An English translation course

How does translation (even)exist?

A visual teaching aid for the textbookStep by Step originally written by Ana Rojo.

With summaries, brand new mindmaps and illustrations by Begoña Martínez Pagán (@minibego / minibego.com)

for the University of Murcia 2016-2017 course “(3096) TRADUCCIÓN GENERAL C-A I (INGLÉS)”

How does translation (even)exist?

Lesson 1:

DOES TRANSLATION EVEN EXIST?

1. DEFINITION2. FEASIBILITY3. IMPORTANCE4. EQUIVALENCE5. FORCES

Translation is not rocket science(nor tango)

Is translation…

art?

craft?

science?

technique?

law?

commerce?

YES.

That, and more.

1. Definition

Jakobson (1959)● Intralingual translation● Intersemiotic translation● Interlingual translation

Munday (2001):● Product● Process● Subject matter

● Oral vs written

2. Feasibility

3. Importance

4. Forces

TRUTH ⬌COMPETENCE

WRITER ⬌TRANSLATOR ⬌READER

WRITER ⬌TRANSLATOR ⬌READER● INTENTIONS ● STYLE

WRITER ⬌TRANSLATOR ⬌READER● INTENTIONS ● STYLE

● SKILLS

CONVENTIONS+ CULTURE

WRITER ⬌TRANSLATOR ⬌READERINTENTIONS

+ STYLESKILLS EXPECTATIONS

+ skills

CONVENTIONS+ CULTURE

Can we create an ideal replica? A clone?● An EQUIVALENT

Equivalent:

Aequi + valere

Same + worth

TRANSLATION:AN OPTIMIZATION PROBLEM

TRANSLATION EXPENSES● Time● Effort● Loss of meaning

SOLUTION● Linguistic analyisis● Skilled production

Lesson 2:WORDS

Lexicon● Structured network,

“tree”● Not “a list”● FLUID

Words in two languages

DO NOT

correspond exactly

● Decisions must come from context

● We study words first for educational reasons

Strategies

There’s ALWAYS some loss

equivalence ☞ acceptable

Move vertically● Top > down (+ specific)● Down > up (+ general)

Ambiguity+ vague- vague

Polysemy+ other meanings- other meanings

Connotation+ force- force

Recapitulation● Moving vertically● Ambiguity● Polysemy● Connotation

What is a word?

Everybody thinks they know what a word is. But the matter, which

seems so simple, is in fact enormously problematical.

Aitchison, J. (1994)

There once was a fisher named FisherWho fished for a fish in a fissure.But the fish with a grinPulled the fisherman inNow they all fish the fissure for Fisher.

Aitchison, J. (1994)

1.1. The smallest meaningful unit?

1.2. Minimal permutable element (Cruse, 2000)

● Cannot be interrupted● Cannot be moved, or new material inserted

1.3. Any sequence of letters with an orthographic space at either side (Baker, 1992)

Dissimilarity

Same world?Different views?Different “cuts”?Can words determine thoughts? (Sapir-Whorf)

Rojo, A. Step by Step, page 69

Rojo, A. Step by Step, page 70

Equivalenceat word level

Kussmaul (1995):What are the relevant features of the meaning of a word,in a given context,with regard to the function of the translation?

Word nuisance

Choose the RIGHT

meaning

Cope with AMBIGUITY

He got a boot in his stomach

The Bishop will marry the Prince

Children should always be belted in cars

Iraqi head is caught in possession of arms

A survey of milk drinkers reveals that many are turning to powder

The World’s Most Beautiful Mummy

Legal text:ambiguous on purpose(serve papers)

Humorous texts

Move across the semantic category

1. Sinonymy (same)2. Antonymy (opposite)3. Hyponymy (categories)4. Meronymy (parts)

Modulation:move up and down the semantic category

Modulationa change in point of view● Part/whole● Abstract/concrete● Cause/effect● Means/result● A/non-a

Movefromone language type to another

Talmy (1985, 1991, 2000):English: motion verbs express movement and manner of movement but use satellites or prepositions for path.

Talmy (1985, 1991, 2000):Spanish: motion verbs express movement and pathbut use satellites or prepositions for manner of movement.

Slobin (1996, 1997)EN>ES translators, +50 % cases: Omit manner and include pathES>EN translators add manner.

Language acts

Secondary meanings

Lesson 3:

MULTI-WORDSTRUCTURES

TRANSLATING PHRASEOLOGICAL UNITS

KNOCK, KNOCK—Is this the translators’ club?—Well, it depends.-On the context?-Come in!

Surrounding linguistic environment restricts the meaning of a term.

—Rojo, Step by Step

SPEAKERS FOLLOW (PRE-ESTABLISHED)

PATTERNS

Step by Step, Ana Rojo

SPEAKING IN SILVERFROM LOST TO THE RIVER

“Lexical pattern”Any group of words that is relatively fixed.

Too general?

PHRASEOLOGICAL UNITS● Fixedness (doesn’t change much)

● Idiomaticity (natural to native speakers)

PHRASEOLOGICAL UNITS● Such as:

○ Collocations, idioms, proverbs, formulaic expressions, clichés

How to classify them?● Semantic? (meaning)● Syntactic? (structure)● Other?

Corpas Pastor (1996) 3 basic categories:Incomplete utterance:

1. Collocations 2. Idioms

Complete utterance:3. Phraseological statements

3 BASIC CATEGORIES:● Collocations● Idioms● Phraseological statements

Collocations:● Incomplete utterance, variable● The tendency for some words to

occur together● A matter of FREQUENCY● E.G. heavy drinker, strong coffee

Idioms:● Incomplete utterance, stable● “Frozen patterns of language which allow

little or no variation in form and (…) often carry meanings which cannot be deduced from their individual components.”

Baker (1992)

Moon (1998). 3 types of idioms:● Transparent metaphors● Semi-transparent metaphors● Opaque metaphors

Phraseological statements● Complete utterances● Autonomous

Types of phraseological statements● Proverbs (generally accepted truths, didactic)

○ “Never look a gift horse in the mouth”● Clichés (obvious facts, not didactic)

○ “No somos nadie” // “We live and learn”● Quotations (like proverbs with known origin)

○ “May the force be with you”

Types of phraseological statements● Comandments (often religious)

● Slogans (from advertisements)

● Routine formulae (greetings, letter writing)

DIFFICULTIES IN TRANSLATION● Recognise them as such● Similar-but-NOPE counterparts● Similar vs natural● No equivalent● Manipulated (literature, publ.)

STRATEGIES (1 / 2)● Similar form and meaning● Similar form, dissimilar meaning● Typical expression, slightly diff.

meaning

STRATEGIES (2 / 2)● Paraphrase● Invent new image● Omission● Compensation

Lesson 4:ABOVE THE WORD

TRANSLATING GRAMMAR

ORDER MATTERS

● Mi más vieja amiga● Mi amiga más vieja

Differences in grammar ⬌

Differences in information

Add? Omit?

Grammar, as defined byDIRVEN AND VERSPOOR (1998):

● The combination of knowledge of the linguistic categories and knowledge of the patterns in which these may appear.

This includes:● Lexicology● Morphology● Syntax● Phonetics● Phonology

But we will focus on:

● Syntax ● Morphology

Grammar’s double role● SYNTAX: patterns

○ How messages are organized● MORPHOLOGY

○ How a word’s form(s) convey meaning

Morphemes● Inflectional● Derivational

Morphemes● Inflectional

○ Do not change the word type■ Number, gender, tense,

aspect, agreement, comparison

Morphemes● Derivational

○ Change the word type■ Syntactic category (verb to

noun…)■ Meaning (size, affection…)

ALTMANN (1997): [Saying] that we ignore meaning and we ignore grammar is to say that we do the linguistic equivalent of driving on the wrong side of the road, through red, with no brakes!

Problems in translating grammatical meaning

Gender

Female. Male. Neither. Both.

ES>EN: express gender (?)EN>ES: find out!

Or avoid the subject?

Number

NUMBER● Singular● Plural● Dual > As singular or as plural?

○ Pyjamas, dungarees , overalls● ES: su > his, hers, its, theirs?

Person

PERSON● Formal / polite● Informal / familiar / friendly?

Tense

TENSE● Location in time:

○ Past / present / future● Temporal duration:

○ Complete / incomplete○ Momentary / continuous

TENSE● ES<>EN: +/-same tenses ● WITH EXCEPTIONS!

○ Frequency○ Uses

SPANISH USES WAY LESS

THE PASSIVE TENSE!

Voice

VOICE● Active● Passive● se-passive➔ (is your friend in Spanish)

Bear in mind:➔ Frequency in each language➔ Existence of similar

structures➔ Function➔ Stylistic value

Morphemes

MORPHEMES➔ No one-to-one correspondence➔ Several strategies

WATCH OUT FOR➔ Diminutives➔ Augmentatives➔ Pejoratives

DIMINUTIVES● English:

○ -ey, -y, -ie, -o, -ette, -let○ -za (Australia)

● Spanish○ -ito, -illo, -ete, -ín, -ico

But! Diminutives in Spanish have many more uses.

USES OF DIMINUTIVES★ To indicate something being

small and compact○ Sillita, gatito, cucharilla

USES OF DIMINUTIVES★ To convey charm or endearment

○ Abuelita, maridito, mujercita, abuelete, vejete

USES OF DIMINUTIVES★ To indicate that something’s

casual or temporary○ Amiguete, noviete, rollete

USES OF DIMINUTIVES★ To play down an unpleasant or

embarrasing thing○ Dolorcillo, mentirijilla,

mentirosillo, dinerillo, gordito

USES OF DIMINUTIVES★ To convey a precise degree (in

certain adverbial expressions)○ Cerquita, en un momentito,

prontito, tempranito, poquito

USES OF DIMINUTIVES★ To convey annoyance or discontent with

things happening during a specific period○ Diíta, añito, mesecito,

semanita

USES OF DIMINUTIVES★ To give a friendly or familiar tone

○ Un momentito, una cervecita, despacito, con cuidadito

USES OF DIMINUTIVES★ To talk to little children or lovers

○ Jarrito, marranete, pillín, monín, cariñito, cielito

USES OF DIMINUTIVES★ To form new words

○ Zapato ➜ zapatilla○ Libro ➜ libreta○ Avión ➜ avioneta

USES OF AUGMENTATIVES★ To express intensity

○ Negative ○ Positive○ Or depending on context!

USES OF AUGMENTATIVES★ Disdain, displeasure

○ Solterón, solterona, cabezón, cabezota, bocazas, manazas, ricacho, ricachón, pasote

USES OF AUGMENTATIVES★ Approval, satisfaction

○ Cochazo, pisazo, casaza, motazo, padrazo, madraza, pasote, golazo, puntazo, pintaza

USES OF AUGMENTATIVES★ To indicate a blow or a stroke

○ -azo■ Hachazo, martillazo,

puñetazo, cabezazo, codazo, sartenazo, plumazo

USES OF AUGMENTATIVES★ To indicate a blow or a stroke

○ -on (to a certain part of the body)■ Coscorrón, pisotón, bofetón

USES OF AUGMENTATIVES★ To form new words

○ Tabla ➜ tablón○ Fuego ➜ fogón○ Cinto ➜ cinturón○ Camisa ➜ camisón○ Caja ➜ cajón○ Cuerda ➜ cordón

USES OF PEJORATIVES★ Pejoratives indicate contempt,

objection, disapproval.★ Spanish has pejorative

morphology. English doesn’t.

PEJORATIVES★ -ajo, -ejo, -acho, -ucho, -ales, -anga,

-ingo, -arro, -orro, -astro, -uelo, -zuelo, -ezuelo, -uno, -uzco, -uzo

DEROGATORY DIMINUTIVES★ -ete, (-cete, -ecete)★ -ico, (-cico, -ecico)★ -illo (-cillo, -ecillo)★ -ito (-cito, -ecito)

DEROGATORY AUGMENTATIVES★ -aco★ -ote (-zote, -ezote)★ -ón (-zón, ezón)

USES OF AUGMENTATIVES★ To indicate resemblance to negative

qualities or mischievous behaviour○ Caballuno, lobuno, pequeñajo,

chiquitajo, renacuajo, animalejo, diablejo.

USES OF AUGMENTATIVES★ To hint at something rudimentary or done

without expertise○ Pintarrajo, muñecajo, palote,

monigote* *de monigo, monaguillo

USES OF AUGMENTATIVES★ To hint at inherent negative features

○ Listorro, ceporro, señoritingo, frescales, bestiales, fritanga

How would you translate these?○ Listorro, ceporro, señoritingo,

frescales, bestiales, fritanga

USES OF AUGMENTATIVES★ To mock somebody, without

extra meanings○ Perico, Pericales

USES OF AUGMENTATIVES★ To complain about certain

behaviour○ Acusica, quejica, llorica

USES OF AUGMENTATIVES★ To hint at the appalling

condition of something (poor, old, ugly, doesn’t work…)○ Poblacho, casucha, cacharro

USES OF AUGMENTATIVES★ To suggest that something has the quality

described, only to a certain degree:○ Feúcho, malucho, blancuzco,

negruzco, borrachuzo, borrachuelo, marranuzo

USES OF AUGMENTATIVES★ To indicate lack of importance or

secondary status:○ Escritorzuelo, reyezuelo,

populacho

USES OF AUGMENTATIVES★ To indicate some sort of

extrinsicality (mostly not a blood relation)

○ Padrastro, madrastra, hijastro

USES OF AUGMENTATIVES★ To intensify the negative

qualities of the stem○ Pajarraco, libraco,

bicharraco, abusón, barrigón○ Let’s think about this

example: sudaca

USES OF PEJORATIVES★ To convey disdain by

downgrading the category○ Falsete, pringadete, zoquete,

tontito, cabrito, listillo, burrillo, borrico, gobernadorcillo, frailecillo

Compounds

COMPOUNDS➔ Unpredictable➔ Break up and build again

◆ In general, use common sense!

Others?!

● SHAPE (YANA, NAVAHO)○ Long○ Round○ Sheet-like

● AMUESHA (Perú)○ Dead○ Alive

Lesson 5:BEYOND THE SENTENCE,

EXPLORING THE NOTION OF

CONTEXT

How do readers establish context?

● Let’s think:○ I hate irritating children○ I hate irritating men○ I hate irritating misogynists○ I hate irritating fascists

Co-text Con-textof situation

Text Culture

Werlich, 1970; Van Dijk, 1977; Halliday and Hasan, 1976

Original text

in original contextPic: Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Penguin_in_Antarctica_jumping_out_of_the_water.jpg#metadata

Translated text

intarget

contextPic: Andreas Lucke, bildlich.org

● Context○ Cohesion○ Coherence

● Coherence, Baker (1992)○ The network of conceptual

relations that underlie the surface of a text.

● Cohesion, Baker (1992)○ The network of surface

relations which link words and expressions to other words and expressions in a text.

● Ana Rojo (2009):○ Cohesion can, therefore, be considered

the surface expression of coherence, since cohesive devices are textual devices for making conceptual relations explicit.

● Cohesion○ Do the underlying ideas make sense?

● Coherence ○ How meaning is structured○ Beyond texts / languages

● Cohesive devices in translation:○ Grammatical differences○ Lack of stylistic naturalness

● Cohesion■ Reference■ Ellipsis■ Lexical cohesion■ Conjunction

Reference, (Rojo, 2009):● The connection of one

linguistic expression to another, in which one provides the information needed to interpret the other correctly.

Reference● Personal (pro-nouns)

○ Pro-verbs, pro-complements, pro-clauses● Demonstrative● Comparative● Deictics

!➔ Spanish does NOT repeat pronouns,

the person marker is “in the verb”

Ellipsis (Rojo, 2009):● The omission of one or more

items that are understood in the context, but which are required to make the sentence grammatical.

Ellipsis● Situational knowledge● Language-specific economy● Borderline with reference

● Lexical cohesion■ Reiteration (repetition)■ Collocation

Conjuction (Rojo, 2009):● The use of formal

markers to hold bits of text together.

➔ Conjunction◆ Parataxis● Coordination● Juxtaposition

◆ Hypotaxis● Subordination

!➔ English uses more parataxis

(coordination, juxtaposition).➔ Spanish uses more hypotaxis

(subordination).

The car and I crawled cursing up the street to my flat. You just cannot park around here anymore. Even on a Sunday afternoon, you just cannot park around here anymore. You can doublepark on people: people can double park on you.[Amis, Money, 1982, cited by Rojo, 2009]

Mi coche y yo íbamos a paso de tortuga camino a casa, cagándonos en todo. Es que aquí ya no se puede aparcar. Es que ni siquiera en domingo por la noche se puede aparcar.

Opciones que habíamos dejado abiertas:

1. Puedes hacerlo en doble fila, los demás van a aparcar sí o sí.

2. Si tú no aparcas en doble fila, lo harán otros.3. Acabas aparcando en doble fila como hacen los

demás.4. Acabas aparcando en doble fila o te dejan

encerrado.

Coherence, Baker (1992) (again)

The network of conceptual relations that underlie the surface of a text.

Coherence (Hatim and Mason 1990, Beaugrade 1980)The procedures which ensure conceptual conectivity, including:

1. Logical relations2. Organisation

of events, objects, situations3. Continuity in human experience

Coherence (…) depends on the interaction between textual knowledge andthe reader’s own knowledge and experience of reality.

(Rojo, 2009)

This text is cohesive but incoherent: (…) I bought a Ford. The car in which President Wilson rode down the Champs Elysees was black. Black English has been widely discussed. The discussions between the presidents ended last week. A week has seven days. Every day I feed my cat. Cats have four legs. The cat is on the mat. Mat has three letters.

(Baker, 1992, as quoted by Rojo, 2009)

Finding a text coherent depends on ● Reader’s ability to recognise the semantic

relations that form the thread of meaning● Reader’s capacity to find text components

relevant and believable.

An elevator in Belgrade:

To move the cabin, push button for wishing floor. If the cabin should enter more persons, each one should press a number of wishing floor. Driving is then going alphabetically by national order.

(Tradux Translations, 2006, as quoted by Rojo, 2009)

!➔ This makes no sense!

?➔ Why do we understand it?

Frame:

An internalised chunk of knowledge

Rojo, 2009

Frame:

A mental model of reality that helps us understand the world around us.

Rojo, 2009

Frame:

We have stored an inventory of these mental models and we use them to interpret reality.

Rojo, 2009

Interesting, on mental models:https://joshkaufman.net/mental-models/The Personal MBA

Frame○ Cognitive approach○ Mental model of reality○ Prototypical situations○ Meaning:

a complex conceptual structure obtained from experience

Example of a toxic model, right here in this chapter of the book.

● Implicature○ I’ve got to take my car for a

service soon. We are going to Portugal in two weeks.

Rojo, 2009

● Implicature○ It helps us explain how we manage to

establish continuity of meaning between apparently decontextualized stretches of language.

Rojo, 2009

Grice (1975):“We assume that conversation is governed by a Cooperative Principle”

● Quantity● Quality● Relevance● Manner

Grice (1975)Cooperative Principle:● Quantity

○ One should provide just as much information as required

Grice (1975)Cooperative Principle:● Quality

○ One should only say what one believes is true.

Grice (1975)Cooperative Principle:● Relevance

○ What one says must be relevant to the current exchange.

Grice (1975)Cooperative Principle:● Manner

○ Speakers must be clear, brief, and orderly.

+Others add one extra:● Politeness

○ One should always be courteous and considerate.

If these principles are right, we will look for that kind of connections first.

“My husband is losinga lot of weight.

He works very hard.”

● Implicature○ Apparently fragmented

language?○ Metaphor / metonimy■ My girlfriend is a doll■ Estoy agotada. Mi hijo es un

auténtico bicho.

“Cognitive metonimy” as the basis of pragmatic inference…

… we will skip this part.

Exploitingthe context of situation

We store conceptstogether with their prototypical contexts.

● Situational information○ Speaker’s geographical,

social, temporal origin○ Natives choose their register

● Cultural / situational-related information○ How much to explain?○ How much to leave implicit?

■ See: Chip Kidd at TED:■ https://www.ted.com/talks/chip_kidd_designing_books_is_no_laughing_matter_ok_it

_is

That’s all,* folks!

*For the time being: there’s one summary/round-up chapter that I’d like to add at some point.

Remember, this is a visual teaching aid for the textbook:Rojo López, Ana María. Step by Step: A Course in Contrastive Linguistics and Translation. Oxford: Peter Lang, 2009. Print. ISBN: 978-3039111336

You can buy it here: http://amzn.to/2ibIXIq

This presentation is a work in progress!

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