Translation terms Flashcards
(41 cards)
Calqued Translation (1)
A type of literal translation where the translator transfers the elements of the source text to the target text in such a way to reproduce their semantic, etymological and temporal aspects.
The wording remains very faithful to the phraseology of the original in comparison to more familiar modern translations.
Calqued translation is strongly source-oriented and represents an extreme case of literal translation.
When improperly applied, it can tend toward non-translation.
Any product of this translation strategy.
Constraints (1)
A rule limiting linguistics choice in a situation involving a given text (énoncé) or utterance (speech act).
Note. Grammar rules, writing conventions and collocations are contraints.
Constraints (2)
A factor influencing the reading of the source text and the production of the target text, which the translator consciously or unconsciously takes into account.
Identify 5 major constraints (André Lefebvre)
Patronage: the Church, patrons, the publishing world, large organizations)
Text conventions: literary genres
The universe discourse: shared knowledge of the world
Target and source language
The text to be translated.
What is another constraint imposed on translators?
The obligation to conform to the in-house terminology of an organization or entreprise.
Equivalence (1)
The relation of identity established by a translator between two translation units whose discourse function is identical or almost identical in their respective languages.
What does equivalence always resolve around?
From an interpretation with the goal of extracting the sense of the specific source text in the context of the specific purpose that has been defined for that text.
They are established using a combination of language knowledge and world knowledge with reference to the source text, taking all communication parameters into account.
Equivalence (2)
The result of a translation procedure consisting of rendering a set phrase from the source language with a set phrase from the target language that expresses the same idea, although in a different way.
Ex: Elle a vendu la mèche
She let the cat out of the bag
Idiomatic translation
A translation strategy that consists of producing a target text that conforms to the conventions established in the target language and to the spontaneous form of expression commonly used by native speakers.
When does a translator decide to adopt a non-idiomatic, source-oriented point of view?
In literary or biblical texts.
Literal translation
A translation strategy where a translator produces a target text while retaining the formal features of the source text, but conforming generally to the grammar of the target language.
Applies to both the meaning and the form of the text.
Ex: In a translation of a French novel, the translator adopting this strategy would render lycée as ‘‘lycée”
Source oriented
Related to the manner of rendering a source text in a form that reproduces the original structure and form of the text as closely as possible and that imports into the translated work a number of variable linguistic and cultural elements that were native to the source text.
Many translators tend to reproduce the constraints of the source language in the target text.
Primarily used for literary and biblical texts.
What is considered as foreignized translation? What is considered as naturalized translation?
Foreignized: Source-oriented translation
Naturalized: Target-oriented translation
Target oriented
Relate to the manner of rendering a source text in the form that is as natural as possible for the reader of the target text and that conforms to conventional usage in the target language and the culture.
Translators of pragmatic texts are generally target-oriented.
Tries to reproduce an idiomatic target text that does not sound foreign in any way.
Translation principle
a) Translation equivalence is established at the discourse and not at the langue level.
b) Translators do not translate words; they translate their sense in a given context.
c) Insofar as possible,
the target text should transmit the same denotative and connotative information as the source text.
What does translation procedures include?
Adaptation Borrowing Calque Compensation Ad hoc formulation Appropriate paraphrase Periphrasis Recategorization.
Translation Strategy
Coherent plan of action adopted by translators based on their intention with respect to a given text.
Applies to any given text
Universe discourse
The sum total of the discourse elements that pertain to the beliefs, conventions, and knowledge shared by the speakers of a given sociolinguistic community and which translators use either consciously or unconsciously when they reexpress discourse content in the target language.
Word-for-word translation
A literal translation that consists of transferring the elements of the source text into the target text without changing the word order..
Can distort the sense and intelligbility of the source text.
Useful for revealing internal organization of the grammatical and lexical aspects of little known ancient languages or even of modern languages when viewed for pedagogical purposes.
Adaptation
A translation procedure where the translator replaces a socio-cultural reality from the source language with a reality specific to the culture of the target language in order to accommodate the expectations of the target audience.
What often requires adaptation?
Poetic works
Theatrical works
Advertising texts
For example: you can change the setting of a play
Amplification
A translation procedure where the translator uses more words in the target text than were present in the source text in order to re-express an idea or to reinforce the sense of a word from the source text whose correspondence in the target language cannot be expressed as concisely.
Example: Il pilotait lui-même des coucous rafistolés. He even piloted the old patched-together
crates.
Borrowing
A translation procedure where the translator carries over a word or an expression from the source text into the target text, either because the target language does not have a lexicalized correspondence, or for stylistic or rhetorical reasons.
Ex. N’oublions pas le smoking, noblesse oblige! => Of course, no one should be without a dinner jacket—noblesse oblige!
Calque
A translation procedure where a translator transfers a source language word or an expression encountered in the source text into the target text using a literal translation of its component elements.
Ex. mariage de convenance => marriage of convenience
