Traduccin-lingstica contrastiva Ingls Espaol

Todas las lenguas comparten algo; por eso se puede hablar de universales
lingsticos.
Todos los humanos tenemos un cerebro con capacidades y restricciones
cognitivas.
Hay lenguas con mayor grado de proximidad, de similitud. Pero las similitudes
son relativas

Hora y media / one and half hours

Posibilidades:

L1=L2, o al menos lo parezca

Que no se encuentra equivalente a la L1 la L2: diferencias estructurales
o Rincn (ngulo interno) ; esquina (ngulo externo) / corner
(in/on)
Que las lenguas sean distintas (causstica y variada)
o Las lenguas presentan formas similares pero funciones distintas
o Las lenguas presentan formas similares con frecuencias distintas
Todo esto se debe a que las lenguas no usan las mimas estrategias para
alcanzar los mismos objetivos. Tambin porque las lenguas no tienen los
mismos intereses; focalizan, destacan aspectos distintos de la realidad.
La lengua es perspectiva.
I am a doctor (individual, member of a class) / soy medico
(condicin, cualidad)

Tertium comparationis :
Comparar dos lenguas coherentemente a travs de dos vas:
Seleccionando categoras universales, semi-universales, para observar como se
realiza en la lengua A y en la lengua B.
o La expresin de futuro en espaol y en ingls
o La expresin de causa en X e Y
Utilizando la traduccin como equivalente, traduccin muy precisa.
Construcciones equivalentes:
Conjunto de propiedades pragmticas, semnticas y sintcticas no son iguales
al grado de correspondencia con tales parmetros.
La equivalencia es cuestin de grado, frecuencia y naturalidad
"I' m feeling blue" - estoy triste /deprimido (action vs state; livid in color;
other emotions: fear, anxiety in expression +blue?)
Culture:
Influences all levels of speaking
o Vocabulary: sex and rape

o
o
o
o

Morpho-syntax: diminutives
T/V pronouns of social distance, evidentials, verb mood, etc.
Pragmatics: politeness maxims, etc.
Textual styles (thinking styles): inductive vs deductive; high context vs
low- context transaction,etc.

Key words/ key plates:

1960s'

1970s-1980s

1990s-200
Different foci, different interests
Perspectives:
Expert vs learner approach
Linguistic vs socially centered definitions
Main unit of translation:

Werels

Utterances

Thougths/ ideas

Texts

Content: focused definitions:

Form: unimportant
Recipient focused definitious

Meaning and form:

Meaning+form+socio-pragmatic+culture (funtional equivalence, natural
equivalence)
Acts vs processes (ineplaying phases)
Reproduction or creation?
Further considerations: art/ craft, professional perspectives.
Definitions

Lewis (1958) writes that "translate" is a formed form the latin

"trans+latus", which means "carried across" (atravesado o atravesar)

Etymologically, translation is a "carrying across"

Content-Focussed

Save the message

Message vs transformed to be understood
+ Cultural: not to sharp a dividing line between language and
extralinguistic reality
Corpus linguistics:
The study of language as expressed in samples real words, natural, text:
Concordances : a list of words used in a body of work, with their
immediate contexts.

Collocations
Colligations
Equivalences or corresponding expressions

17/10/2013
Text could be divided in:

Content based document (contracts, user guides)

Form based texts (advertisements, poems)

Localised translation
Language localisation: process of translating a product into different languages
or adapting a language for a specific country or region (global languages)
Special type of translation:
-Advertisement spots, slogans and various digital contents
It is important for companies to take such differences into account, for specific
regional markets. Preservation of global content, form and desired effect are
more important than the exact meaning of words. You have to adapt the
language to the country.
Continuum?
Many authors are against these separations between general translation and
specialized ones.
Maria Cecilia " These trends from disciplines related to translation studies come
to re-enforce my view of the translation process as a totally, whatever the kind
of text to be translated and its degree of specialisation.
The various text types (from the most technical, functions non-literary text to
the most poetical literary ones) might be forming unbroken continuum
Not one "correct" translation
There are several good translations. Reasons for this variation include:

The purpose of the translation

The translation team itself

The receptor language audience for whom the translation is intended

From literal translation to idiomatic translations
Literal translation: follows very closely the grammatical and lexical forms
of the source text language

Idiomatic translation: concerned with communicative meaning of the

source text, using the natural, grammatical and lexical item of the
receptor language
Unduly translation: the ones which changes some info.

Literal, semantic, communicative texts.

Literal translation follows very closely the grammatical and lexical focus of the
source text language
Literal translation: direct translation. It means "word- by -word"
Semantic translation: focussed on source text (not on recipient)
Communicative translation: functional, recreation, reformulation,
focussed on the audience.
Semantic vs communicative :Newmark
Semantic translation
Communicative translation
Author-centred
Reader-centred
Pursues author's thought process. RelatedPursues author's intention. Related to
to thought
speech
Concerned with author as individual
Adapts and makes the thought and
cultural content of original more
accessible to the reader
Semantic and syntactic oriented. LengthEffect oriented. Formal features or
of sentences, position and integrity of original sacrificed, more readily
clauses, word position , preserved
whenever is possible.
Faithful, more literal
Faithful, freer.
Informative
Effective
Usually more awkward, more details,Easy reading, more natural, smoother,
more complex, but briefer
simpler, clearer, more direct, more
conventional, conforming to particular
register of language, but longer.
Deberes, leer los de ht1 , y hacer los ejercicios. Tengo que subirlos al campus
virtual.
Units of translation
Some introductory issues
Intuitive notion of unit of translation?
There are different levels units. There are texts that are really conventionalized.
For instance: contracts, you reproduce the same thing to the other language
and it can be a unit. There are many texts that have the same pattern.
Issues for theoretical debate on translation units:
"Translators do not translate whole texts in one fell swoop. They proceed a
little at a time, and as they do each spurt, each segment forms a fragment of
bi-text in their minds. Not only is the whole text a bit-text, but each segment

combines ST and TT" 'these segments, in turn, are correlated both so-called
"translation units"
A translation unit is a segment of a text which the translator treats as
a single cognitive unit for the purposes of establishing and
equivalence.
The length of the text (or sense) segment used as a working unit
varies
The larger these units are, the better chance of idiomatic translation
The shorter, the less readable the resulting text.
Working translation units depend on Type of translation (to rhetorical,
stylistic, contextual criteria) and the nature of documents (pre-formulated
patterns, technical texts)

A clear example would be a text that is not conventionalized, and

because of that we need to divide en small units
But in the case of el padre nuestro we considered it as a whole unit
because is conventionalized.

The ideal unit:

Translating whole texts in one fell swoop (Toury)-----Often unfeasible

Segmentation into manageable Translation units---- Key phase in
translation process.

Translation units of a different scope

Translation units: there are three types: macro units, foci (compound),
atoms (distribution).
Translation macro-unit: Is the largest unit which the translator needs to
consider. The text as a whole: what kind of text, are we dealing with? Decision
about choice of translation are made by taking the text into account
Translation focus: "the section of text which the translator focusses on at any
one time" The clause as being concerned with the commonest translation focus.
Translation atom: "the smallest segment of the utterance where the cohesion
of signs is such that they cannot be translated separately"

First sense of UT (UT: Translation unit)

Expression of a single element of thought
Uts sometimes correspond to single words; sometimes to more
than one word; sometimes to part of a word

Smaller than a word: hermosisima, entreabiertos, misjudge.

Corresponding to a word
Multi-word units: is the object of study of phraseology.

Multi-words units: phraseological considerations.

Appropiate combinations of words.

We use "prefabricated speech", pre-patterned "building-blocks"
Words become "glued" together in our minds: (nuclear family,
make a decision, river bank)

In other words:

Language: occurrences of words + partners- are more or less probable

Language users rely to a very high extent on ready-made language
"lexical chunks", which can be easily combined to form sentences.
When these ready-made chunks do not fulfil the speaker's immediate
needs, he innovates.
Phraseology:
Study of relatively stable word-groups with partially or fully transferred
meaning (more or less idiomatized):

Frozen or fixed status: face value, bad apple, etc.

Vs Free combinations: semilleros de nostalgia, madruga el
corazn

Problem:

Degree of stabilization
It's not an either / or phenomenon, but a gradual one
Words have more or less expected partners.

Expected partners

Lexical-co-occurrence (collocations): guardia civil but not guardia

mastica
Semantic preferences
Phraseology: problem
The in-between:

Issues, labels, etc. Acc to perspectives

Frequency of co-occurrence,
Degree of semantic transparency,
Degree of lexicalization (fossilization)
Of conventionality (idiomaticity):

o hombre de hierro (vs hombre de paja)

o , resounding success/ xito rotundo;
o Endure sacrifices, wars, dramas, tragedies ,symptons
Phraseology (cline) (skip)
Usually the most stable, the most lexicalized, the most idiomatized units are
also the most opaque and effect most meaning of component, but not always.

Finer types (highly conventional)

Phrasal verbs: Make up with
Siamese twins (also irreversible binomials)
25/10/2013
Analizando el texto de Darwin:
WHEN on board H.M.S. 'Beagle,' as naturalist, I was much struck with certain
facts in the distribution of the organic beings inhabiting South America, and in
the geological relations of the present to the past inhabitants of that continent.
These facts, as will be seen in the latter chapters of this volume, seemed to
throw some light on the origin of speciesthat mystery of mysteries, as it has
been called by one of our greatest philosophers. On my return home, it
occurred to me, in 1837, that something might perhaps be made out on this
question by patiently accumulating and reflecting on/all sorts of facts which
could possibly have any bearing on it. After five years' work I allowed myself to
speculate on the subject, and drew up some short notes; these I enlarged in
1844 into a sketch of the conclusions, which then seemed to me probable; from
that period to the present day I have steadily pursued the same object. I hope
that I may be excused for entering on these personal details, as I give them to
show that I have not been hasty in /coming to a decision. Darwin: The Origin of
species.
They are words that usually are translated together. Of course there are more
posibilities but these are more creative.
Correccin:
Frecuent collocations:

On my return home
It occurred to me
All sorts of
After (five) years work
I allowed myself to
Seemed to me
From to the present day
Personal details
Come to a decision.
Syntatically stable: (for example)

Struck with
Be made out of
Have any bearing on
Speculate on
Drew up+ Dobj
Be excused for -ing

Be hasty in -ing, etc.

One of -est..
Could possibly
I hope I may...
Texto de obama:
I just received a very gracious call from Senator McCain. He fought long and
hard in this campaign, and he's fought even longer and harder for the country
he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to
imagine, and we are better off for the service rendered by this brave and
selfless leader. I congratulate him and Governor Palin for all they have
achieved, and I look forward to working with them to renew this nation's
promise in the months ahead. I want to thank my partner in this journey, a
man who campaigned from his heart and spoke for the men and women he
grew up with on the streets of Scranton and rode with on that train home to
Delaware, the Vice President-elect of the United States, Joe Biden To my
campaign manager David Plouffe, my chief strategist David Axelrod, and the
best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics - you made this
happen, and I am forever grateful for what you've sacrificed to get it done. But
above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to - it belongs to
you. I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn't start with much
money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of
Washington - it began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of
Concord and the front porches of Charleston. It was built by working men and
women who dug into what little savings they had to give five dollars and ten
dollars and twenty dollars to this cause. It grew strength from the young
people who rejected the myth of their generation's apathy; who left their
homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep; from the
not-so- young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock
on the doors of perfect strangers; from the millions of Americans who
volunteered, and organized, and proved that more than two centuries later, a
government of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished
from this Earth. This is your victory (Mr. OBAMAs speech Chicago, IL |
November 04, 2008)
Idioms: they are expression that you cannot recognized if you dont have a
dictionary

Idioms:
To be better of
I look forward to (working)
Long and hard
There are quotes that are conventionalized:
A government of the people, by the people and for the people (lincoln:
gettysburg address: "democracy")
Also institutionalized:
The Vice President-elect of the USA Backyard, livingrooms.

Collocations:
Endure sacrifaces

Services rendered
To renew a promise
Partner in a journey
To ride on a train
Candidate for an office
Front porches
Little savings
Grew strenghts from
Reject the myth
Left their homes (for jobs)
Jobs offering little pay
To brave the cold
Bitter cold
Scorching heat
Perfect stranger
Campaign hatched in

Collocation ( more or less recurrent, stable)

In the months ahead
In the history of
Iiam forever grateful for
To get it done
Working men and women
The nor-so-young people
More than (2 centuries later)

syntactic
Receive a call from
Fight for
Most of
Congratulate someone for
To grow up with
Best (team)
Ever (assembled
Belong to
Candidate for
Dug into
Give savings to (the cause)
To knock on the door of
Perish from
Discoursive: (to link different ideas, or to stablish jerarquas)
to above all

PARDO BAZN
Qu edad contara yo a la sazn? Once o doce aos? Ms bien seran trece,
porque antes es demasiado temprano para enamorarse tan de veras; pero no
me atrevo a asegurar nada, considerando que en los pases meridionales
madruga mucho el corazn, dado que esta vscera tenga la culpa de
semejantes trastornos. Me qued como embelesado al mirarla. Un rayo de sol
se filtraba por la vidriera y hera la seductora imagen, que pareca querer

desprenderse del fondo oscuro y venir hacia m. Era una criatura hermossima,
como yo no la haba visto jams sino en mis sueos de adolescente, cuando los
primeros estremecimientos de la pubertad me causaban, al caer la tarde, vagas
tristezas y anhelos indefinibles. Podra la dama del retrato frisar en los veinte y
pico; no era una virgencita cndida, capullo a medio abrir, sino una mujer en
quien ya resplandeca todo el fulgor de la belleza. Tena la cara oval, pero no
muy prolongada; los labios carnosos, entreabiertos y risueos; los ojos
lnguidamente entornados, y un hoyuelo en la barba, que pareca abierto por la
yema del dedo juguetn de Cupido. Su peinado era extrao y gracioso: un
grupo compacto a manera de pia de bucles al lado de las sienes, y un cesto de
trenzas en lo alto de la cabeza. Este peinado antiguo, que arremangaba en la
nuca, descubra toda la morbidez de la fresca garganta, donde el hoyo de la
barbilla se repeta ms delicado y suave. En cuanto al vestido... Yo no acierto a
resolver si nuestras abuelas eran de suyo menos recatadas de lo que son
nuestras esposas, o si los confesores de antao gastaban manga ms ancha
que los de hogao. Y me inclino a creer esto ltimo, porque har unos sesenta
aos las hembras se preciaban de cristianas y devotas, y no desobedecan a su
director de conciencia en cosa tan grave y patente. Pardo Bazn: Primer amor

Idiom-like
A la sazn
Ms bien
(tan) de veras
(veinte) y pico
A medio (abrir)
Eran de suyo
Antao...hogao (then and now)
(gastar) manga ancha
Har unos aos.
Collocation (more or less lexicalized)
Contar edad
Es demasiado temprano para
(NO) me atrevo a
Tenga la culpa de
Me quede .
Rayos del sol se filtraban
Desprenderse del fondo
Fondo oscuro
Sueos de adolescentes
Causar tristezas
Capullo (a medio ) abrir
Al caer la tarde
Labios carnosos
Ojos (ligeramente) entornados
Yema del dedo (meronimia: words which constitues a part of sentence)
Yo no acierto a
Me inclino a ..
Hoyuelo en la barbilla
Less than word (they are units because when we translate into a
another language we ought to use precise words )
Hermo-sisima (sisima: would be an atom less than a word )

Vigencita (ita)
Entreabiertos
Hoyuelo
Juguetn (tn)

Hyponymy (expected words in a text, in this case: parts of the head)

Cara
Labios
Ojos
Hoyuelos
Barba
Peinado
Sienes
Cabeza
Nuca
Garganta
Syntactic/colligation
Desprenderse del
Preciarse de
Desobedecan a
Menos de lo que
Discoursive
Considerando que
Dado que
no era sino
En cuanto a
Si o si..
Esto ltimo
NAMES: DEFINITION
A proper name is a word that answers the purpose of showing what thing it is
that we are talking about, but not of telling anything about it. The problem with
names is that culturally the concept of names can change. There are cultural
differences between the function and use of personal names in Western
language cultures and Eastern tradition. Proper names are, to some degree,
culturally and linguistically specific although some names are universal, which
means one and the same name (name form) is used in more than one
language, for instance: the name of the Bible: Santiago=James.

Deictic quality: the point directly to a single concrete referent.

Identification of individuals, places, animals or thing.
Even the phonetic form determines and limits the name to be culturally
specific: Pedro, Pierre

Set of properties expressed a description/ definition: Many ordinary names

have had meanings in the language of origin, but since they enter into new

languages and cultures over the years, the original meanings are gradually lost:
Paloma, Jazmin, Garbancito, etc.
Names may be non-descriptive, but are always informative: age, region, etc.
Eneko, Vanesa, Eva Maria. (20 years ago these names were not found)
Conventional names: those seen as unmotivated' for translation, since they
apparently do not carry a semantic load; their morphology and phonology do
not need to be adapted to the target language system.
Loaded names: those seen as 'motivated' for translation, range from faintly
'suggestive' to overtly expresive
Fiction and non-fiction texts
We have assumed that in fictional texts (comedies, allegories, fairy tales,
children's stories ) there is no name that has no informative function at all.
Fiction: more loaded and descriptive.
If the information is explicit (descriptive names): the name should be
translated.
If the information is implicit: the translator is free to compensate the implicit
meaning of the name.
For instance: Blancanieves (Snowwhite), la Cenicienta (Cinderella), Juan sin
Miedo (Fearless John), etc.

Translation of names:
They can be copied
They can be transcribed (if it has a different alphabet)
They can be substituted or recreated (to get similar effect)
They can be translated or phonologically replaced
Deletion of a source-text name
Insertion of a new one
Compensate for the loss by giving additional information in the context.
TRASLATION PROCEDURES:

In translation we have lexical gaps, for instance:

Guardia civil-civil guard?
Paso de semana santa- scene?
Sangra?
Cocido- stew?
Romera- Go on a pilgrimage?
Verbena- Open-air dance?
Cacerolada??

Gramatical gaps:
I usually- suelo?
We dont have, for example: the apostrophes structure.
Some pasts, in Spanish, dont exist in English. You have to substitute.

Most common translation procedures:

These are compensation strategies. They are used to fill in these gaps.

Transliteration: mapping form one system of writing into another, word-byword or, ideally, letter by letter. In the broader sense, transliteration is a
necessary process when using words or concepts expressed in a language with
a script. (For instance: :Pekn. En chino tiene otro alfabeto pero para
traducirlo tenemos que utilizar transliteracin)

Borrowing: Translation procedure whereby the translator uses a word or

expression from the source text in the target text. In other words the translator
takes exactly the word, perhaps is not recommended to do it so often. They are
normally printed in italics if they are not considered to have been naturalized in
the target language, for example: Software, sidecar, pyjama, mocasines, bistec,
etc.

Calque: The translator translates an expression (or occasionally, a word),

literally into the target language, translating the elements of the expression
word-by-word. In other words, copying the same phrase but with target words.
For example: honeymoon-Luna de miel, brainwashing: lavado de cerebro.
Transposition: it is concerned with the changes of grammatical categories in
translation. Its the most frequent device used by translators, mostly by
intuition. For example: forniture (no plural), in Spanish: Muebles (plural); blue
balloon: globo azul (Word order)

Modulation: one of the most interesting. Its a change in the point of view.
There are many types:
Negating the contrary: Its unnecessary (no es necesario)
Changing the affected entity:

o Hes said to be(Dicen que es)

o We were required to... (Se nos pidi que)
o Percivals eyes closed, and he appeared to sleep: Percival cerr los ojos (The
agent changes- en el primero, son los ojos; en el segundo, es Percival quien
cierra los ojos.)

Reduction and expansion: Substruction or adding words to the target text.

For example: He waved for a porter for (Para llamar a un mozo) With
reduction, the translator should make sure that any crucial information is not
dropped.

Compensation: (we have to be careful with this) The translator solves the
problem of aspect of the source text that cannot take the same for in the
target language by replacing these aspects with other elements or forms in
the source text.

Paraphrase: replace a word in the source text by a group of words or an

expression in the target text. Example: sabra: hebreo- (hijo chumbo)
israel nacido en Palestina, no inmigrante. Se escribe en cursiva.

Translator's note: they are footnote or endnote added by the translator to

the target text to provide additional information pertaining to the limits of
translation, the cultural background or any other explanation.

Adaption: Also known as free translation. The translator replaces a social or

cultural reality in the source text with a corresponding reality in the target
language. This new reality would be more usual to the audience of the target
language. Example: Duelos y quebrantos los sbados: Scraps on Saturdays,
Dupond et Dupont: Hernndez y Fernndez.

HT-5 problem of translation, si quiero ir mas profundo tengo que leerlo.

TRANSLATION OF "REALIA" :
Realia: it has a latin origin. "the real thing " as opposed to words which are
neither things nor real.
For translation studies /CL: signs, words and more precisely, those words
signifying objects of the material culture, especially pertaining to a local
culture. Not easy to translate.
Geographic and ethnographic realia:
Example: Hebrew "beit k'nesset" (literally, House of assembly)

You can do a simple transliteration

You can paraphrase (Translate to reconstruct in the receiving culture:
Gathering house)
You can adapt (Church, mosque or temple)
Translator' notes
Fake words but people can understand

Political and social realia (you have to decide)

Regional administrative agencies (i.e. region, province, canton,
arrondissement)
Organisms and offices (congress, junta)
Social and political life (Peronist, tupamaros, Ku Klux Klan)
Militrary realia (Phalange, horde, guerrilla)
Translating realia:
Translator must decide how to translate based on:
Text type
Significance of realia within context
Type of realia and systemic /cultural role
The languages and the acceptability
expressions, etc.

of

new

collocations

Languages and realia (you may lose some kind of meaning)

Realia words would be:
Hidalgo:

and

Olla: its an special kind of food.

Ama:
Ejercicio El Quijote: realia Hecho en clase
La Sombra del viento: Ejercicio hecho en clase (pasar aparte)
Children literature:
We need to know the translation macro-unit:
Author-audience.
Children's literature.
We cannot use difficult vocabulary. We need to use everyday expressions and
try to find fun words and simple structure, also the rhyming. In English
children's book are full of rime. We need to use repetitions, because it helps to
understand the story.
Well known phrases, conventional expressions and affective words.
Source
text'sTarget text's name Translation procedures or strategies
name
used
Mr. Bouncer
Don Saltarn
Transposition,
Mr. Bump
Don Pupas
Mr. Greedy
Don Glotn
Semantic restriction
Mr. Mean
Don Tacaete
Mr silly
Don tontainas

Work on Mr Happy:
Translation atoms:
As well as
All the people
As well
Translation procedures:
(Laberinto) - semantic
Reduction: being happy,

Don

feliz

(gaviota)-

communicative

Don feliz (gaviota)- communicative

Mr. Feliz

Mr. Feliz (Laberinto) semantic

Translation units
Translation
Reduction: being happy
Calque: Happylandprocedures
Transposition: "nunca" con el "ni"
felicilandia
Paraphrase+expansion:(debeis visitar )
Pas de la felicidad
Mismatching
Grammar Mismatchings
Imprimir Ht6 Assignment
Important grammatical differences between English and Spanish. You may think
of:

Spanish has a lot of inflexions

Determiners: en espaol (el, la, los y las; artculos); in English there
is not a gramatical distinction between those mentioned: They have
the.
Determinantes indefinidos: (uno, una, unos, unas). In English, for the
singular forms, they only have the a. For plural forms, they use
some or any, depending on the sentences.
In English, the subject is compulsory.
In English, adjectives are always written before the noun.

Tenses :
You dont know how happy you have made me.
No sabe usted lo feliz que me hace.
Se ha aadido el usted quizs para enfatizar que en la versin inglesa no se
refiere a una persona que trata con frecuencia. In English, they have used the
Present Perfect, whereas in Spanish its the present, the tense that has been
used.
Background: language translatability?
Languages share some features: universal language
All languages are distincts: self- standing, autonomous system.
Languages may be close, distant or similar:

o Similarity: its a matter of approach-the closer the comparison, the

lower the degree of sameness. Example: the idea of plurality is not

the same: hora y media-One and a half hours / another 50 pands.

Some kind of linguistic asymmetries:

Structural or lexical gaps- Casillas vacas:
Cursi-seny
Rincn/Esquina-Corner
Heaven/sky-cielo
Peter read a book: Pedro lea/ley un libro.
Spanish: use of expressions referring to God, religin, etc.
!Vaya por Dios! Ooops, sorry !
A la buena de Dios- carelessly
Cost Dios y ayuda terminarlo- Extremely difficult to finish.
No hay Dios que entienda esto- no one understand it.
SIMILAR FORMS AND DIFFERENT FUNCTIONS
This is a table

Esto es una mesa

Im a doctor

Soy mdico

Shes got such a strong character

Tiene una personalidad

(s) V (o) He opened the door

Abri la ventana

My car broke down

Se me rompi el coche (particularly

affected)

I trust her

Confo en ella

To spy on

Espiar

I lack time

Me falta tiempo

SIMILAR FORMS WITH DIFFERENT FREQUENCY OF OCCURRENCE

Podras pasarme la sal?

Psame la sal, por favor.

Me pasas la sal?

We use each one depending on who we talk to.

WF: LINGUISTIC PREFERENCES

ENGLISH FAVOURS

SPANISH FAVOURS

Compounds

Suffixes

Juxtaposition

Ddo+Dte structure

Semi-independent
preffixes
(in
between
derivation
and
compounding):
overestimate,
outstanding, etc.

Periphrastic and
constructions

analytical

explicit

ENGLISH WORD INVARIABILITY

Fixed Word Order

Defining+defined: blue ballon

WF and NP: endocentric constructions, more cohesive: wild life (naturaleza

salvaje)
The final element embraces de previous one:

Juxtaposition: it helps the addressee to decode the message

Non-explicit links to get to the nuclear noun:

Examples:
Fishing boat

Pesquero

Horse show

Concurso hpico

Dog Show

Exposicin canina

Sound-proofing

Insonorizacin

Five-year plan

Plan quinquenal

Land Reform

Reforma agraria

Family tree

rbol genealgico

Finger prints

Huellas dactilares

This shows that Spanish is more likely to use derivation rather than
compounds, which is a more English feature.

A turn-coat politician: chaquetero

Christmas Eve: vspera de Navidad

Office door: puerta del despacho

Film-going public: aficionados al cine

PARTICULAR PREFERENCES
English has a wide range variety of preffixes to express negation qualities
(unlike Spanish): unagressive, unalarmed, unannounced, unanswered,
unappetizing, etc.
Spanish examples: pacfico (unagressive); poco alarmado (unalarmed).

MORE EXAMPLES: DENSITY OF NPs Noun trains.

The Trade Union Movement: movimiento sindical.

Day-to-day chores of life: cosas cotidianas

Old-fashioned car: coche viejo, anticuado

The man in charge: el encargado, responsable.

VERB ASYMETRIES: TENSE AND MOOD

Complex relationship between tense, aspect and mood

Complex relationship between tense, aspect, mood and morphological,

lexical and discourse structures.

Maana a estas horas, ya he hablado

Quera pedirte un favor
Oil float on water

Tense and real time (present, past, future) are not coincidental

Maana voy al mdico.

Los leones son fieras.
Pues ayer llego a clase y me encuentro con que no hay nadie.

Clearest tense: past.

The future is unknown, so it is very difficult to refer to. The present is
difficult to grasp and describe (from the present momento to eternal
truths); from revived past to immediate future).

TENSES:

Presente: Present
Imperfecto/indefinido: Past

Pretrito perfecto compuesto: Present Perfect

Pretrito pluscuamperfecto: Past perfect.

USOS DEL PRETRITO IMPERFECTO

Accin habitual o repetida en el pasado (aspectual).

Puede ir acompaado de expresiones temporales que expresan acto

habitual: entonces, todos los das, etc.

In English: analytical contructions to supply imperfect.

Accin durativa en desarrollo (proceso o progresin, aspectual). For

example: Qu hacan ustedes all?; English: was/were + -ing.

Estilo indirecto: dijo que vena hoy; English: alternativa analtica en

general.

En descripciones: semi-aspectual. Ej: era un hombre alto que llevaba

corbata; English: alternativa de accin habitual y sustantivacin
frecuente.

Imperfecto de cortesa: (modal, metfora general, distancia), ej:

vena a pedirte un favor; English: past.

En principio de narracin: se puede usar tanto el imperfecto como el

pretrito perfecto simple, ej: era un da fro de invierno; English:
past.

El imperfecto no es considerado exactamente como un tiempo verbal,

es ms un aspecto.

PRETRITO PERFECTO SIMPLE

Accin puntual o acabada en el pasado (English: past)

Accin repetida y acabada en el pasado, solo si el hablante seala el

nmero de veces.

FURTHER

(ASPECTUAL)
GENERAL APPROACH)

CONSIDERATION

(FROM

VERY

Perfecto espaol: pasado con relevancia en el presente, aunque la accin

est acabada.

Perfect English: pasado que puede prolongarse hacia el futuro (presente

espaol): Ive lived here for 5 years/ vivo aqu desde hace 5 aos. El
espaol se ocupa del resultado. Sin embargo, el ingls se ocupa del
discurrir del tiempo.

Presente Simple en ingls: tiempo restringido. La duracin real de un

proceso suele expresarse a travs de formas progresivas y su uso es
menos frecuente con referencia al futuro. Qu estudias/comes/bebes?

Formas progresivas inglesas, menos marcadas que las espaolas. Las

formas simples del pasado y presente espaolas mantienen un
significado de aspecto imperfectivo del que las correspondientes inglesas
carecen: What are you standing out there for?/Qu haces ah fuera?

Perspectiva resultativa del espaol vs dinmica del ingls: I come to talk

to you/He venido para hablar contigo.

Spanish is not very focussed on when the action takes place.

MOOD: SUBJUNTIVE VS INDICATIVE

Expression of reality/irreality.

Subjuntive: marked mood:

Wrapping the action with a subjunctive tinge.

Perception: focussed on the I (attitudes expressed)

Irreality (Irrealis)
Irreality: what the subject does not perceive directly from the referential world,
but has to imagine in other posible worlds.
Non-factual,
senses).

non-material,

non-real

(not

concrete,

Inactuality: comparisons, futures, conditions.

Subjective: desires, doubts, uncertainty,
assessment.

perceivable,

fear,

needs,

through

possibility,

In English: things are more specific. Obligatory kind of world. Thats why
modals are so precise, they mark which condition affect the event, whereas
Spanish focusses more on (-).
Examples:

Lo pinto como me digis (Subjunctive: irreality/non-factual)

Lo pinto como me decs/habis dicho

Se casar con la princesa que habla espaol (real world)

Se casar con la princesa que hable espaol (it may not exist)

Me pondr una corbata que combina/e bien con esto (subjunctive: nonreferential. The identification of the referent is not focussed)

ENGLISH:

Mood through modal analytical constructions (I can, may, must, should,

shallspeak)
Referring to/specifying posible worlds: deontic, epistemic.

Mood irrelevant: non-preferred meaning: indicative.

Use of infinitival constructions. They do not mark the sentence with time
information.

Examples: It is sad resentment can extend even/Es triste que el rencor

alcance hasta los muertos.

You might think its a bit rare/Acaso les parezca

You cannot expect me to discuss/No esperes que

I might go away/ Quiz me vaya

What could I give for a kiss!/Qu te diera por un beso!

MOOD IRRELEVANT (SPEAKERS ATTITUDE)

I hope it rains/will rain (Espero que llueva)
Im sorry youre ill (Siento que ests enfermo)
Im afraid they saw me (Temo que me hayan visto)
He order her to go (Le orden que se fuera)

WORD ORDER
SPANISH

Free/pragmatic

ENGLISH

Rigid/Syntactic

English: different from Spanish

Use of passive voice: Pronominal verbs (Spanish) vs personal constructions
(English).

RIGID WO-FLEXIBLE WO
ENGLISH (rigid wo)
1st position: correct
subject (main function)

SPANISH (Free, flexible wo)

identification

Communicative, expressive goals

1st position used to link with some

information given before

---

Subject: not strongly linked

Stronger identification+agent

Subject always goes first

Subject does not have to go first

Weaker ID of subject and agent

Stronger ID + given info, contrastive.

More examples: David hizo la comida/David cooked the meal

La foto la hizo un profesional/The picture was taken by a profesional

photographer
A Kevin le duelen las muelas/Kevin had toothache/fell ill (Kevin was
given a present)
En la caja hay cinco manzanas/The box contains five apples. (Madrid is
very much liked).

DIFFERENT CONCEPT OF PASSIVE

English: no interest in agent, promotion of non-agents to a 1st postition, OD/OI
taken to 1st position.
Spanish: different constructions for those functions (we do not need the passive
as English does). It is not a different way to describe an action.

WO+flexible (ms diferencias verbales ricas)

Oraciones impersonales activas en 3 persona.

Pasiva refleja

Preposiciones que identifican al OD

Referentes anafricos: Su vida l la compraba con

Construcciones resultativas: +estar, quedar, etc.

Further differences:
ENGLISH:

Menor identificacin del sujeto con las caractersticas

(+human)
+ volition + sentence +causing change + movement

agentivas

John cleaned the house (clearly agent)

John fainted (less agent)/The stick bends; Peter died (less agent)

The box contains apples (not agent)

SPANISH:

Marca gramatical voz media.

Me gustan los libros de peces: pronoun (the human entity involved in the
process is not the agent)/ Me apetece ir al cine/Le horroriza levantarse
temprano/En invierno se caen las hojas.

Se puso de pie (reflexivity): the human participant is not prototypically

involved in the action of the verb.

Me compr unos zapatos: se introduce

normalmente compro cosas para los dems.

Me aprend el libro de memoria: I am particularly affected by the action

of learning

el

pronombre

porque

EVENT PERSPECTIVE:
SPANISH

ENGLISH

Result

Activity (or dynamism)

Verbalization

Nominalization

Affective

Description

Subordination
(more
explicit
expression of relationships between
sentences)

Coordination

RESULT VS ACTIVITY: ASPECTUAL PREFERENCES

The verb estar istself; we also have the verb resultar (and other verbs).
That is why Spanish has more enphasis on result.
Adjectives and derived words: Pepe es muy agradecido/cansado/atrevido./Ive
seen Pepe saying Result (agradecido)/saying (dynamic meaning).
Loosing cause (more dynamic): causa perdida (en espaol ya est perdida).

TRANSLATE/GIVE SPANISH EQUIVALENT

This is one of the most boring books Ive ever read/Este es uno de los
libros ms aburridos que he ledo.

ENGLISH: GERUND (ACTIVITY); SPANISH: PAST PARTICIPLE (RESULT)

PERFRASIS VERBALES ESPAOLAS

Accin verbal: perfectivo: acabar de+infinitivo; dejar
tener+participio y accin repetida en el pasado (te tengo dicho).

de+infinitivo;

Examples: llevar ledo, estar acabado, quedar constituido, llegar a pensar, llegar
a + infinitivo (in the end the thought of result).

Progresivo: estar + gerundio, andar + gerundio.

Examples of both: Vino a decir que nos fusemos inmediatamente (He finally
told us). In English it has been turned into an adverb.

Llegaron a decirle que l no vala para eso: They even told him
Volva a cometer el mismo error: He made the same mistake again

Seguimos pensando que Pepe es un poco bobo: we still think

Ya llevo hechas: he/she has already done

Ya tengo visto mucho en esta vida: Ive already seen

EVENT PERSPECTIVE: NOMINALIZATION VS VERBALIZATION

Nominalization+ing
Nominal vs verbal density:

Estorbar: to be or get in the way of

Obstaculizar: to put obstacles in the way of

Estrenar: to wear or use something for the 1st time

ENGLISH:
A=B structures

Tom is a slow eater/Tom come despacio.

Complex NPs:

The car door window control button

The opening of the highway through the Rockies by the minister

Dynamic prepositions:

Two friends over a glass of beer/Dos amigos que estaban tomndose una
cerveza

-ing from nominal to verbal patterns:

Under-aged drinking: para reducir el consumo de alcohol en menores

It depends on the person being interviewed: depende del entrevistado.

He admitted defeat: se dio por vencido.

He enjoys his food: disfruta comiendo

Your opposition to the plan: si te opones al plan

He would have no ties now: Ya no habra nada que le atara.

ENGLISH PREPOSITIONS + DYNAMIC CONTENT (Spanish verbal

support)

Two friends over a glass of beer/Que estaban tomndose una caa.

The inspector on the case/Encargado del caso.

The girl in New York: la chica que estaba en Nueva York

The reason for his

probablemente a

failure

is

probably/Su

fracaso

se

deba

DESCRIPTIVE (impersonal) VS AFFECTIVE DESCRIPTION

Palabras imgenes (Me faltan los ejemplos!)

ENGLISH COORDINATION VS SPANISH SUBORDINATION

So I went one backing, reached the main road and sped away as fast as
I could: segu marcha atrs y al llegar a la carretera me alej lo ms
rpido que pude.

The policeman stayed and listened and watched me: El polica se qued,
escuchndome y observndome.

BACK TO ARTICLES
Apparently similar: BUT
Ontological issues: individual matter, quality, class, types, archetypes.

El perro de Juan es cojo: individual.

El caf es amargo: matter.

El azul es mi color favorito: quality.

El perro es el mejor amigo del hombre: class

Los perros son sus mejores amigos: type.

Deja de hacer el payaso: archetype

Function of articles: different.

Articles are referential elements, but that is not only achieved through articles.
Lexicalization patterns: phraseology.
Definite vs indefinites: not a clear-cut 2-element dichotomy (It means that
there is not a clear distinction).

Alarcos: el artculo indeterminado is not an article.

Languages are perceptive and conceptual: we may see things as if/make

them look as if.

No pude encontrar el taxi

No pude encontrar un taxi

No pude encontrar taxi (recategorized as non-countable. Closer to

matter

Libro de bolsillo: (recategorized as quality, very adjective-like).

DEFINITE ARTICLE

Basic function: it marks the referent as identifiable, delimited, accessible,

known in the universe of discourse.
Co-text: Obama tiene un perro. El perro se llama Bob.
Context: Situation or encyclopedia, knowledge, humanity?
The definite article is culturally known as unique.
Uniqueness: El Sol, La Luna, la tierra, el polo norte (The sun, the moon, the
earth, the north pole).
But: el infierno, el paraso: Hell, paradise.
El cielo: the sky, Heaven
English: only unique with countable nouns

La ta Rosa: Aunt Rose. It is a name, the whole thing. The notion of

name is a little bit different.
El Rey Juan: King John.

DEFINITE: KNOWN AS STEREOTYPED

Mirar por la ventana: look out of the window.

Coger el autobus: take the bus

Ir al teatro: go to the theatre

Meterse en la cama: go to bed (!)

Cubo de la basura: garbage bin.

La mitad de la botella: half the bottle (In Spanish we all know that
everything has its mitad, but in English its not so clear).

Las golondrinas ya se dejan ver por las calles: swallos(without the

article).

KNOWN AS INELANIABLE

His eyes were full of tears: tena los ojos llenos de lgrimas: tena los
ojos llenos de lgrimas.

Se meti la mano en el bolsillo: his hand in his pocket.

INDEFINITE ARTICLE
English:

Contextually unknown
+grammatical content

Marker for entities that are unknown

Emphasis on classification

Spanish:

Closer to numeral
+semantic content

Contrastive (cuantitativo, cualitativo)

Emphatic (intensity).

Metaphorical (less referential: un payaso)

Emphasis on predication

Examples:

This is a table/Esto es una mesa.

Pepe is a teacher/Pepe es profesor (es payaso: un payaso)

Trento, a quiet city/Trento, ciudad tranquila del norte de Italia

He was wearing a tie/llevaba corbata; ser victima, causa, objeto, presa

de algo; tener ascensor; cerrar con llave (these last two examples are
written only to show the difference between the sentences with article
and without article)

Qualifying expressions: closer to adverbs and adjectives (often

translated by verbs, verbs-like elements or compound nouns in which
the first acts as a modifier).