word-for-word
translation which Vinay and Darbelnet ( p.57) believe is
the most common between the languages of the same
family and culture and is their prescription for a good
translation: “Literalness should only be sacrificed
because of structural and metalinguistic requirementsand only after checking that the meaning is fully
preserved”( p.57). But they say that the translator may
judge literal translation to be “unacceptable” because it:
(a). gives a different meaning;
(b). has no meaning;
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TRANSLATION “SHIFT” 67
(c). is impossible for structural reasons;
(d). does not have a corresponding expression within themetalinguistic experience of the TL;
(e). corresponds to something at a different level of
language.
4.2.2 Oblique translation (Indirect translation): this
procedure is applied when literal translation is not possible. Oblique translation consists of four sub-
categories: transposition, modulation, equivalence and
adaptation.
4.2.2.1 Transposition (p. 57): is a change of one part of
speech for another without changing the sense:
He didn’t dare to say what he was thinking about.
.
In this example, the Persian phrase is the result of
translating the English clause.
4.2.2.2 Modulation: changing the semantic and point of view of the SL. Modulation at the level of message is
divided to some ten sub-categories (p.57). Some of the
most important ones are the followings (the first two
examples are from Khazaeefar (2008, p.48) :
He is no mean performer on the violin.
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68 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
. He read the book from cover to cover.
.
You are quiet a stranger!
!
4.2.2.3 Equivalence: according to Vinay and Darbelnet
(p.58), this term refers to cases when languages describe
the same situation by different stylistic or structural
means. Equivalence is particularly useful in translating
idioms and proverbs:
Third time lucky!
!
Nice to meet you!
!
Once bitten, twice shy!
!
4.2.2.4 Adaptation (pp. 58-9): this involves changing
the cultural reference when a situation in the source
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TRANSLATION “SHIFT” 69
culture is absent in the target culture. That is why the
following translations do not look odd or strange:
mister Sun
sucker I’m on cloud nine! !
She’s not in the picture! !
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70 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
Figure 4.2
Vinay and Darbelnet’s model
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TRANSLATION “SHIFT” 71
4.3 Exercises
A. Answer the following questions:
1. What are some of the items which make your
job as a translator difficult?
2. What does the term “translation shift” refer
to?
3. What are sources of the shifts? Name some of
them.
4. What are level shifts? Provide some examples.
5. What are class shifts? Provide some examples. 6. What are unit shifts? Provide some examples.
7. What are structural shifts? Provide some
examples.
8. What are intrasystem shifts? Provide some
examples.
9. What are the two “translation strategies”introduced by Vinay and Darbelnet? Name them.
10. What is borrowing? Provide some examples.
11. What is calque? Provide some examples.
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72 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
12. What is literal translation? Provide some
examples.
13. What is transposition? Provide some
examples.
14. What is modulation? Provide some examples.
15. What is equivalence in oblique translation?
Provide some examples.
16. What is adaptation in oblique translation?
Provide some examples.
B. Write T for true or F for false:
1. Unit shift occurs where the translation
equivalence in the TL is at the same rank to theSL. _____
2. According to Catford, structural shift is the
most common form of the shifts.
_____ 3. Oblique translation means indirect translation.
_____
4. Equivalence is particularly useful in translating
idioms and proverbs. _____
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TRANSLATION “SHIFT” 73
5. Modulation is a change of one part of speech
for another without changing the sense. _____
C. Choose the correct answer:
1. Which one involves changing the semantic and
point of view of the SL?
A. transposition B. modulation
C. intrasystem shift D. rank shift
2. which one is applied where literal translation
is not possible?
A. oblique translation B. indirect translation
C. unit shift D. choices A and B
3. Which one is a prescription for a goodtranslation according to Vinay and Darbelnet?
A. literal translation B. modulation
C. transposition D. adaptation
4. Which shift occurs when there is
approximately a corresponding system betweenSL and TL, but is not applicable?
A. unit shift B. structural shift
C. class shift D. intrasystem shift
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74 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
D. Discuss the following question in your class:
A number of translation shifts wereintroduced in this chapter. Do you think they can
be used interchangeably? Discuss your ideas.
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5
How to Be a
Good Translator
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HOW TO BE A GOOD TRANSLATOR 77
5.0 Introduction
As time passes, a number of theorists point out aseries of suggestions in order to help those who are
going to step into that field. For translation, it is the same
story. Although the academic studies of translation is a
new field of study (see chapter 1), but the practice of
translation goes back to a long time ago.
People read a translator’s job and then start to judge the quality of that. That is how one method
survives, but the other does not.
As a person working in this field, it is important
to have an overview about what different theorists have
had in mind about having a good translation. This
chapter will discuss these topics.
5.1 The features of a good translation
As cited In Munday (2001), different scholars
have pointed out different types of principles in order to
have a good translation (p.26, see also p.42):
5.1.1 Dolet (as cited in Munday, 2001, p.26) set out
five principles for a good translator to have in mind:
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78 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
Figure 5.1
Dolet’s “principles” for a good translation
5.1.1.1 The translator must perfectly understand the
sense and material of the original author, although he
should feel free to clarify the obscurities.
5.1.1.2 The translator should have a perfect knowledge
of both SL and TL, so as not to lessen the majesty of the
language.
Dolet
understanding
the SL sense
and material
assembling
words
eloquently to
avoide
clumsiness
avoiding
Latinate and
unusual forms
avoiding word
for word
translation
having a
perfect
knowledge of
both SL and TL
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HOW TO BE A GOOD TRANSLATOR 79
5.1.1.3 The translator should avoid word-for-word
renderings.
5.1.1.4 The translator should avoid Latinate and unusual
forms.
5.1.1.5 The translator should assemble and liaise words
eloquently to avoid clumsiness.
5.1.2 While Dolet has five “principles”, Tytler (p.26)
has three general “laws” or “rules”:
Figure 5.2
Tytler’s “rules” for a good translation
Tytler
giving a
complete
transcript of
the SL ideas
having all
the ease of
the ST
having the
same style
and manner
as the ST
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80 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
5.1.2.1 The translation should give a complete transcript
of the ideas of the original work.
5.1.2.2 The style and manner of writing should be of the
same character with that of the original.
5.1.2.3 The translation should have all the ease of the
original composition.
5.1.3 Likewise, in Nida’s (p.42) opinion, there are “four
basic requirements for a good translation”, which are:
5.1.3.1 making sense;
5.1.3.2 conveying the spirit and manner of the original;
5.1.3.3 having a natural and easy form of expression;
5.1.3.4 producing a similar response; (i.e. making a
similar response as comparing to the original one).
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HOW TO BE A GOOD TRANSLATOR 81
Figure 5.3
Nida’s four basic “requirements” for a good translation
Nida
making
sense
producing a
similar
response
having a
natural and
easy form of
expression
conveying
the spirit
and manner
of the ST
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82 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
5.2 Exercises
A. Answer the following questions: 1. What are the features of a good translation
according to Dolet?
2. What are the features of a good translationaccording to Tytler?
3. What are the features of a good translationaccording to Nida?
4. How much do the theorists introduced in thischapter have in common in terms of their
ideas for having a good translation?
B. Discuss the following questions in your class: Think of some other features for a good
translation which have not been mentioned in this
chapter. Discuss your ideas.
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6
Translation
Practice
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TRANSLATION PRACTICE 85
This chapter provides you with some texts both
in English and Persian simultaneously in order to
improve your translation skills. As literature has long
gone hand in hand with translation, the authors have
tried to choose literary texts and poems, mostly because
of the high rate of interaction they are known to have.
After translating each text, there are a number of
general self-evaluative questions you have to answer
about different aspects of the translation you made.
These questions include:
1. What method did you use for your translation?2. What are your reasons for choosing such a
method?
3. Do you think there are any other suitablemethods for dealing with the text? Name them.
4. As you know, in most of the translations youhave to make some “shifts” in order to creat a
natural translation. Name some of the shifts you
have made. What kind of shifts are they?
5. In each text, there might be a number of culturalreferences (terms) for which you have chosen anequivalent. Name them with their corresponding
equivalents.
6. Evaluate your final job in terms of accuracy,clearness and naturalness of the translation.
7. What is the “unit of translation” you chose for the text?
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86 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
8. Have the other students or ordinary peoplearound you read your translated text and ask
them to evaluate the piece of work.
9. Make any necessary changes and enjoy your translation!
10. Keep up the good work!
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TRANSLATION PRACTICE 87
Text 1
The aim of the text: translation of English poetries with different linguistic references
“LETTER C” by Eric Ode (2006)
All the poems used by permission of the author
Oh letter C, why kan't you see
you drive me up the wall!
You konstantly konfuse me.
I kan't kount on you at all.
You seem to be so sivilized, but this is krystal klear,
I'd be a whole lot happier
if you would disappear.
I kan not komprehend you.
You make my mind a mess.
Sometimes they say you make a K,
at other times an S.
It's not that I am kareless.
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88 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
It's not that I am lazy,
but letter C, why kan't you see
you drive me nearly krazy!
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TRANSLATION PRACTICE 89
Text 2
The aim of the text: translation of English literary poems
“COCOON” by Eric Ode (2005)
This small cocoon, so smooth and still,
I found it only yesterday
upon a branch, atop a hill,
as cold as stone - alone and gray.
But see now what a new day brings!It rests beside an empty tomb,
with sunlight on its quilted wings
among a field where flowers bloom,
then lifts its eyes
and flies away.
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90 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
Text 3
The aim of the text: translation of English textswith different cultural references
“I COULD HAVE BEEN THE FARMER” by
Eric Ode (2008)
The students and the parents
have been seated in the gym.
The curtains will be opening.
The lights are turning dim.
My class has done so many plays
it could be called a habit.
Today's the day we're putting on
The Tale of Peter Rabbit.
I could have been the handsome prince
or any other fella.
Instead I was the pumpkin
when my class did Cinderella.
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TRANSLATION PRACTICE 91
And later, Johnny Appleseed
was who I thought I'd be.
But Hector played the hero,
and I played the apple tree.
I thought I'd be the giant
who was chasing after Jack.
Instead I played the beanstalk with the giant on my back.
But Peter Rabbit's story
has me going rather crazy.
I could have been the farmer,
but they've dressed me as a daisy!
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92 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
Text 4
The aim of the text: translation of English textswith a humorous mood
“MY BOOK REPORT” by Eric Ode (2006)
Here it is. My book report.It’s all about the book I read.
I’ll tell you what the people did,
and what they saw, and what they said.
It all begins... Now, let me think.
I knew it just the other night.This girl is there and says some things
and... No, that’s not exactly right.
There is a boy. He has a dog.
Or maybe... No, he has a cat.
And then they sort of have a friend,
or something kind of just like that.
I think there was this other thing,
but I’m not certain what it does.
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TRANSLATION PRACTICE 93
And something happens later on.
I don’t remember what it was.
And then they do some other stuff;
the boy and cat and then the friend.
But I won’t say what happens next.
I wouldn’t want to spoil the end.
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TRANSLATION PRACTICE 95
-
) (.
) (
. : .
) (.
:
.“good”
:
....
.
.
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96 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
. “the good”« ».
“the good people”
“good”“ people”
“the good”
“the good
people” « »
.
(. )
) (
) (
()
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TRANSLATION PRACTICE 97
()
:-
.
-
.
- (label)
.
.
- “Shorter
Oxford”“Webster's Seventh”
“x” “y”
.
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98 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
.
. ) (
“adenotomy”
“adeno” tom”-“ ”y-“.
«»
«»«».
" "
.
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TRANSLATION PRACTICE 99
Text 6
The aim of the text: translation of Persianallusive modern poetry
"" ""
.
:
«
»
:
«
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TRANSLATION PRACTICE 101
»...
...!
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TRANSLATION PRACTICE 103
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104 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
Text 8
The aim of the text: translation of texts with a
humorous style .
.
.
..
: .
«...» .
:«...!» «...» «!» «...»
:
« ! ...» «... ...» «...!»
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TRANSLATION PRACTICE 105
«...» «...! ...» «...»
:
«...!» «...!»
:
«...!» ... «... ... .
...» :
«...! ...» :
«...!» :
«...!...!
...!!»
:
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106 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
«.. ... ....
»...!:
«......»...
:
«.. !.... ...
!»....
.
.
..
.
. .
:«...! ...»
:« ...
.»..
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TRANSLATION PRACTICE 107
.
.
:
« !»...
:
«...»:
«... ...»
«! ...»...
«....!»...
:
« ! ...»...
.
:«... ... ...»
.
:
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108 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
«!! ...»...
.
.
.
" "
.
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TRANSLATION PRACTICE 109
Text 9
The aim of the text: translation of Persian formal
language
.
: .«... ...
.
.!»...
.
. .
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110 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
.
! ....
.
:
«!! ...!... ... ......
!»...
:« ...»:
« ...
......
!»...
. .
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TRANSLATION PRACTICE 111
.
.
.""
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112 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
Text 10
The aim of the text: translation of Old Persian
terms
.
.
:
...... ... ... ...
.. ....
... ...
..
.
.
.
.
.
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TRANSLATION PRACTICE 113
.. .
.
.
:
-... !!...
.
.
" "
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114 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
Text 11
The aim of the text: translation of Persian slangs
...
.
: .
!...
-! ... ......
- ...
...
:
-... .........
-!...
-... ... ... ...
-!!!...
-... ......
:
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TRANSLATION PRACTICE 115
... ...
!! ...... ... ... ... ... ... ...
...
....... ... ... ........
:
...!...
.... ... ... ..
!!!...
.
:
....!!! .....
.
:
! ......
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116 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
:
. ... ...... ... ..!... .. ....
......
... ... ...
.
..
" "
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TRANSLATION PRACTICE 117
Text 12
The aim of the text: translation of Persian modern
poetry
"" "
"
.
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118 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
!
!
!
!
...
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TRANSLATION PRACTICE 119
:
-
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120 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
!
!
!
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122 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
!
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TRANSLATION PRACTICE 123
Text 14
The aim of the text: translation of English literary
texts
He was a small man with a beard and was very
nervous. I remember how the cords of his neck were
drawn taut.
For years he had been trying to cure people with illness
by the method called psychoanalysis. The idea was the passion of his life. “I came here because I am tired”, He
said dejectedly. “My body is not tired but something
inside me is old and worn-out. I want joy. For a few
days or weeks I would like to forget men and women
and the influences that make them the sick things they
are.”
There is a note that comes into the human voice
by which you may know real weariness. It comes when
one has been trying with all his heart and soul to think
his way along to some difficult road of thought. Of a
sudden he finds himself unable to go on. Something
within him stops. A tiny explosion takes place. He bursts
into words and talks, perhaps foolishly. Little side
currents of his nature he didn’t know were there run out
and get themselves expressed. It is at such times that a
man boasts, uses big words, makes a fool of himself in
general. From “Seed” by Sherwood Anderson (Deceased)
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124 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
Text 15
The aim of the text: translation of idioms
He’s living on the breadline.
Pigs might fly!
The last straw!
Don’t add insult to the injury!
I’ve had it!
Shake a leg!
She has friends in high places.
“The haves and the haves not”
I can’t make ends meet.
I don’t know the first thing about them!
After you!
You can’t win them all.
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TRANSLATION PRACTICE 125
Text 16
The aim of the text: translation of English literarytexts
Whatever hour you woke there was a door
shutting. From room to room they went, hand in hand,
lifting here, opening there, making sure a ghostly couple.
“Here we left it,” she said. And he added, “Oh, but here
too!” “It’s upstairs,” she murmured. “And in the
garden,” he whispered. “Quietly,” they said, “or we shall
wake them.”
But it wasn’t that you woke us. Oh, no. “They’re
looking for it; they’re drawing the curtain,” one might
say, and so read on a page or two. “Now, they’ve found
it,” one would be certain, stopping the pencil on themargin. And then, tired of reading, one might rise and
see for oneself, the house all empty, the doors standing
open, only the wood pigeons bubbling with content and
the hum of the threshing machine sounding from the
farm. “What did I come in here for? What did I want to
find?” my hands were empty. “Perhaps it’s upstairs
then?” The apples were in the loft. And so down again,
the garden still as ever, only the book had slipped into
the grass. From “A Haunted House” by Virginia Woolf (Deceased)
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TRANSLATION PRACTICE 127
Text 18
The aim of the text: translation of English literary poems
“The Little Boy and the Old Man” by Shel
Silverstein
Said the little boy, "Sometimes I drop my spoon."
Said the old man, "I do that too."
The little boy whispered, "I wet my pants."
"I do that too," laughed the little old man.
Said the little boy, "I often cry."
The old man nodded, "So do I."
"But worst of all," said the boy, "it seemsGrown-ups don't pay attention to me."
And he felt the warmth of a wrinkled old hand.
"I know what you mean," said the little old man.
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128 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION
Glossary
Academic translation: a type of translation, practiced in
some British universities
Accuracy: the quality of being near to the true value of
ST
Adaptation (a strategy of oblique translation introduced
by Vinay and Darbelnet (2000)): changing the cultural
reference when a situation in a source culture is absent
Adaptation (a method of translation): the freest form of
translation which is used mainly for plays (comedies)
and poetry
Adjective: a word that expresses the attribute of
something
Adverb phrase: a group of words that add more
information about place, time, circumstance, manner,
cause, degree, etc. to a verb, an adjective, a phrase or
another adverb
Aesthetic value: concerning or characterized by an
appreciation of beauty or good taste
Audience: the part of the general public interested in a
source of information
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GLOSSARY 129
Basic meaning: the main definition which exists for a
word and is usually far enough from other meanings
available for that word in order to distinguish from
Borrowing: the appropriation of ideas or words from
another source
Calque: a special kind of borrowing where the SL
expressions or structures are transferred in a literal
translation
Character: the peculiar quality, or the sum of qualities by
which a person or a thing is distinguished from others
Class shift: shift from one part of speech to another
Clause: an expression including a subject and predicate,
but not constituting a complete sentence
Clearness: free from obscurity and being easy to
understand
Clumsiness: unskillfulness resulting from a lack of
training
Cognate words: two words derived from the same word
in an ancestral language
Cognitive translation: reproducing the information in an
SL text converting the SL grammar to its normal TL
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GLOSSARY 131
Contextual meaning: the meaning relating to or
determined by or in context (the set of facts or
circumstances that surround a situation or event)
Corresponding systems: similar systems (i.e. languages),
especially in position or purpose
Cultural reference: a se