TRANSLATION STRATEGIES 11 novembre 2008. Translation Strategies From J.L. Malone, The Science of...

TRANSLATION STRATEGIES11 novembre 2008

Translation Strategies From J.L. Malone, The Science of Linguistics in the Art of Translation (see C. Taylor, Language to Language, pp. 48-64)

Using examples from several language Malone provides a list of NINE translation strategies, i.e. nine different ways to deal with the differences between Source Language and Target Language at structural and lexical level.

Translation Stategies

• Equation• Divergence• Amplification• Diffusion• Reordering

• Substitution• Convergence• Reduction• Condensation

*

EQUATION/SUBSTITUTION

LOAN WORDS

• Culturally specific words are often loan words:Italians play rugby or footballThe English eat lasagna or pesto

• This also happens when the equivalent term exist:Italians play volley (pallavolo)The English buy rucola (rocket)corner/calcio d’angolo

• • Loan words are typical of technical language:• -software, business, screening…

Never take equation for granted: the same word may not mean the

same thing in two languages

• false-friends:

- actually = effettivamente (NON attualmente)- eventually = alla fine (NON eventualmente)- effectively = efficacemente (NON effettivamente)

• cultural differences: - the experience evoked by a word may not be

the same in TL and SL > spaghetti, caffé…> città/paese ≠ city/town> REALTA’ > REALITY?

REALTA’/REALITY

In this case the English equivalent has too high a level of

abstraction:

L’arte come imitazione della realtà/Art as imitation of REALITY?

La realtà è dura/REALITY? is hard

La sua malattia è una realtà/Her illness is A REALITY?

Spesso la non vediamo realtà... /Often we don’t see REALITY?

La realtà economica/The economic REALITY?

L’arte come imitazione della realtà/Art as imitation of NATURE

La realtà è dura/LIFE is hard

La sua malattia è una realtà/Her illness is GENUINE

Progetti che diventano realtà/Plans which are REALISED

Spesso non vediamo la realtà /Often we don’t see THINGS

Ha il senso della realtà /He is REALISTIC

Bisogna tenere presente la realtà locale/We must keep local

NEEDS in mind

La realtà economica/The economic SITUATION

CALQUE

The TL adapts the SL term to its own morphological framework:e.g.: dribblare, formattare radice inglese + suffisso italianoe.g.: bravo! parola italiana + assenza di concordanza in numero e genere (come in inglese)

Calque is used too often in everyday language…

- Questo jeans è un attimino stonewashato!- Li cutto, li pasto e te li sendo!

FIXED EQUATIONThe Holy Bible = La Sacra Bibbia≠ La Santa Bibbia≠The Sacred Bible

No smoking = Vietato fumare≠ Non si fuma

Burning bush = roveto (≠ cespuglio) ardente

In more general terms EQUATION refers to the default situation wherby a tarmi s translated with its one-to-one equivalent (e.g. GENTLE = GENTILE)

Lorenzo fermò la macchina e vide un uomo…

Lorenzo stopped the car and saw a man…

SUBSTITUTIONthe antithesis of equation

GRAMMARGulliver’s travels I viaggi di Gulliver

Farò in modo che si convinca a venire I’ll try to get her to come

I want you to know that …Voglio che tu sappia che…

SUBSTITUTION

SEMANTICS• La goccia che fa traboccare il vaso

• The straw that broke the camel’s back

PRAGMATICS• Do not lean out• E’ pericoloso sporgersi

DIVERGENCE/CONVERGENCE

DIVERGENCE (one-to-many)

Creampanna

Cremaglass

vetro

bicchiere

Se dovesse succedere

Were it to happen

If it were to happen

should it happen

If it should happen

• She saw a beautiful dress in the window• She opened the window• She lowered the window

Non ho niente da dire

Niente male

Niente scherzi

Non hanno un bel niente

NIENTE

I have nothing to say

Not bad

No messing about!

They have nothing at all

CONVERGENCE (many-to-one)

Commercialista

Contabile

RagioniereAccountant

Tu

Lei

Voi

You

AMPLIFICATION/REDUCTION

AMPLIFICATION

• Swansea is the birthplace of Dylan Thomas• Swasea è il luogo natale del famoso scrittore e poeta Dylan Thomas

• Display • Esporre ben in vista

REDUCTION

Carta geograficaMap

Psychologist Raymond Carpenter, PhD

Lo psicologo Raymond Carpenter

DIFFUSION/CONDENSATION

DIFFUSION

• A source text item or utterance is expanded without adding any extra layer of meaning

Cheap A buon mercato

Weatherwise Per quanto riguarda il tempo

The nineteen century sex role system

La divisione dei ruoli in base al sesso nel XIX secolo

CONDENSATION

A source text item or utterance is contracted without omitting any layer of meaning:

To look at guardare

To fall in love innamorarsi

To run after inseguire

REORDERINGProcedures introduced to the re-arrange syntactic

units into the most familiar patterns of the target language

Black and white Bianco e nero

Non è ancora giunto il tempo

The time has not yet come

È successauna disgrazia

Something terrible has happened

HIGH PRESSURE

• Pressione alta: high blood pressure

• Alta pressione: in the meteorological sense

According to 1998-2000 figures, 12% of Europe's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is generated by tourism and tourism-related activities and over 20 million jobs have been created in this sector, essentially within Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs).

> ... e in questo settore sono stati creati più di 20 millioni di posti di lavoro

HOMEWORK

Da C. Taylor, Language to Language, pp. 48-64Suggestions for further practice:1) download - TRAVELLING IN EUROPE 2008http://ec.europa.eu/publications/booklets/eu_glance/72/index_en.htm

- VIAGGIARE IN EUROPA 2008http://ec.europa.eu/publications/booklets/eu_glance/72/index_it.htm

2) compare the two texts in terms of translation strategies