Advanced Trasnaltion Problem-Solving Strategies

Do we really know how we translate or what we translate?...Are we to accept “naked ideas” as the means of crossing from one language to another?...Translators know they cross over but do not know by what sort of bridge. They often  re-cross by a different bridge to check up again. Sometimes they fall over the parapet into limbo.

(Firth, 1957:197)

“The information they (translators) convey may be felt and judged to be equivalent, and the situations they communicate in may be felt to be interculturally comparable (or equivalent), but they are not the same.” (A.L. Jakobsen)

Equivalence

Is the preservation of the sound, the sense, the rhythm, the textual “material” and recreation of those specific sensation-sound, sense and association- despite inherent limitations in the TL

Holmes (1974:78)

E. Nida’s (1969) two types of equivalence:

Formal Equivalence: Focuses attention on the message itself, in both form and content

Dynamic Equivalence:  Based on the principle of equivalent effect, i.e. that the relationship between receiver and message should aim at being the same as that between the original receivers and the SL language

The equivalent effect is based on the “four basic requirements of a translation”:

* making sense;

* conveying the spirit and manner of the original;

* having a natural and easy form of expression;

* producing a similar response.

Non-Equivalence at the word level

* It means the target language has no direct equivalent for a word that occurs in the source text.

* In addition to the nature of non-equivalence, the context and purpose of translation will often rule out some strategies and favours others.

Some common types of non-equivalence at the word level:

1. Culture-specific concepts
2.  The source language concept is not lexicalized in the target language
3.  The source language word is semantically complex
4.  The target language lacks a specific lexical item (hyponym)
5. The use of loan words

 Culture-Specific Concepts

The Source Language (SL) word may express a concept which is totally unknown in the target culture. The target in question may abstract or concrete; it may relate to a religious belief, a social custom, or even a type of food.   

Example:

* القهوة (مكان)     -

Oriental coffee shop

Folk coffee shop

* العدة  Iddah

A period or retreat or await during which a woman observes and may not marry another after death or divorce from husband

* Pescado frito  (a traditional dish) بيسكادو فريدو

 

The source language concept is not lexicalized in the target language

The Source Language may express a concept which is known in the target culture but simply not lexicalized, that is not ‘allocated’ a target language word to express it.

Examples:

- Savories are usually served at parties

مقبلات السافوري وهي نوع من المقبلات تقدم مملحة ومضاف اليها توابل وتقدم في الحفلات الراقية

- landslide (elections)نجاح كاسح

The source language word is semantically complex

A single word can sometimes express a complex set of meanings than a whole sentence can do.

Examples:

- Marxism الماركسية

- liberalism الليبرالية

الشرك بالله

To associate a partner with god

The target language lacks a specific lexical item (hyponym)

 More commonly, languages tend to have general words (Super-ordinates) but lack specific ones (hyponyms), since each language makes only those distinctions in meaning which seem relevant to its particular environment.

- Igloo (a house made of ice) اجلو بيت مصنوع من الثلج

- All the university facilities were sold.  بيعت كل مباني الجامعة

-بنت مخاض She-Camel which is  one years old

بنت لبون She-Camel which is two years old

To be continued