Translation TechniquesTranslation Techniques

Elena ShapaDoctor, Associate Professor, Moldova State University

STANDARDS of TEXTUALITYSTANDARDS of TEXTUALITYCohesion (coeziunea, связанность) – ways/modes that define

links between phrases or sentences.

Coherence (coerenţa, последовательность/ соотнесённость доводов/ аргументов) – ways that establish links among statements.

Intention (intenţionalitatea, намерение) – means revealing author’s intentions.

Level of accessibility (gradul de accesibilitate, степень доступности) – features that evaluate the reader’s/ interlocutor’s reactions.

STANDARDS of TEXTUALITYSTANDARDS of TEXTUALITY

Informative character (caracterul informativ, информативность) – the contents of the text.

Relevance (relevanţa, релевантность) – the scope and message of the text.

Intertextuality (intertextualitatea, межтекстовые связи) – links and relations with other texts.

ORAL DISCOURSEORAL DISCOURSE An oral text may be defined as discourse. A discourse can be influenced by the tone, by indirect

implications suggested by the sentences.

Ex. Ajungi la sare poate fi interpretat ca Transmite-mi, te rog, sarea.

The tone of the discourse may express: 1. formality; 2. politeness; 3. impersonality; 4. accesibility.

DISCOURSE TONEDISCOURSE TONEmay be expressed by words of Latin or Greek

origin (discourse – formal, speech – neutral);expresses social status (distance) between the

speaker and his interlocutor/ reader;indicates when the speaker/writer avoids to

address his interlocutor/ reader directly;indicates when the speaker/writer knows that his

interlocutor/ reader is familiar with certain events and as a result does not refer to them directly.

Translation techniques:Translation techniques:Addition (completare, дополнение) – the translator adds up

a word or a word-combination in order to specify the meaning.

Antonymic translation (traducere antonimică, антонимичный перевод) – involves translating a phrase or clause that does not contain a negation or vice versa.

Attachments (extinderea, расширение) – happen when ideas expressed in English by a single word need word combinations or complex structures with a similar meaning in Romanian.

Change of the grammatical form (schimbarea/transformarea formei gramaticale ale propoziţiei/изменение грамматической структуры).

Translation techniques:Translation techniques:Addition (completare, дополнение) :Ex. The policeman waved me on. – Poliţistul rutier mi-a

făcut semnul să merg mai departe. Полицейский сделал мне знак продолжать движение.

Antonymic translation (traducere antonimică, антонимичный перевод) :

Ex. I do not think you are right. – Cred că greşiţi. Думаю, вы ошибаетесь.

You cannot be serious. – Glumiţi, nu-i aşa. Вы шутите.

Translation techniques:Translation techniques: Attachments (extinderea, расширение) :Business terminology: industries – ramuri de producţie,

отрасли производства;costs – cheltuieli de producţie, производственные расходы; asset – valoarea bunurilor care se împart creditorilor în caz

de faliment, активы/ фонды. Change of the grammatical form

(schimbarea/transformarea formei gramaticale ale propoziţiei/изменение грамматической структуры): English – Passive Voice‚ Romanian – Active Voice.

Ex. Prime Minister Tony Blair was hit by a tomato. Cineva a aruncat o roşie în Prim Ministru Tony Blair.В премьер-министра Тони Блэра бросили помидорой.

Translation techniques:Translation techniques: Compensation (compensare, компенсация) – allows the

translator to convey the idea of the original text precisely, in every detail, especially when the Romanian language standards do not permit the translator to place a word in the same position or use it in the same function as in the original text.

Compression (reducere, сокращение) – an idea formulated by a complex structure or idiom is paraphrased by a simpler form or a single word with a similar meaning.

Commentary (comentariu, комментарий) - a commentary explains the meaning of a text. Translators often use commentaries to help the target reader understand the meaning of various parts of the original.

Translation techniques:Translation techniques:Compensation (compensare, компенсация) :Ex. No avenues in this matter were left unexplored. –

Totul a fost făcut pentru a soluţiona problema în cauză. – Были рассмотрены все возможные пути решения.

Compression (reducere, сокращение) :Ex. The new mechanism provides appropriate incentives

for efficient resource use. – Noul mecanism stimulează folosirea eficientă a resurselor. – Новый механизм обеспечивает эффективное использование ресурсов.

Translation techniques:Translation techniques:Commentary (comentariu, комментарий):Ex. But the viva is judgement day. (from R.Gordon “Doctor in the House”) .– Выпускной устный экзамен для студента медика

был Судным Днём.– Examen oral de specialitate pentru un student medic era

drept sentinţa cerească.

The viva (voce examination) – an oral examination at medical schools in London.

Translation techniques:Translation techniques: Concordance (concordanţa, соответствие) – is when a

translator seeks to translate a word of the original by the same word in the target language wherever it occurs. Sometimes concordance reduces accuracy in translation, because it does not take into account the differing senses of meaning that a word has in varying contexts. This is one of the difficulties with literal word-for-word translations.

Ex. He had a poetic nature.– У него была поэтическая (романтическая) натура.– El avea o fire poietică (melancolică).

Translation techniques:Translation techniques: Cultural substitute (substitutul cultural,

культурологические соответсвия) – this is the use of a different translation term for an item from the source language text which is unknown to the target language hearers. Translators must be prudent in the use of cultural substitutes. They should not introduce anachronisms. A cultural substitute should have the same function in context as the original item, be as similar in form as possible, and be compatible with the culture of the original text.

Ex. Pre-school students are invited. – Приглашаются дошкольники. – Sunt invitaţi copii de vârsta pre-şcolară.

Translation techniques:Translation techniques: Generalization (generalizare, обобщение) - is used when

something in the TL is usually expressed using concepts with broader meanings or when preserving the original concepts with narrower meanings would result in an awkward translation.

Loss-of-meaning compensation (procedee de compensare a pierderii a unor sensuri, компенсация смысловых потерь) – involves adding to or reinforcing a TT in one place to compensate for something that has not been translated in a different place in the ST.

Omission (omisiune, намеренно пропускать) – some important detail may be skipped in favour of a rather important fact.

Translation techniques:Translation techniques:Generalization (generalizare, обобщение) :Ex. She ordered a daiquiri . – Ea a făcut comandă de un

cocktail. - Она заказала алкогольный напиток.Loss-of-meaning compensation (procedee de

compensare a pierderii a unor sensuri, компенсация смысловых потерь) :

Ex. I ain’t got no time for that kind of thing. – N-am eu timp pentru tâmpeniile tale, măi. – Мне не до этой фигни.

Omission (omisiune, намеренно пропускать) :Ex. Summer rains in Florida may be violent while they

last. – Vara în Florida cad ploi torenţiale. – Летом во Флориде идут ливни.

Translation techniques:Translation techniques:Sentence fragmentation ( segmentarea/dezbinarea

propoziţiilor, разбивка предложений) – involves splitting up one complex or compound sentence into two or more simple sentences.

Sentence integration (contopirea/unirea propoziţiilor, объединение, слияние) – involves merging two or several sentences into one.

Specification (concretizare, уточнение) – is used when something in the TL is usually expressed using concepts with narrower meaning or when preserving the original concepts with broader meaning would result in an awkward translation.

Translation techniques:Translation techniques:Sentence fragmentation ( segmentarea/dezbinarea

propoziţiilor, разбивка/членение предложений) :Ex. People everywhere are confronted with the need to

make decisions in the face of ignorance and this dilemma is growing.

– Din cauza nesiguranţei şi a ignoranţei, oamenii din toată lumea se confruntă cu necesitatea de a lua decizii. Ceea ce devine tot mai necesar.

– В случае отсутствия информации каждый вынужден принимать нелёгкие решения самостоятельно. Данная ситуация постоянно ухудшается.

Translation techniques:Translation techniques: Sentence integration (contopirea/unirea propoziţiilor,

объединение, слияние предложений) :

Ex. Your presence is not required. Nor it is desirable.

– Prezenţa dumnevoastră nu este nici necesară, nici dorită.

– Ваше присутствие не только необязательно, но и крайне нежелательно.

Translation techniques:Translation techniques:Transposition (modificare a topicii, изменение

порядка слов) – it involves changing the order of words in the target text (TT) as compared to the source text (ST). Typically, an English sentence has a “subject +predicate+object+adverbial modifier+ place +time” word order.

În limba română complimentul circumstanţial de timp poate fi plasat la începutul propoziţiei, iar predicatul se poate afla în prepoziţie faţă de subiect.

В русском языке обстоятельство образа действия может встраиваться между элементами сказуемого.

Translation techniques:Translation techniques:Transposition (modificare a topicii, изменение порядка

слов):Example: "She likes swimming" translates Spanish: "Le gusta nadar" (not "nadando") ,German: "Sie schwimmt gern", Romanian: Îi place a înnota.Русский: Ей нравится плавать.

Gerunds and infinitives work in different ways in English, German, Spanish, Romanian and Russian (bringing in an adverb to complicate matters).

Fawcett translation techniques listFawcett translation techniques list

Fawcett list (1997:34-41) – Spanish linguist.1. Borrowing (împrumut, заимствование) This means taking words straight into another

language. Borrowed terms often pass into general usage, for example in the fields of technology ("software") and culture ("punk"). Borrowing can be for different reasons:

a) the target language has no (generally used) equivalent. For example, the first man-made satellites were Soviet, so for a time they were known in English as "sputniks“;

BorrowingBorrowingb) the source language word sounds "better" (more

specific, fashionable, exotic or just accepted), even though it can be translated.

For example, Spanish IT is full or terms like "soft[ware]", and Spanish accountants talk of "overheads", even though these terms can be translated into Spanish; 

с) to retain some "feel" of the source language. For example, from a recent issue of The Guardian

newspaper: "Madrileños are surprisingly unworldly."

CalqueCalque2. Calque (calc, калька) This is a literal translation at phrase level.

Sometimes calques work, sometimes they don't. You often see them in specialized, internationalized fields such as quality assurance.

Ex.: a sigura calitatea, обеспечивать качество, aseguramiento de calidad, assurance qualité, Qualitätssicherung…

CompensationCompensation3. Compensation Compensation is a rather amorphous term, but it

can be used where something cannot be translated from source to target language, and the meaning that is lost in the immediate translation is expressed somewhere else in the TT. Fawcett defines it as: "...making good in one part of the text something that could not be translated in another".

CompensationCompensationCompensation One example given by Fawcett is the problem of

translating nuances of formality from languages which use forms such as tu and usted (tu/vous, du/Sie, ты/Вы, etc.) into English which only has 'you', and expresses degrees of formality in different ways.

Ex. We would be happy to see you at the conference. – Мы будем рады видеть Вас среди участников конференции. – Vom fi bucuroşi să vă avem în calitate de participant al conferinţei.

TransculturationTransculturation4. Transculturation Transculturation is adaptation of the message of the

source text so that that message can more easily communicate to people whose culture is different from the cultures of the times of the source text. Translators should adapt the original message of the source text to various cultures. To be true to the source text, translators need to retain references to historical, cultural, and other aspects of the original contexts in which the source text was written.

Ex. See you, bye. – До скорого. Пока. – Ne mai vedem. Pa.

Literal translationLiteral translation5. Literal Translation Just what it says – Ex.: "El equipo está trabajando para acabar el

informe"

– "The team is working to finish the report".

Again, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

MMooddulationulation6. Modulation Slightly more abstract than transposition, this

consists of using a phrase that is different in the source and target languages to convey the same idea.

Ex.: "Te lo dejo" – "You can have it". – Păstrează-l.– Бери себе.

ReformulationReformulation7. Reformulation (sometimes known as

équivalence) Here you have to express something in a

completely different way, for example when translating idioms or, even harder, advertising slogans. The process is creative, but not always easy.

Ex. Would you have given the name Sonrisas y lágrimas to the film The Sound of Music in Spanish?

AdaptationAdaptation8. Adaptation Here something specific to the source language culture is

expressed in a totally different way that is familiar or appropriate to the target language culture. Sometimes it is valid, and sometimes it is problematic, to say the least.

Ex. Should a restaurant menu in a Spanish tourist resort translate "pincho" as "kebab" in English?

Ex. Should a French text talking about Belgian jokes be translated into English as talking about Irish jokes (always assuming it should be translated at all)?