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MAIN ISSUES OF TRANSLATION STUDIES

The concept of translation The term ) ) ) TRANSLATION itself has several meanings: the general subject field the product (the text that has been translated) the process (the act of producing the translation)

The process of translation involves the translator changing an original written text (the source text - ST) in the original language (the source language - SL) into a written text (the target text - TT) in a different language (the target language TL). Jakobson differentiates between 3 categories of translation: a) INTRALINGUAL an interpretation of verbal signs by means of other signs of the same language; rephrasing b) INTERLINGUAL an interpretation of verbal signs by means of some other language; translation proper c) INTERSEMIOTIC - an interpretation of verbal signs by means of nonverbal sign system; transmutation

Developments of the discipline Although written and spoken translations have played a crucial role in interhuman communication throughout history, the study of translation as an academic subject has only really begun in the past 50 years. In 1972 Holmes described the discipline as being "concerned with the problems clustered around the phenomenon of translating". In 1988 Snell-Hornby writes about "the demand that translation studies should be viewed as an independent discipline" and in 1995 she writes about "the breathtaking development of translation studies" There has been a proliferation of specialized translating and interpreting courses at both undergraduate and postgraduate level, as well as several designated "Centres of Translation". These are mainly oriented towards training future professional commercial translators and interpreters. Other courses focus on the practice of literary translation. There has also been a proliferation of conferences, books and journals on translation in many languages (Babel, Meta, Across Languages and Cultures, Literature in Translation). There are various professional publications dedicated to the practice of translation (The Linguist, In Other Words). International conferences were held in a large number of countries, the themes including: translation and training translators, literary translation, legal translation, gender and translation, the history of translation etc.

A brief history of the discipline

The practice of translation was discussed by Cicero, Horace and St Jerome. However, the study of the field developed into an academic discipline only in the second half of the 20th century.

Until the 1960s, language learning was dominated by the grammar-translation method. It was centered on the study of the grammatical rules and structures of the foreign language. Those rules were both practiced and tested by the translation of a series of usually unconnected and artificially constructed sentences exemplifying the structures being studied. Translation exercises were regarded as a means of learning new language or of reading a foreign language text until one had the linguistic ability to read the original. In the 1960s and 1970s came the rise of the direct method the communicative approach to English language teaching. It placed stress on students' natural capacity to learn language and attempted to replicate "authentic" language learning conditions in the classroom, which led to the abandoning of translation in language learning. Translation tended to become restricted to higher-level and university language courses and professional translator training. At the time in the USA, literary translation was promoted in universities by the translation workshops. They were intended as a platform for the introduction of new translations into the target culture and for the discussion of the finer principles of the translation process and of understanding a text. Parallel to this approach was that of comparative literature, where literature is studied and compared transnationally and transculturally . Another area dealing with translation was contrastive analysis the study of two languages in contrast in an attempt to identify general and specific differences between them. Studies were conducted by Vinay and Darbelnet, Catford, James, Di Pietro. Contrastive analysis does not, however, incorporate sociocultural and pragmatic factors, nor the role of translation as a communicative act. The translation studies have moved away from the notion of being primarily connected to language teaching and learning, and the new focus became the specific study of what happens in and around translating and translation. In the 1950s and 1960s a more systematic and linguistic-oriented approach emerged: Vinay and Darbelnet a contrastive approach that categorized what they saw happening in the practice of translation between French and English Malblanc a contrastive approach, French and German Mounin examined linguistic issues of translation Nida incorporated elements of Chomsky's generative grammar

The Holmes/Toury map

Holmes' paper "The name and nature of translation studies" is considered to be the founding statement for the field. He put forward an overall framework describing what translation studies covers, which was subsequently presented by Gideon Toury. TRANSLATION STUDIES

Pure

Applied

theoretical criticism

descriptive

translator training

translation aids

translation

general

product partial oriented oriented

process function oriented

medium restricted

area restricted

rank restricted

text-type restricted

time restricted

problem restricted

Explanation: The objectives of the "pure" areas of research are: 1. the description of the phenomena of translation (descriptive translation theory) 2. the establishment of general principles to explain and predict such phenomena (translation theory) General theories refer to those writings that seek to describe or account for every type of translation and to make generalizations that will be relevant for translation as a whole. Descriptive translation studies (DTS) has three possible foci: 1. product-oriented examines existing translations (e.g. analysis of a single ST-TT pair or a comparative analysis of several TTs of the same ST; analysis of a specific period, language or text/discourse type; diachronic/synchronic studies)

2. function-oriented the description of the function of translations in the


recipient sociocultural situation, a study of contexts (e.g. studies of which books were translated when and where and what influences they exerted)

3. process-oriented concerned with the psychology of translation, trying to


figure out what happens in the mind of the translator

Partial theories of translation: 1. medium-restricted the translation by machine (alone or as an aid to a human translator) or humans (written or spoken consecutive or simultaneous)

2. area-restricted restricted to specific languages or groups of languages


and/or cultures

3. rank-restricted restricted to a specific level of the word or sentence 4. text-type restricted look at specific discourse types or genres (literary,
business, technical translation)

5. time-restricted referring to theories and translations limited to a specific


time frames and periods

6. problem-restricted refer to specific problems such as equivalence or to


whether universals of translated language exist

the applied branch of translation studies concerns: 1. translator training teaching methods, testing techniques, curriculum design 2. translation aids dictionaries, grammars, information technology 3. translation criticism the evaluation of translations, marking of student translations, the reviews of published translations Holmes map omits any mention of the individuality of the style, decision-making processes and working practices of human translators

HISTORY OF TRANSLATION
in the so-called pre-linguistic period, the main focus is the theme of word-for-word and sense-for-sense translation influential authors from the history of translation include: Cicero, St Jerome, Dolet, Luther, Dryden, Tytler and Schleiermacher the oldest partially saved literary translation is the one of Homers Iliad, from Greek to Latin, by Livius Andronicus

The Romans the distinction between literal (word-for-word) and free (sense-for-sense) translation goes back to Cicero he outlined his approach to translation in De optimo genere oratorum the interpreter Cicero mentions is the literal translator, while the orator tries to produce a speech that would move the listeners in Roman times word-for-word meant the exact replacement of each Greek word with its closest grammatical equivalent in Latin Horace in Ars Poeaticaunderlines the goal of producing an aesthetically pleasing and creative text in the TL

St Jerome cites the authority of Ciceros approach to justify his own Latin translation of the Greek Septuagint Old Testament

Jerome disparaged the word-for-word approach because by following so closely the form of the ST, it produced an absurd translation, cloaking the sense of the original the sense-for-sense approach allowed the content/sense of the ST to be translated

Martin Luther the preoccupation of the Roman Catholic Church was for the correct meaning of the Bible to be transmitted non-literal translation came to be seen as a weapon against Church Luther played a pivotal role in the Reformation with his translations of the New Testament and the Old Testament his use of a regional and socially broad dialect reinforced that form of German as a standard he was accused of having altered the Holy Scriptures and defended himself in Circular Letter on Translation Luther rejects word-for-word strategy since it would be unable to convey the same meaning as the ST and would sometimes be incomprehensible

Early translators often differed in the meaning they gave to terms such as faithfulness, accuracy and translation in the end of the 17th century, the concept of fidelity became identified with faithfulness to the meaning spirit denotes creative energy or inspiration, but St Augustine used it as Holy Spirit truth was intertwined with spirit, but had the sense of content

Dryden, Dolet, Tytler (17th/18th century)

Dryden reduces all translation to three categories: metaphrase word-by-word and line-by-line, literal translation paraphrase the author is kept in view by the translator, but his words are not so strictly followed as his sense, faithful translation imitation very free translation, taking, leaving out and adding as wanted; adaptation Dryden criticizes authors who adopt metaphrase, calling them verbal copiers he rejects imitation because it does wrong to the author, and prefers paraphrase Dolet sets out five principles in order of importance: 1. the translator must perfectly understand the sense and material of the original 2. the translator should have a perfect knowledge of both SL and TL 3. the translator should avoid word-for-word renderings 4. the translator should avoid Latinate and unusual forms 5. the translator should assemble words eloquently to avoid clumsiness Tytler Essay on the principles of translation, sets out three general rules: 1) the translation should give a complete transcript of the ideas of the original work 2) the style and manner of writing should be of the same character as the original 3) the translation should have all the ease of the original composition

Schleiermacher (19th century)

On the different methods of translating, founder of modern hermeneutics

distinguishes two different types of translators: Dolmetscher (translates commercial texts) and Ubersetzer (works on scholarly and artistic texts) the question is how to bring the ST writer and the TT reader together: o moving the reader toward the writer prefers this strategy, giving the reader the same impression that he would receive reading the work in the original language o moving the writer toward the reader with the first strategy, the translator must adopt an alienating method of translation, orienting him/herself by the language and the content of the ST consequences: o if the translator wishes to communicate the same impression which he/she received from the ST, it will also depend on the level of education and understanding among the TT readership o a special language of translation may be necessary, compensating something with an imaginative word

Newman and Arnold Newman emphasized the foreignness of the work (Iliad) by a deliberately archaic translation Arnold opposed it and advocated a transparent translation method he advises his audience to put faith in scholars, who are the only ones qualified to compare the effect of the TT to the ST this elitist attitude led to the devaluation of translation (which could never reach the heights of the ST) and its marginalization (the translations were to be produces only for a selected elite)

DEFINITIONS OF TRANSLATION
There are several approaches to translation, and consequently, several definitions of translation. What is common to all the definitions is the idea that there is something in one language that can be considered equivalent to something in another language.

1. LINGUISTIC DEFINITION substituting textual material from the source language


with the equivalent textual material in the target language The relationship of equivalence is established between those elements and categories of the source and target language that occupy the same role in the same context. Those elements are identified: by observing the translator as the competent user of both the SL and the TL formally, as the segment in the TL text that changes only if he corresponding segment in the SL text changes as well

2. PHILOLOGICAL DEFINITION the process of substituting one literary text with


another, and preserving the artistic value of the original The aim is creating the equivalent artistic effect/experience

The text is translated part by part, with a special effort to keep the literary elements of the original: rhyme, word-play, metaphor, allusion, assonance, alliteration, etc. Issues: Can poetry be translated at all? Can a poem be translated into prose? How to translate iambic meter into language with a mainly trochaic system of accentuation?

3. COMMUNICATIVE DEFINITION substituting the source message with the closest


natural equivalent in the target language Communication is one of the main functions of language, so translating can be viewed as a social act between the sender and the receivers and the translator and his/her ultimate receivers. The aim is not absolute equivalence, but the closest natural equivalent.

THEORY SCIENCE PRACTICE


a) Firmly defined system of knowledge and understanding based observing certain significant patterns (the theory of relativity, set theory) systematic explanation of a phenomenon b) Basic scientific terms or theoretical questions of a discipline a set of unrelated data and knowledge about a phenomenon (the theory of literature, the theory of translation) c) Dealing with theoretical problems related to a phenomenon that cannot be scientifically proven and explained explaining the details and developing the metalanguage The theory of translation cannot be scientifically verified we do not know enough to set a firm theory and the phenomenon is too complex to be explained with a single theory.

THE COMPONENTS OF THE TRANSLATION THEORY 1. LINGUISTIC should explain the relationship between the message and the
linguistic codes used to express it, in both the SL and TL

2. PSYCHOLINGUISTIC should explain the relationship between the message and


the senders command of the SL, and the relationship between the received message and the receivers command of the TL

3. SOCIOLINGUISTIC should explain the relationship between the sender the


receiver in the communication process of transferring certain content

THE UNITS OF TRANSLATION


words substituting words from one language with the words from another morphemes the smallest units of meaning syntagms words acquire meaning in context with other words sentences have syntactic structure texts textual material

PROBLEMS OF METHODOLOGY
1. The static view of translation brings about several problems. 1) Stigle su na vrijeme. 1a) They came on time. All linguistic elements of the source text cannot fit in the translated text. In the sentences 1) and 1a) several changes occur: a whole element is lost in translation (feminine stigle) the translator has to decide whether the action took place in the past or just a moment ago (came or have come) the translator has to decide whether they came on time or in time due to the linguistic needs of the TL, it is necessary to add a new element they If translation is viewed merely as the substitution of the linguistic units, and those units cannot be completely substituted, one can conclude that translation is impossible. The appropriate units of translation are communicative units in a communicative situation, the translator will be familiar with the context and know which of the options mentioned above to choose.

2. Transparency vs. non-transparency of translation The translation has to be transparent it must not be noticed, because he receiver wants the equivalent of the original massage and not the form of the original message. Justifications of the non-transparent translation: the original was formed in this specific way the faithfulness of the content is preserved However, too literal translations betray the communicative function: 1b) Arrived they-feminine on time. 2) Mnogo potovani gospodine Jones 2a) Very distinguished Mr. Jones 2b) Dear Mr. Jones 3) u smjeru suprotnom od kazaljke na satu 3a) in the direction opposite to the movement of the hands on the clock 3b) counterclockwise The translation can be left non-transparent if the translator wishes to teach something about the source language (rhythm, style, characteristic lexemes) or when elements of culture and civilization are translated.

THE NATURE OF TRANSLATION


In order to exchange meanings, both the participants of the communication process must be familiar with the linguistic system, or the communication ends. When the translator comes into the picture, the communication is established again. Information is the extra linguistic content which is transferred between the sender and the receiver in the form of message. That content needs to be coded in order to enter the communication channel and decoded by the receiver.

The channel can be spatial (speech), temporal (written) and combined (film). In each case, the message is physical and is transferred until it reaches the receiver. During the communication process, there is a certain feedback which allows the sender to adjust his/her message, according to the reactions of the receiver (e.g. facial expressions) In any type of communication, the sender creates the message in a way that he/she thinks is the best way for his/her receivers to receive it.

SENDER ------------------------------- TRANSLATOR ---------------------------- RECEIVERS ( receiver/ sender )

SOCIAL ROLE OF TRANSLATION AND THE TRANSLATOR


Translation occurs when one social groups comes in contact with another social group that uses a different linguistic code. Due to translation: 1) cultural goods became the property of all people 2) the exchange of goods was enabled 3) spiritual unity was developed types of translation: literary, technical, scientific, commercial, film, conference Each of the types has unique demands (specialist skills and knowledge), but some demands are common: I. The ability to decode understanding the source message II. The ability to re-encode expressing the message in the target language III. The ability to transfer the content faithfully IV. The ability to establish communicative interaction with the ultimate receivers The command of language the ability to use language in communicative situations The members of a single community have a wide background of common experience, but when that background is missing, the sender can form his/her message in such way that he/she reduces it to a common background If the sender wants the message to be approachable to a wider circle of people, it is necessary to express it more popularly The translator is firstly a linguist who has a wide common background with the users of both languages The success of the translators role depends on how well he/she manages to establish the background of common experience with the original sender and the ultimate receivers The translators have a significant role in a society and they are present in all the spheres of human life Some of them work alone, some in organizations, and some translate in their free time Some of the work places that require written or oral translations or correction of translations, among other tasks, are: foreign languages correspondent, tour guide, reporter, editor, librarian Although many people think they can do good translations, the work of translator requires: A level of knowledge and competence that cannot be achieved in high school

Width (interdisciplinary correlation with various subjects) and depth (the level of professionalism) that can only be achieved in a higher level of education

TYPES OF TRANSLATION
TRANSLATION

HUMAN written literary non-literary oral non-literary simultaneous

MACHINE written non-literary consecutive

According to the nature of the translator: human, machine According to the medium of translation: written, oral

MT (machine translation)
appeared in the 1950s as a response to an explosion of information However, several difficulties arose in MT: polysemy, word order in different languages Although MT is definitely faster than any other type of translation, it is not more economic because it needs thorough preparation, which is both time and resource consuming MT produces raw translations that need to be revised and considers only written non-literary texts MT is logical and cannot handle metaphors, so it deals only with technical and scientific texts

Human translation
Human translation is a regular form of translation, but the processes that go on in the translator mind cannot be analysed In order to reach certain conclusions about the process of translation, we must focus on the results and products of translation

Written translation The translator begins by reading the source message in order to decode it and receive the information it carries To grasp the meaning, he/she can read it several times, use dictionaries and encyclopaedias or consult other people who are more competent in the area Having decoded it, the translator proceeds by encoding the message in the target language

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He/she can use various sources (grammars, dictionaries, lexicographic textbooks) to encode the message in the best possible way; and also, change, rearrange or polish the translation and even give it to another person to correct it

Oral translation

The interpreter has no written text and depends on the single event of receiving the message he/she cannot go back to check the meaning Neither during decoding nor encoding can the interpreter spend much time on rephrasing, expressing the message or consulting the dictionaries There are also combinations of written and oral translations: o Prima vista the interpreter reads the message and translates it orally o The interpreter orally translates the speech and the translation is recorded However, both combinations are difficult because: written texts are organized in a linear way, and speech is not; written text lack intonation and accentuation, as well as other non-verbal means of communication that cannot be noted

Simultaneous and consecutive interpreting Simultaneous interpreting happens at the same time as the original speech the speaker talks as if the interpreter is not there Certain equipment is necessary: a microphone for the speaker and a sound proof booth for the interpreter; a microphone for the interpreter, connected to a radio and earphones for the ultimate receivers In order to interpret simultaneously: o the interpreter must think together with the speaker o decode and encode the message completely automatically o listen and speak at the same time Consecutive interpreting is probably the earliest form of translation The speaker utters a messages and pauses so that the interpreter could translate it to the listeners The length of the utterance depends on the agreement between the speaker and the interpreter o If it is too short, it breaks the continuity of the speech and the listeners cannot concentrate on the translation because the message is not fully transmitted o If it is too long, the interpreter cannot memorize everything and the listeners have no real contact with the speaker o The best way is if the utterance comprises a single complete information unit (3 10 min)

Literary and non-literary translation Literary translation is viewed as art and non-literary as craft The aims of literary and non-literary texts and translations differ, so literary aim at producing aesthetic effects and appealing to artistic sensibility, while nonliterary serve to convey factual information Literary translations are free, because it is necessary to achieve the same/similar effect as the original However, in every literary text there are factual elements, while every nonliterary text includes certain literary elements (metaphors, comparisons) Style is an essential part of the message so it is necessary to translate a text using appropriate style In translating literary texts, the translator has to use his/her own creativity

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COMMUNICATIVE MODEL OF TRANSLATION


successful communication requires several conditions to be fulfilled: o the existence of the sender and the receivers of the information, o their contact (verbal or written) through a certain communication channel o a common linguistic code they both share, which enables the sender to code his information and transfer it to the receivers as a message, and which enables the receivers to accept and decode the message complete correspondence of the senders and the receivers codes is never fully accomplished due to differences in idiolects and dialects however, a certain amount of the information is transferred even among the speakers of different languages (who use different linguistic codes) when the level of direct communication becomes to low for the message to be transferred, the need for translation arises the sender has a certain information to convey (a thought, an idea, a wish, an emotion, a command) he needs to code that information, using the resources of his language and his own command of that language the information undergoes modification during the process of coding, due to the mere fact that it is subdued to a certain language system the extralinguistic situation exists independently of the languages and can therefore be expressed by various languages the extralinguistic fact remains, what changes is only its expression each language has certain preferred patterns of expression and the senders often subconsciously accept those patterns, even though they might be aware that the information they want to convey is slightly altered the second modification of the message happens due to the senders command of the language (psycholinguistic component) the sender can only use that part of potentials of his languages that he/she has a good command of senders are sometimes ready to admit inadequacy of their knowledge, especially when it comes to expressing themselves in a foreign language the third modification occurs due to the fact that the message is addressed to a certain receiver, regardless of the fact whether the receiver is present at that moment or not (sociolinguistic component) if the receiver is present, he/she can immediately provide feedback on whether the communication is successful or not (by a look of understanding or misunderstanding, nodding, facial expression, a question or a request for clarification) even when the receiver is not present, the sender has him/her in mind, shaping the message in such way he/she predicts would be appropriate for the receiver to accept it if the receivers are unknown to the sender, he/she tries to adjust his/her message so it would be comprehensible to an average receiver after the message is formed, it is sent through a communication channel and undergoes modifications again, due to the noise in the channel in the temporal channel, the message can undergo major modifications today, we do not believe in the stories about the werewolves and witches many words remain the same, but their content is changing (e.g. romantic in romanticism and today)

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after the message came to the receiver, it undergoes another modification in the process of decoding (psycholinguistic component) the main feature of communication is flexibility the information is not static or rigid, it changes in many ways absolute correspondence of the information can only be fiction it undergoes many changes, especially when the translator is included in the communication as well

extralinguistic information + the senders command of the language and his/her relationship to the receiver message 1 (coded in the SL) communication channel 1 the translator receives the message, with his/her command of the SL decodes the message to receive the extralinguistic information the translator as the user of the TL, with his relationship to the ultimate receiver message 2 (coded in the TL) communication channel 2 the ultimate receiver with his/her command of the TL extralinguistic content craft the translator must have a good command of the SL and the TL, as well as the culture and civilization of the SL and the TL art translating any information which was formed artistically in the SL

CULTURE AND TRANSLATION


Casagrande: every translation is in fact the translation of cultures and civilizations and the possibility of translation proves that there are certain universals of human culture, language and the communication process although it is impossible to translate some elements of culture, transferring information about those elements has a very important function frequency of the translation leads to the acceptance of those elements in the TL translation strategies: o definition-translation if the TL has no such cultural element as the SL, defining the element is the clearest way to translate its meaning e.g. apsolvent a senior undergraduate who has completed his course of study but has not taken his final examinations

o direct borrowing (emprunt) introducing the word in its original form,


italicizing it to show that it does not belong to the TL and defining it either when it is first mentioned, or in a footnote

o loan translation (calque) literal translation of the terms for the


elements of a foreign culture e.g. kuna radinost domestic activities (private accommodation), mail order business poslovanje potanskim narudbama (prodaje putem kataloga)

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problems may arise when the translator decides to literally translate certain aspects of the source culture which do not exist in the target culture: dobar tek - good appetite does not convey the meaning to the receiver; high school visoka kola wrong translation; visoka kola higher school, via kola two-year post-secondary school

o adaptation if an element of culture does not exist in the TL, the


translator might opt for translating it with the closest term possible that means something similar in the TL hamburger pljeskavica, kosani odrezak, topli sendvi s kosanim mesom

the choice of the technique depends on the extralinguistic context, as well as the nature of the situation in which the content is conveyed if the unfamiliar cultural element itself is the subject of communication, it must be defined and explicit, but not adapted another possible procedure is coining new terms usually adopted when a concept enters the culture and has several different names until spontaneously a term develops that may have nothing to do with the term in the SL kemijska olovka ball-point pen petlja clover leaf when it comes to scientific or technical terms, it is fairly easy to translate them however, terms from the social sphere are different and there are several techniques: 1. both societies/culture have a certain concept and the terms for it the translator is to connect those terms appropriately and avoid free translation: o administrativne cijene government-fixed prices; dohodak po stanovniku per capita income; zemlja u razvoju developing country 2. the concepts exist in both cultures and the terms in both languages, but their frequency of usage differs: o meunarodna podjela rada (frequent) international division of labour; prosta reprodukcija simple reproduction normal operation; proirena reprodukcija expanded reproduction expansion of production capacity 3. the terms exist in both languages but the content cannot be equaled: o izvrno vijee executive council (but it can be any executive council so the meaning is not conveyed) government (more appropriate translation); o doprinos contribution (it does not convey the meaning) tax (less precise, but more appropriate) o drutveni proizvod social product gross material product o narodnost nationality national minority o privredna komora chamber of economy chamber of commerce o osobni dohoci personal incomes wages and salaries

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4. concepts exist in both cultures but the term in one language is such that lexical translation of it would completely distort the content: o drutveni radnik social worker public figure o drutvena djelatnost social activities non-productive branches of the economy o radnika kontrola workers control workers supervision o sindikat syndicate trade union, labor union 5. a concept exist in one culture, but not in the other the easiest way is to calque it and define it o osnovna organizacija udruenog rada basic organization of associated labor (basic production, accounting and selfmanagement unit) o kuni savjet house council (house tenants committee) o samoupravni akti basic self-management documents o delegatski sustav system of delegates o jedinstveno trite integral market o sluba drutvenog knjigovodstva social audit service 6. polysemy in the SL and the translator has to opt for the appropriate translation: o drutveno vlasnitvo public/social ownership or property o federacija federation or federal government o gradska skuptina municipal assembly or town hall o organi vlasti authorities or police o predsjednik president, chairman, mayor

CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS GENERAL ISSUES


In the process of translation, two language systems are set against each other. The analysis of translation includes examining categories of one language system in relation to the corresponding categories of the other language system Contrastive analysis can be defined as the systematic study of a pair of languages with a view to identifying their structural differences and similarities There are two types of contrastive analysis: o Pedagogical - contrasts pairs of categories of two languages, noting their differences and similarities; where differences occur, it implies possible difficulties in learning the foreign language o Typological views models of linguistic description that can be applied to both languages and confirm their similarity or difference Contrastive analysis puts together those categories of two language systems that share a certain semantic or formal feature that feature serves as tertium comparationis, which allows them to be compared Examples: eventualan eventual (formal), konaan eventual (semantic), novela novel, pretendirati to pretend Lexically, contrastive analysis results in a bilingual dictionary for each specific lexical unit of one language, it provides as many lexical units of the other language as necessary to include its complete semantic content. It also specifies the conditions in which a certain unit from that set of corresponding lexical units should be chosen as translation

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Examples: kandidat candidate applicant; urednitvo editorial board, editorial staff, editing, editorship Grammatically, contrastive analysis should result in contrastive grammar for each grammatical category of one language, it should list and provide differential description, i.e. specify the conditions in which a certain grammatical category should be chosen Examples: U kovegu je nosio svu svoju imovinu. (lokativ) In the suitcase he carried all his belongings. (preposition) U ovom se kovegu moe nositi sve to ovjeku treba na putu. (refleksivni glagol) This suitcase can carry everything that one needs on a journey. (subject in nominative) Contrastive analysis allows better and more useful bilingual dictionaries to be constructed, as well as the dictionaries of appropriate grammatical structures.

TRANSLATION EQUIVALENCE AND FORMAL CORRESPONDENCE


Equivalence is the key communicative situation. concept in translation and is established in a

Formal correspondence is established between language systems and can be defined as the relationship between a linguistic unit of one language and the corresponding linguistic unit of another language. Most commonly, formal correspondents are those units that share the same metalinguistic term Croatian and German present, English and Italian article, Croatian and English possessive adjective In some cases, translation equivalent differs from the formal correspondent and can be accomplished even when a formal correspondent does not exist. A second type of formal correspondence can be established between semantically connected units for example, progressive tense glagolski vid (svreno, nesvreno) Example: English possessive adjective has 4 formal correspondents (possessive adjective, reflexive adjective, personal pronoun, correspondent) I took his advice. Primio sam njegov savjet. He took his books and left. Uzeo je svoje knjige i otiao. Youve endangered his life. Ugrozili ste mu ivot. He shrugged his shoulders. Slegnuo je ramenima. The first type of formal correspondence refers to the identity of function in two language systems, while the second refers to the identity of function as the carriers of meaning in a text

BACK-TRANSLATION AS A TEST ON FORMAL CORRESPONDENCE


The second type of formal correspondence is derived from the translation equivalence every formal correspondent is necessarily a potential translation equivalent, but every translation equivalent is not necessarily a formal correspondent A test on formal correspondence is back-translation formal correspondents are those units that can be translated back to the units of the original text They lived on the same block.

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ivjeli su u istoj ulici. communicative equivalence They lived on the same street back-translation Back-translation confirms or negates the existence of formal correspondence in translation equivalence Formal correspondence presents a linguistic component that the translator uses as a basis for establishing translation equivalence It ensures that the translation will not be a paraphrase, just as the communicative component ensures that the translation will not be mere transfer of linguistic units, but a natural equivalent of the source message

CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS PHONOLOGICAL LEVEL


AND

TRANSLATION

ON

THE

Phonology deals with the structure and functioning of the sound system of the language Tertium comparationis are the acoustic features and the place in the sound systems of the two analysed languages Phonological translation occurs when a term is transferred in another language together with the semantic content, but is necessarily transformed according to the requirements and possibilities of the target language (computer kompjutor) Phonological modification occurs at each place in which the target language lack the same expressive means as the source language It is necessary if two languages have different scripts or orthographic rules In Croatian, personal nouns remain in the original form (unlike in Serbian) New York (Njujork), Keats (Kic), Hugo (Igo) Other nouns are written in a way that matches their pronunciation as closely as possible intervju, deterdent, rezime, slajd, viski Until they become a part of the Croatian lexicon, they do not behave as our words (no declension, no conjugation) and are written in italics in their original form If sounds of the source and target language correspond, phonological modification is unambiguous: hardware hardver, butterfly baterflaj Problem occurs if there is no such correspondence: Adams (Adams or Edems), Thackeray (Takeri or Tekeri), Addison (Adison or Edison) When it comes to general nouns [e] outweighs: jam dem, jazz dez, badge bed, back bek

CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS GRAPHOLOGICAL LEVEL


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TRANSLATION

ON

THE

Graphological level deals with the way letters are written, and orthographic level considers differences in orthography The differences in graphology and orthography are important in those cases where they can be interpreted incorrectly, especially with numbers and personal nouns/names English writing of T is similar to Croatian writing of I; English writing of J is similar to Croatian writing of T

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Orthographic differences include: o Decimal numbers and thousands English: 2.5 or .5; 2,600 Croatian: 2,5 or 0,5; 2.600 o Quotation marks English: eventually; Croatian: eventualno o Bibliography English: Branko Frani, Urbani ivot i urbani problemi (Urban Life and Urban problems), Naa Misao, X, 3, 1978, 20 57 Croatian: Branko Frani, Urbani ivot i urbani problemi, Naa Misao, X, 3, 1978., 20 57 o Addresses o Dates Transliteration is the process of representing text in the characters of another alphabet Example: Cyrillic to Latin writing: P R, H N; phonological tertium comparationis

CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS AND TRANSLATION ON THE LEXICAL LEVEL


On the lexical level, contrastive analysis deals with vocabulary, in two ways: o Considering the relationship between the word and the extralinguistic content it represents (stado a group of a number of animals of a certain kind) o Considering the relationship between a set of interrelated words and their mutual relationships (synonymy stado, krdo, opor, jato, rulja, gomila;, antonymy milostiv, okrutan; hyponymy agrumi, narane; common lexical fields kuhati, pei, priti) The role of contrastive analysis on the lexical level is to provide better understanding of the relationships between the lexical units of two language systems and results in more appropriate bilingual dictionaries It begins the lexical units of one language system and their formal correspondents in the other language Example: o Herd krdo, stado, opor (unknown number of animal entities in an unstructured group) gomila, rulja (unknown number of human individuals in an unstructured group) pastir (refers to an individual) o In English, the distinction between herd, flock, drove and pack depends on the kind and size of the animal, while in Croatian it refers to their behaviour and the size of the group: Buffalos live in herds. Bivoli ive u krdima. We had two herds of cattle. Imali smo dva stada goveda. If a dictionary provides only the relationship herd = stado or stado = herd, flock, it is inappropriate The correct choice of the word requires intuitive or explicit knowledge of the interlingustic and crosslinguistic relations, without which incorrect pairing occurs

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False pairs are the pairs of linguistic units that share a common feature but are not identical still, the translator considers them to be equivalent because of the common feature they share Partial similarity can be found in: o the form (eventually - eventualan), o shared metalinguistic term (Croatian prezent English present), o the aspects of the semantic content (stado - flock)

False pairs internationalisms False pairs can come from the words that exist in both the source and target language, but were originally taken from another (usually Greek or Latin) language and have developed different meanings in the SL and TL There are also false pairs of words that share their form, but a part of meaning as well There are three possible relationships between pairs of words: o L1 = L2 (the meanings are equivalent) o L1 L2 (the meanings are completely different) o L1 <> L2 (L1 has wider meaning/L2 has wider meaning)

False pairs equivalent meaning Words that have the same meaning in both languages, but often differ in their collocation potential Example: molekula molecule, fiziologija physiology, kineziterapija kinesitherapy, teorija theory Collocation differences: o kemijsko ienje dry cleaning o kemijska olovka ball-point pen o kemijski odjel chemistry department o stilsko pokustvo period furniture o elastini mozak flexible mind o rezervni dio spare part Some words do exist in both languages but are rarely used in one of them if the translator does not know that or ignores it, the equivalence of the communicative situation will be betrayed: o aerodrom airport (*aerodrome) o analfabet illiterate (*analphabet) o dijapozitiv slide (*diapositive) o natalitet birth rate (*natality) o rezime summary, abstract (*resume) o angina sore throat (*angina in everyday speech) o stenografija short hand writing (*stenography) o funkcionar official, officer, executive (*functionary stylistically marked)

False pairs different meaning Words o o o o that have the same form but completely different meaning: afirmirati se (gain a reputation) - affirm (potvrditi) aktualan (current, present) - actual (zbiljski, stvaran) direkcija (top management, board of directors) - direction (smjer, pravac) eventualan (possible) - eventual (konaan, krajnji)

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o o o o o o o o o o o

o
o

evidencija (records, files) - evidence (dokaz) gimnazija (grammar school) - gymnasium (gimnastika dvorana) honorarni (part-time) - honorary (poasni) kompozitor (composer) - compositor (slagar) konkurencija (competition) - concurrence (stjecanje) pretendirati (claim, aspire) - pretend (pretvarati se) promocija (graduation ceremony) - promotion (reklama) prospekt (brochure, leaflet) - prospect (izgled, perspektiva) realan (realistic) - real (stvaran) reprezentacija (national team) - representation (predstavljanje) rezimirati (summarize) - resume (nastaviti) simpatian (nice, pleasant) - sympathetic (sousjeajan) solidan (reliable, good) - solid (krut, vrst)

Sometimes, due to incorrect translation, the components of meaning from one language can be infiltrated into another (petrolej kerosene oil petroleum nafta; concept first draft concept zamisao, pojam) Earlier meanings remain and the new are added

False pairs overlapping in meaning The word in the L1 (Croatian) can have a wider meaning than the word in the L2 (English) Example: o administracija administration, government, clerical service, office staff, paper work, office Only when the translator sees all the possible translations, will he/she be able to grasp the meaning of the word The translator starts with the original expression and seeks a corresponding term in the TL when he/she finds it, hr/she accepts it and does not seek further Examples: o administrativan administrative, clerical, office, paper, government o akademija academy, college, ceremony o akcija action, drive, campaign, operation, plan, raising o auditorijum auditorium, audience o ekonomija economy, economics, farm o fotografija photography, photograph o himna hymn, anthem o industrija industry, works, factory, plant o karta card, map, ticket, chart o objekt object, project, facility, establishment, installation o partija party, lot, match o profesor professor, teacher o propaganda propaganda, advertising The word in the L2 (English) can have a wider meaning than the word in L1 (Croatian) Examples: o champion prvak, pobornik, zagovornik, branitelj o minister ministar, sveenik o officer oficir, policajac, referent, funkcionar

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o catholic katoliki, irok, liberalan


Invented pairs Translators are often more than ready to make up lexical pairs, according to their own language they invent a completely new word or add a wrong suffix or prefix Examples: o agrotehnika modern farming methods (*agrotechnics) o apsolvent senior undergraduate (*absolvent) o daktilografkinja typist (*dactylographer) o deklinacija declension (*declination) o dirigent conductor (*dirigent) o eksponat exhibit (*exponate) o grafoskop overhead projector (*graphoscope) o interpunkcija punctuation (*interpunction) o licitacija bidding (*licitation) o referat paper, report (*referate) o anorganski inorganic (*anorganic) o autoportret self-portrait (*autoportrait) o hiperprodukcija overproduction (*hyperproduction) o autogram autograph (*autogram) o turistiki tourist (*touristic)

False pairs with different forms Differentiating between synonymous words in L2 is a very difficult task The translator has to be aware of the nuances of meaning; has to know all the foreign words for expressing those meanings, and has to differentiate between those foreign words Example (L1 > L2): - discover, uncover, unveil, reveal, disclose otkriti - treasury, cashiers office, cash desk, booking office, box office, cash register, cash box blagajna - woman, wife ena woman, female ena - municipal assembly, town hall gradska skuptina (L1 < L2): - plima, oseka tide - udati se, oeniti se marry - stric, ujak uncle Lexical and conceptual gaps Lexical gap is a place in the lexical system that is not occupied Example: cock hen chicken drake duck duckling turkey - / - / hen-turkey, baby-turkey Each language functions as a system and has no obvious gaps for its own users, but the gaps come up when elements of culture are translated from another language Example: odgoj i obrazovanje education odgoj personality development (?) Boli me ruka/noga. My arm(hand)/foot(leg) hurts.

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- in English it has to be specified, otherwise there is a gap facilities (sports, production, travel, cooking, sleeping) sportski objekti, proizvodni kapaciteti, prometna sredstva, pogodnosti za kuhanje, mogunosti za spavanje - in Croatian it has to be specified, otherwise there is a gap objekt (graevinski, industrijski, ugostiteljski, plovni, vojni) construction project/building; industrial project/facility, catering facility; sailing vessel; military installation Collocations and fixed lexical sets Words are not always translated with their equivalents, but rather in a way which is required by the language (e.g. kemijsko ienje dry cleaning) Native speaker intuitively know which words go together, while collocations might represent a problem for a translator Examples: o kuhinjska sol table salt o zemni plin natural gas o generalni pokus dress rehearsal o radni naslov tentative title o robna kua department store o slatkovodna riba freshwater fish o donijeti odluku make a decision o redovni student full-time student Some languages keep the same word in different collocations, while other have different words for each of those collocations Examples: o brani ivot married life o brano stanje marital status o brana zajednica matrimony o brana ljubav conjugal love o brani drug spouse o brano putovanje honeymoon o compulsory education obvezno kolovanje o compulsory measures prisilne mjere o common sense zdrav razum o common law obiajno pravo o common denominator zajedniki nazivnik Some collocations can be translated literally, but then they lose their natural expression Examples: o poprimiti oblik take the form (assume the form) o pohaati teaj take a course (attend a course) o voditi rat make war (wage war) o sklopiti mir make peace (conclude peace) o zaraditi novac make money (earn money) plant;

Set phrases and idioms

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Proverbs and set phrases usually exist in TL and are not to be altered under any circumstances (Bolje ikad nego nikad = Better late than never Better ever than never) The expressions and meanings might be very similar/equivalent: o Nije zlato sve to sja All that glitters is not gold o Nova metla dobro mete New brooms sweep clean The meaning is the same, but the linguistic expression differs: o Mnogo babica, kilavo dijete Too many cooks spoil the broth o Napraviti iz buhe slona Make a mountain out of a molehill o Tko prvi, njegova djevojka First come, first served o Zidati kule u oblacima Build castles in Spain o Kao bubreg u loju As snug as the bug in the rug o Ne moe imati i ovce i novce You cannot have your cake and eat it The meaning and the expression differ: o A rolling stone gathers no moss o Trla baba lan da joj proe dan In this case, the translator can translate it literally, but it will not produce the same effect as in the SL however, if it becomes more frequent, the meaning might develop Another possibility is to paraphrase it neutrally (Engage in useless work just to spend the day Trla baba lan da joj proe dan) The translator might opt for an existing proverb with a similar meaning (to je babi milo, to joj se i snilo The wish is the father of the thought)

CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS GRAMMATICAL LEVEL


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TRANSLATION

ON

THE

correspondents are those linguistic units of two language systems that function in the same way as carriers of the same meaning in two texts that are translationally equivalent contrastive analysis on the grammatical level requires specification of conditions in which a certain grammatical construction will be translated in a certain way back-translation should show all the English constructions that can be considered correspondents to Croatian structures

Grammatical false pairs arise because of the grammatical form, term or meaning three types: o those that are not acceptable in the TL: On je roen u Zagrebu. *He is born in Zagreb. due to literal translation of the form those that are possible in the TL but are stylistically marked: The book was written by a well-known author. Knjiga je napisana od poznatog autora. those that are acceptable and normal, but fail to convey the exact meaning of the message: Vrata se zakljuavaju svaku veer u est sati. The gate locks itself at six oclock every evening. it is not necessarily so, the translation may also be: The gate is locked at six oclock every evening.

Transposition

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grammatical units are polysemous so the need for transposition arises transposition is changing the grammatical construction from the SL into a different grammatical construction in the TL example: Croatian reflexive construction: o On se prisilo da jede. He forced himself to eat. reflexive pronoun o On se brije svako jutro. - He shaves every morning. no object o Engleski se danas govori po cijelom svijetu. English is spoken throughout the world. passive o Njegova se nova knjiga dobro prodaje. His new book sells well. active o Oni se vole. They love each other. each other/one another o Ona se nasmijala. She laughed. element

Translation of prepositions and prepositional phrases prepositions have their own lexical meaning, but at the same time have a grammatical meaning Croatian preposition na: o static meaning: na = on on the floor, on the wall, on the roof o dynamic meaning: na = onto/on climb onto the roof, throw on the floor o large areas/space: na = in/into in the world, come into the world leati na suncu = lie in the sun; leati na Suncu = lie on the Sun o referring to a certain point in space: na = at at the source, at the fair o figurative meaning static: at the wedding, at the match o figurative meaning dynamic: come to dinner, adjust to temperature o temporal meaning: na = on on that day, on a given date o manner: na = in in that way, fold in two, say something in English

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