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