about the authors

• Both authors are based at the Centre for Translation

and Interpreting Studies ,ytisrevinU ttaW- toireH ta
.hgrubnidE
• Hatim and Mason contributed to discourse and
register analysis through the two books they co-
authored in the 1990s .
• In 1990 they wrote Discourse and the Translator.
•In 1997 they wrote The Translator as Communicator.
Their model
 Hatim and Mason’s model developed out of the
Hallidayan model of language; however, they pay
extra attention to the ideational and interpersonal
functions, rather than just the textual function .
 They incorporate into their model a semiotic level of
discourse .
Analysis of transitivity shifts
Hatim and Mason are concerned with the shifts that the transitivity
system of the ST undergoes in the process of translation since this
may convey an ideology that differs from the original. As an example,
they examine a passage from a French model where the main
character kills an Arab on the beach. In the English translation there
are changes in the transitivity structure which caused a shift in the
ideational function of the text. In the original French ST there are
eight material process verbs, of which four are intention action
processes.
The literal translation of these to English should read:

I clenched my hand vs. my grip closed

I touched the polished belly of the butt vs. the smooth

underbelly of the butt jogged in my palm

I fired vs. I fired

I was striking on the door of misfortune vs. another loud,

fateful rap on the door of my undoing
Conclusion:
Patterns of shifts in the TT made the character more
passive than in the ST, although they point that these
shifts may be the result of the translator's general
understanding of the novel, in which the character
was, in fact, passive.
 Shifts in modality
What is modality ?

The term modality refers broadly to “attitudinal “features of language,

reflecting the text producer's attitude toward the truth of a proposition
expressed by a sentence. It refers to some of the grammatical means (modal
auxiliaries, seem, appear, etc.) by which a speaker or writer “qualifies ”
what would otherwise be an absolute statement.

Modality indicates the speaker or author's point of view allowing them to

hedge on assertions made by transitive verbs.

Models introduce an element of obligation, necessity, willingness, probability

or the like into the sentence .
Example of modality shift
Literal translation of ST:

the water with which she washed her hair must have come from a unique,
unknown spring…

However, the TT reads:

the water with which she washed her hair came from a unique, unknown
spring…

The source text, with a modal auxiliary, introduces an element of

expectation, or inference, into the sentence, whereas the target text conveys
an absolute statement, eliminating any sense of possibility.
The influence of the translator's discourse
Hatim and Mason give an example to highlight the influence of
the translator's discourse. This example is a Spanish ST
translated to English. Although the Spanish ST is about the
history of the indigenous Americans before the arrival of the
Spaniards in Mexico, the writers show how the European
translator imposed a Eurocentric view and consequently
changed the whole indigenous perspective through his lexical
choices. These choices include expressions such as pre-
Columbian and Indian.
Idiolect and Dialect: what's the difference ?
In linguistics an idiolect is an individual's distinctive and unique use of language
including speech. This unique usage encompasses vocabulary, grammar and
pronunciation. Idiolect is the variety of language unique to the individual. This
differs from a dialect, a common set of linguistic characteristics shared among a
group of people .

Hatim and Mason consider idiolect within the analysis of tenor and register when
they examined the Cockney dialect of characters in George Barnard Shaw’s play
Pygmalion dezingocer era tcelaid eht fo serutaef citenohp dna lacixel ,citcatnys ehT .
eht fo seulav eht dna gnikaeps fo yaw eht htiw detaicossa dna ecneidua hsitirB a yb
citametsys eht taht tuo tniop sretirw ehT .yalp eht ni sretcarahc nodnoL detacudenu
.noitnetta s'rotalsnart eht fo tcejbo yhtroweton a si erutaef siht fo ecnerrucer
The connotations of the dialect are unlikely to be
replicated easily in any TT culture, and literary genre
conventions in the target language may impose other
challenges the translator must be aware of. A
translator into Arabic, for example, might adopt a
formal classical style since it is generally considered
appropriate for literature in Arab cultures.
Discussion of Hatim and Mason’s model
Hatim and Mason’s foundations of a model for analyzing texts incorporate
and go beyond House's register analysis and Baker's pragmatic analysis.
They combine the kind of bottom-up analysis with some top-down
consideration of the semiotic level of the text. Language and texts are
considered to be realizations of sociocultural messages and power relations.
They represent discourse in a wider sense, defined as:

modes of speaking and writing which involve social groups in adopting a

particular attitude towards areas of sociocultural activity (e.g. racist
discourse, bureaucrates ,etc.).
Drawbacks
However ,there are a few issues which need to be considered:

• The writers deal with a large number of concepts.

•It is not clear that their model can be applied in the conventional sense of
the term. This could be overcome by taking their proposals as a list of
elements to be considered when examining translation .

•Their focus often remains linguistics- centered, both in its terminology and
in the phenomena investigated (lexical choice, cohesion, transitivity, style
shifting, etc.)