basic concepts in translation

8/15/2019 Basic Concepts in Translation

1/161


2/161

Basic Concepts in

Translation

Amin Marzban

Peyman Nouraey


3/161

Basic Concepts in Translation

:

:

:1000

:-1390

5-00-6366-600-978 : (ISBN)

:43000

.

.

.

:1359-

Marzban, Amin

Basic Concepts in Translation/ Amin Marzban, Peyman Nouraey. :

: :1390=2011.

:164.

43000 978- 600- 6366- 00- 5 :(ISBN) :

:.

:

:1365- Nouraey, Peyman :

P :139094/306 :02/418

:2454480


4/161

Contents

List of figures i

Acknowledgements ii

List of abbreviations iii

Introduction iv

About the authors vi

1 Theories 1

1.1 What is translation? 3

1.2 Types of translation 4

1.3 The history of translation 6

1.4 What is Translation Studies? 7

1.5 The Holmes/Toury “map” 7

1.6 The methods of translation 11

1.7 Introducing the methods 12

1.8 Other methods 20

1.9 Exercises 22


5/161

2 Applications 27

2.0 Introduction 29

2.1 Steps in translation project 29

2.2 Exercises 40

3 Unit of Translation and Equivalence 45

3.0 Introduction 47

3.1 Unit of Translation 47

3.2 Nida and equivalence 48

3.3 Koller and equivalence 49

3.4 Problems in finding lexical equivalence 51

3.5 Exercises 54

4 Translation “shift” 59

4.0 Introduction 61

4.1 Catford’s translation “shifts” 61

4.2 Vinay and Darbelnet’s model 65


6/161

4.3 Exercises 71

5 How to Be a Good Translator 75

5.0 Introduction 77

5.1 The features of a good translation 77

5.2 Exercises 82

6 Translation Practice 83

Glossary 128

Bibliography 143


7/161

i

List of figures

1.1 Translation 3

1.2 Intersemiotic translation 5

1.3 Types of translation 6

1.4 Holmes’ “map” of Translation Studies 8

1.5 The applied branch of Translation Studies 11

1.6 The flattened V diagram of translation

emphasis 12

2.1 Steps in a translation project 30

4.1 Catford’s translation shifts 62

4.2 Vinay and Darbelnet’s model 70

5.1 Dolet’s “principles” for a good translation 78

5.2 Tytler’s “rules” for a good translation 79

5.3 Nida’s four basic “requirements” for a good

translation 81


8/161

ii

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to appreciate thefollowing copyright holders who kindly allowed us to

use their work in this publication (in order of the

alphabet):

Ali Afshar, M.A in Dramatic Arts

Asadollah Eftekhar, active author in poetry

Aziz Shabani, Ph.D. in Persian Literature

Eric Ode, American poet

Edite Kroll, head of Edite Kroll Literary Agency INC., for the

permission of the poems by Shel Silverstein

Farzaneh Farahzad, Ph.D., faculty member at Allame

Tabatabaee University

Nezamadin Moqadassi, active author in the realm of

Persian literature


9/161

iii

List of abbreviations

4T’s Text, Target, Team, Tools

DTS Descriptive Translation Studies

L1 Language 1

L2 Language 2

SL Source Language

ST Source Text

TL Target Language

TT Target Text

UT Unit of Translation


10/161

iv

Introduction

There are various books written on differentaspects of translation. Lots of such books are being

taught in different universities around the country, some

of which seem to have put learners into difficulty,

though. One of the problems we have long faced in our

translation methodology classes is that students who get

familiar with the theories and methods of translation are

not commonly asked to put theory into practice or there

would not be a chance to do so; namely, the application

of such theories in real language tasks is mostly

neglected. Another persistent problem is that the type of

language some of the books use to convey information is

too difficult to understand for many university level

Translation students. The available textbooks containexamples, often presented in French, Spanish and many

other languages, which are usually incomprehensible for

Persian EFL learners. Regarding translation courses, too,

what most instructors commonly do is to have the

students translate English texts into Persian, which is not

technically recommended to act as the main job in such

courses. Nevertheless, translating from Persian into

English is what most Iranian Translation students are not

able to do or interested in because of the lack of practice

or non-applicable frameworks and lexicon.

The present work is thus assumed to have

incorporated beneficial issues regarding theory and


11/161

v

practice in most essential translation issues in an easily

understandable language for Iranian EFL undergraduate

and postgraduate students along with M.A entrance

exam candidates.

There are a number of issues which make this

publication different from similar ones in the same field

including:

1. An effort has been made to focus on thetranslation of Persian texts, rather than the

English ones.

2. After introducing each item, students will dealwith some useful Persian examples, so that the

item in question would be better understood.

3. The authors have tried to explain the items in thesimplest and most comprehensible language

possible. Many well-known theories and models

are thus rephrased.

4. The practical perspectives of translation have been put into consideration through the

translation tasks presented at the end of the book.

5. The texts are presented for translation with the permission of the original authors; except for thecases that the author is deceased.


12/161

vi

About the authors

Dr. Amin Marzban is a faculty member in Applied Linguistics. He has been teaching English to

major and non-major students at various levels in

several academic contexts and works as the president

and founder of Shamim Arghavan Language Academy

and Shamim Danesh International Student Recruitment

Center. He has continuously published in well-known

international journals such as Asian EFL Journal,

Linguistics Journal, Iranian EFL Journal, JLLS, and

Canadian ELT Journal and has been the author of a few

bestselling textbooks available on the market.

Peyman Nouraey is currently an M.A candidatein English Language Translation and an English

instructor at well-known centers in Shiraz such as Iran

Language Institute (ILI) and Shamim Arghavan

Language Academy. He has never ceased to impress his

students and colleagues with his charming taste of art

and language. He has also proved to be research

oriented by working enthusiastically on several projects

as in the present textbook.


13/161


14/161

1

Theories


15/161


16/161

THEORIES 3

ST in SL translation TT in TL

1.1 What is translation?

The term translation refers to the act of translator changing an original written text in the original verbal

language into a written text in a different verbal

language (Munday, 2001, p.5). The original text is called

the Source Text (ST), while the other text is referred to

as the Target Text (TT). Likewise, the original verbal

language is called the Source Language (SL), while the

latter verbal language is called the Target Language

(TL). Figure 1.1

Translation

Although the act of changing the original verbal

language (L1) into the target language (L2) is referred to

as interpretation, the main focus of this book will be

translation, as defined above.


17/161

4 BASIC CONCEPTS IN TRANSLATION

1.2 Types of translation Czech structuralist Roman Jakobson in his paper

“On Linguistic Aspects of Translation” (as cited in

Munday, 2001, p.5), defines three main types of

translation, which the above mentioned involves the

second one:

1.2.1 Intralingual translation, or “rewording”: “an

interpretation of verbal signs by means of other signs of the same language.” Intralingual translation is the act of

rephrasing or paraphrasing a text in the source language

in order to explain or clarify the text:

Pass away: to die

To add insult to injury: to make one‟s relationship withsb. even worse by offending them as well as

actually harming them

“Look out!”: be careful!

1.2.2 Interlingual translation, or “translationproper”: “an interpretation of verbal signs by means of

some other language.” The main focus of this book will

be on interlingual translation, which is the act of

translating from SL into TL:

Pass away


18/161

THEORIES 5

To add insult to injury

“Look out!” !

1.2.3 Intersemiotic translation, or “transmutation”:

“an interpretation of verbal signs by means of signs of

non-verbal sign systems.” Intersemiotic translation

involves translating a written text into a non-verbal

language (e.g. film, painting, music, etc.), vice versa.

Figure 1.2

Intersemiotic translation

The following figure shows different types of

translation according to Jakobson:

Intersemiotic

translation


19/161


Translation

translation(written)

intralingual

translation

interlingual

translation

intersemiotic

translation

interpretation(oral)

Figure 1.3

Types of translation

1.3 The history of translation

During the history, al lot has been sacrificed for

the term translation. As an example, the French humanistEtienne Dolet was burned at the stake after being

condemned by the theological faculty of Sorbonne

University in 1546, being charged with blasphemy. The

same story happened to Tvndale; Wycliffe's works were

banned and a lot of other sad endings happened during

the history of translation.


20/161

THEORIES 7

However, translation, as a nascent, academic

discipline began in the past sixty years. Holmes (1988)

and Snell-Hornby (1988) were the first theorists to treat

translation as an independent academic discipline.

Nida (1964) attempts to put translation into a

more scientific era, borrowing a lot from Noam

Chomsky's work on syntactic structure, which formed

the theory of generative-transformational grammar

(Chomsky 1957/1965).

1.4 What is Translation Studies? As Munday (2001, p.5) believes, “In the English-

speaking world… [this independent discipline] is nowgenerally known as Translation Studies”.

1.5 The Holmes/Toury “map” In the original paper given by Holmes in 1972 in

the translation section of the Third InternationalCongress of Applied Linguistics in Copenhagen, he

stresses the need to forge “other communication

channels, cutting across the traditional disciplines to

reach all scholars working in the field, from whatever

background”( as cited in Munday, 2001, p.10).


21/161


Translationstudies

Pure

theoretical

general partial

mediumrestricted

arearestricted

rankrestricted

text-typerestricted

timerestricted

problemrestricted

descriptive

productoriented

processoriented

functionoriented

Applied

translatortraining

translationaids

translationcriticism

Figure 1.4

Holmes‟ “map” of Translation Studies (from Munday 2001, p.10)

The following descriptions are from Munday

(2001, pp.10-3):

According to Holmes (1988/2000), the objectives

of the “pure” area are:


22/161

THEORIES 9

1. the description of the phenomena of translation(descriptive translation theory).

2. the establishment of general principles to explainand predict such phenomena(translation

theory).

The theoretical branch is divided into general and

partial theories. By general, Holmes refers to those

writings that seek to describe or account for every type

of translation. However, the partial branch is restrictedaccording to the parameters below:

a. Medium-restricted theories: whether thetranslation is being done by humans or machines,

or if by machine, whether it is working alone or

as an aid to the humans as translators and also,

whether the human translation is written or

spoken.

b. Area-restricted theories: are restricted tospecific languages or groups of languages and/or

cultures.

c. Rank-restricted theories: are linguistic theoriesthat have been restricted to a specific level of

(normally) the word and sentence.

d. Text-type restricted theories: look at specificdiscourse types or genres; e.g. literary, business

and technical translation.

e. Time-restricted theories: refers to theories andtranslations limited according to specific time


23/161


frames and periods. The history of translation

falls into this category.

f. Problem-restricted theories: can refer tospecific problems such as equivalence- a key

issue of the 1960s and 1970s -or to a wider

question of whether universals of translated

language exist.

The other branch of “pure” research in Holmes‟

map is descriptive. Descriptive Translation Studies(DTS) has three possible focuses which include

examination of (1) the product, (2) the function, and (3)

the process:

1. Product-oriented DTS: examines existingtranslations. According to Holmes, “one of the

eventual goals of product-oriented DTS might

possibly be a general history of translation”

(p.11).

2. Function-oriented DTS: is the study of contextrather than the text. It examines which books

were translated when and where, and what

influences they exerted.

3. Process oriented DTS: is concerned with the psychology of translation, i.e. to find out what

happens in the mind of a translator. As cited in Munday (2001), the “applied” branch

of Holmes‟ framework would look something like the

following figure (p. 12-3):


24/161

THEORIES 11

"Applied"

Translator training

teachingevaluationmethods

testing techniques

curriculum design

Translation aids

IT applications

translationsoftware

on-line databases

use of internet

dictionaries grammars

Translation

criticism

revision

evaluation of translations

reviews

Figure 1.5

The applied branch of Translation Studies

Thus, as the students of translation, you are

studying the applied branch of translation, combined

with other branches of this field of study.

1.6 The methods of translation

How to translate has always been the main

question in this field. Whether to translate freely or

literally, whether to keep the sense, the spirit and the


25/161


SL emphasis TL emphasis

Word for word translation Adaptation

Literal translation Free translation

Faithful translation Idiomatic translation

Semantic translation Communicative translation

message, or the words and the form. Walter Benjamin

and Vladmir Nabokov were two of extreme literalists

who strongly believed that the translation must be as

literal as possible (Newmark 1988, p.45).

According to Newmark (1988), a two-way

emphasis is made during the process of translation that

one refers to SL and the other to TL. Figure 1.6

The flattened V diagram of translation emphasis (from

Newmark 1988, p.45)

1.7 Introducing the methods

In Newmark's explanation of this diagram (1988,

pp.45-7), the definitions of the methods are as followings

(for the better understanding of Persian students of


26/161

THEORIES 13

English, at the end of each definition, a Persian example

of the method is introduced): 1.7.1 Word for word translation: This is often

demonstrated as interlinear translation, with the TL

immediately below the SL words. The SL word-order is

preserved and the words translated singly by their most

common meanings, out of context. Cultural words are

translated literally. The main use of word-for-word

translation is to understand the mechanics of the source

language or to construe a difficult text as a pre-

translation process.

She went. . University of Paris

Go to hell! !

Although this method seems just in a number of

cases, in a lot of other sentences would be problematic:How are you?

I saw her shopping yesterday. .


27/161


1.7.2 Literal translation: The SL grammaticalconstructions are converted to their nearest TL

equivalents but the lexical words are again translated

singly, out of context. As a pre-translation process, this

indicates the problem to be solved.

How are you?

Rome wasn‟t built in one day!

!

I know it like the back of my hand!

!

There‟s light at the end of the tunnel. .

Rule of thumb

His heart is in the right place. .


28/161

THEORIES 15

1.7.3 Faithful translation: A faithful translation

attempts to reproduce the precise contextual meaning of

the original within the constraints of the TL grammatical

structures. It “transfers” cultural words and preserves the

degree of grammatical and lexical “abnormality”

(deviation from SL norms) in the translation. It attempts

to be completely faithful to the intentions and the text-

realization of the SL writer. Call it a day!

!

It was a blessing in disguise! !

The penny finally dropped! !

He is on the fiddle. .

1.7.4 Semantic translation: It differs from faithful

translation only as far as it must take more account of the

aesthetic value (that is, the beautiful and natural sound)


29/161


of the SL text, compromising on “meaning” where

appropriate so that no assonance, word-play or repetition

jars in the finished version. The distinction between

“faithful” and “semantic” translation is that the first is

uncompromising and dogmatic, while the second is more

flexible.

There‟s light at the end of the tunnel. .

When hell freezes over! !

Still waters run deep! !...

1.7.5 Adaptation: This is the “freest” form of

translation. It is used mainly for plays (comedies) and

poetry; the themes, characters, plots are usually

preserved, the SL culture converted to the TL culture and

the text rewritten.

… Although

He thought he‟d „list, perhaps,


30/161

THEORIES 17

Off-hand-like_ just as I_

Was out of work_had sold his traps_

No other reasons why.

From “The Man He killed” by Thomas Hardy

(1840_1928)

...

. .

.

1.7.6 Free translation: Free translation reproduces the

matter without the manner, or the content without the


31/161


form of the original. Usually it is a paraphrase much

longer than the original.

… I would

Love you ten years before the Flood,

And you should, if you please, refuse

Till the conversion of the Jews.

From: “To His Coy Mistress” by Andrew Marvell (1621-

1678)

.


32/161

THEORIES 19

.

1.7.7 Idiomatic translation: It reproduces the

“message” of the original, but tends to distort nuances of

meaning by preferring colloquialisms and idioms where

these do not exist in the original.

I‟ll keep my fingers crossed! !

Good job! !

My account‟s in the red! !

Piece of cake!

!

1.7.8 Communicative translation: It attempts to

render the exact contextual meaning of the original in

such a way that both content and language are readily

acceptable and comprehensible to the readership.


33/161


-Bless you! -!

-Thanks! -!

As Newmark(1988,p.47)believes, of all these

methods, only two methods can fulfill the two main aims

of translation, which are first, “accuracy”, and second,“economy”. These two methods include semantic and

communicative translations.

1.8 Other methods

According to Newmark, the followings are someother methods used in different situations. The last two

methods are presented by Newmark for the first time

(1988, pp.52-3). 1.8.1 Service translation: Is translation from one‟s

language of habitual use into another language.

1.8.2 Plain Prose translation: The prose translation of

poems and poetic drama initiated by E. V. Rieu for

Penguin Books. Usually stanzas become paragraphs,

prose punctuation is introduced, original metaphors and

SL culture retained, while no sound-effects are

reproduced. The reader can appreciate the sense of the


34/161

THEORIES 21

work without experiencing equivalent effect. Plain prose

translations are often published in parallel with their

originals, to which, after a careful word-for-word

comparison, they provide ready and full access. 1.8.3 Information translation: This conveys all the

information in a non-literary text, sometimes rearranged

in a moral, logical form, sometimes partially

summarized, and not in the form of a paraphrase.

1.8.4 Cognitive translation: This reproduces the

information in an SL text converting the SL grammar to

its normal TL transpositions, normally reducing any

figurative to literal language. 1.8.5 Academic translation: This type of translation,

practiced in some British universities, reduces anoriginal SL text to an “elegant” idiomatic educated TL

version which follows a (non-existent) literally register.


35/161


1.9 Exercises A. Answer the following questions:

1. What does the term “translation” refer to? 2. What is the original text called?3. What is the original language called?4. What is the translated text called?5. What is the language you are going to translate

into called?

6. What does the term “interpretation” refer to? 7. What is the difference between the terms

“translation” and “interpretation”?

8. What are the three types of translation introduced by Jakobson?

9.

What does intralingual translation deal with?Provide some examples.

10. What does interlingual translation deal with?Provide some examples.

11. What does intersemiotic translation deal with?Provide some examples.

12. What does the term “translation studies” refer to?

13. What do we mean by “methods of translation”?

B. Choose the correct answer:


36/161

THEORIES 23

1. What is the correct term for the act of written rendering from one language into

another?

A. interpretation B. rewording

C. translation D. transmutation

2. What is the correct term for the act of verbal rendering from one language into another?

A. modulation B. intersemiotic translation

C. translation proper D. interpretation

3. Which of the followings was/were burnedat the stake for his/their translations?

A. Dolet B.Wycliffe

C. Tvndale D. choices A and C

4. Whose translated works were bannedduring the history?

A.Wycliffe B.Tytler

C. Nida D. Chomsky

5. For how long has the translation turned

into an academic discipline?

A. more than a century

B. less than a decade


37/161


C. more than ten centuries

D. less than a century

6. Which of the followings were the firsttheorists to treat translation as an independent

academic discipline?

A. Holmes and Munday

B. Nida and Newmark

C. Tytler and Holme

D. Holmes and Snell-Hornby

7. Who introduced the generative-transformational grammar for the first time?

A. Dolet B. Tytler

C. Chomsky D. Koller

C. Write T for true or F for false:

1. Word for word translation is a useful method for all types of contexts. _____

2. A faithful translation tries to be completelyfaithful to the intentions and text-realization of

the SL. _____


38/161

THEORIES 25

3. In a literal translation, grammatical structures andlexical words are translated according to the

context. _____

4. A free translation is usually a paraphrase shorter than the original. _____

5. Adaptation is the freest form of translation._____ 6. A semantic translation is more flexible than afaithful translation. _____

D. Apply the following methods on these sentences.

Then, if the translation seems fine, put a check,

and if not, put a cross:


39/161


sentence method of

translation

translation final

comment

We talkedyesterday.

word for word

literal

It‟s written

on the wall.

semantic

idiomatic

I know itlike the

back of myhand.

literal

semantic

The pennyfinally

dropped!

word for word

faithful

E. Discuss the following question in your class:

Which method of translation do you think

is the best of all? Explain your reasons.


40/161

2

Applications


41/161


42/161

APPLICATIONS 29

2.0 Introduction

In order to have a good piece of translation,different steps should be taken. A good job is, most of

the times the product of having a systematic design,

through which you can have an overview about what

you have done so far, and what to do next.

The main aim of this chapter is to familiarize the

students with the framework of the translation project.Careful attention paid to these steps in order to do a

translation project, especially while translating a book, is

of utmost importance.

2.1 Steps in translation project

In order to have a good translation, it is essential

for every translator to know what steps should be taken

during the process of translation. Different steps have

been pointed out up to this day; however, the translator

is the final person who decides what steps to be taken.

The following steps are taken from Larson (1998, pp.51-6):


43/161


Figure 2.1

Steps in translation project

steps in

translation project

establishing the

project

text

target

team

tools

Exegesis

preparation

analysis

initial draft

evaluation

accuracy

clearness

naturalnessrevised draft

consultation

accuracy of

content

naturalness of

style

effect on the

receptor language

audience

final draft


44/161

APPLICATIONS 31

2.1.1 Establishing the project

There are a number of items that have to beunderstood and well defined by all people who are

involved in the project of translation. These items are

explained by the term four T‟s- the text, the target, the

team and the tools.

2.1.1.1 The text refers to the written material or

document in the source language which is to betranslated. Different texts are translated for different

reasons. As for the first step, the translator should

determine the type of the text to be translated and clarify

the reasons in his mind.

2.1.1.2 The target simply refers to the audience. For

what age level is the text going to be translated? Arethey kids or adults? What are their cultural features? In

what context is the text going to be used? Is it going to

be used in universities as a reference book, or just being

read by students at school, or even lower educated

people? These questions should be answered before

starting the translation process.

2.1.1.3 The team refers to the people who are involved

in the translation project. The translator, the consultant,

the reviewer, the typist, the publisher and the distributor

of the final work form the team.


45/161


1.1.1.4 The tools refer to the written source materials

which will be used by the translator in order to get help.

Dictionaries, encyclopedias, lexicons, etc., can be used

as tools of translation.

2.1.2 Exegesis

Exegesis is formed via preparation and analysis,which finally leads to the process of discovering the

meaning of the source language text which is to be

translated (Larson: 1998, p.53).

Before starting to write anything, the translator

should read the material several times in order to get

prepared and analyze the data and all ambiguities withinthe text. When having a clear idea about the text and the

author‟s purpose, you may take the next step, which is

the initial draft.

2.1.3 Initial draft

Drafting the text piece by piece takes place after

analyzing the text carefully. This act of transferring the

data from the source language to the target language

leads to the initial draft. According to Larson (1998),


46/161

APPLICATIONS 33

there are two ways a translator can approach the initial

draft:

Some translators prefer to do a quick rough

translation, so that the material flows naturally.

Then they go back and tighten up the details to

be sure that there is no wrong information and no

omissions or additions…others prefer to prepare

a proposition-like semantic draft, being sure that

all the information is accounted for, and then

reword it for naturalness….either method will

lead to an idiomatic translation if careful work is

done (pp.53-4).

2.1.4 Evaluation

As Larson (1998, pp.54-5) believes, this step

consists of three levels, which are evaluating the

accuracy, clearness and naturalness of the work done.

2.1.4.1 Accuracy means that the translated work should

convey the same meaning as in it does in the sourcelanguage.

The following translation has not been able to

convey the exact intention of the poet due to the

translator‟s lack of information:


47/161


And he was always quietly arrayed,

And he was always human when he talked;

But still he fluttered pulses when he said,

“Good morning,” and he glittered when he walked.

From “Richard Cory” by Edwin Arlington Robinson(1869-1935)

"". As you see, there are a couple of

misunderstandings within the translated text which are:

a. the author has used a passive structure on the first lineof this stanza, which has to be changed into an active

structure while being translated into Persian. Thus, the

better translation for this line would be:


48/161

APPLICATIONS 35

b. on the second line, there seems to be a misspelling,

which changes the whole meaning of the line. The better

translation would be:

c. on the third line, by fluttering pulses, the author‟s

intention is to express the nervousness of the main

character of the poem, but again, the unprofessional job

of the translator has ruined the whole feelings of the

author. The better translation for this line would be:

Another example is from the poem “The Man HeK illed” by Thomas Hardy (1840-1928), which shows

that the translator did not have any idea about what is

going on in this poem, and that is why the reader cannot

understand even one word of this translated text: … Although

He thought he‟d „list, perhaps,

Off-hand-like_ just as I_

Was out of work_had sold his traps_

No other reasons why.


49/161


.

. .

A better translation for this stanza would be as

followings, through which, at least the reader can get the

theme of the poem: ...

. .

.


50/161


51/161


a. on the first line, a word for word translation leads to

lack of clearness. The following translation seems better

for this line:

. b. on the second line of the translated text, what the

reader might get is that the speaker(s) of the poem had

no meat and no loaves of bread to eat, which is not

correct. In fact, by adding one simple word, you can

reach the exact translation and the intention of the

author:

().

2.1.4.3 Naturalness means the work should look natural

and easy to understand in the receptor language. The

following translation is correct, but does not seem

natural:

He started eating. .

2.1.5 Revised draft

Surely during the process of evaluation, a lot of

suggestions will be made by those who are checking the

draft. In this step, all the necessary changes should be


52/161

APPLICATIONS 39

made in order to prevent any errors or mistakes. This

step leads to the production of the revised draft.

2.1.6 ConsultationIt is necessary to have a consultant to check your

work in terms of not having any problems. According to

Munday (1998, pp.55-6), there are three topics inquestion a consultant can help a translator with, which

are(1) accuracy of content, (2) naturalness of style, and

(3) effect on the receptor language audience.

2.1.7 Final draft

Before going to final draft, there are a number of

items that should be taken into account. First, the

punctuations and spellings should be checked. Then,

additional materials like pictures, diagrams, charts,

tables, etc. should be added. Accuracy of the final work

is a credit for the translator(s). You can even choose

some people randomly to read the final work. In this

case, you had better choose them from your target

audience. However, you have to be careful about the act

of plagiarism, for you have tried hard to do your best.


53/161


2.2 Exercises

A. Answer the following questions:1. What does the term 4T‟s stand for? 2. What are the items that form the exegesis?3. What are the three items which are checked

carefully in the evaluation step?

4. What is the main aim of revising the initialdraft?

5. What are the things to be done through thestep of final drafting?

6. What are the two ways of drafting as inLarson‟s opinion?

B. Choose the correct answer:1. Which one refers to the written sourcematerials used to help a translator?

A. target B. tools

C. text D. team

2. Which one refers to the audience?A. text B. target

C. tools D. team

3. Which one refers to the written material inthe SL?

A. text B. source text

C. target D. choices A and B

4. Which one refers to the people who areinvolved in the translation project?


54/161

APPLICATIONS 41

A. team B. text

C. tools D. audience

5. Which one is not checked within the step of evaluation?

A. accuracy B. clearness

C. naturalness D. adding tables, etc.

6. Which one is not an item a consultant canhelp the translator with in Munday‟s opinion?

A. accuracy of contentB. the design of the cover

C. effect on the receptor language

D. naturalness of style

7. Within this step, the charts, tables, diagrams,etc. are added.

A. initial draft B. evaluationC. exegesis D. final draft

8. Which one refers to the act of takingsomeone‟s ideas as if they were your own?

A. plagiarism B. drafting

C. rewording D. translation

C. Write T for true and F for false:1. Revised draft takes place after the final draft.

____

2. Clearness means the audience shouldunderstand the text clearly. ____


55/161


3. The translator should analyze the ST throughthe step of exegesis. ____

4. Naturalness means the translator shouldconvey the same meaning as in it does in the

SL. ____

5. The spellings should be checked at the levelof exegesis. ____

D. In the following table, if an item is present, put acheck, and if you feel the lack of that item, put across:


56/161

APPLICATIONS 43

ST Translation Accuracy Clearness Naturalness

Any luck?

Chairman

Don‟t let the

cat out of the

bag..

Rule of

thumb

Rainy days

of life

Godspeed


57/161


E. Discuss the following question in the class:

In Larson‟s opinion, there are two ways atranslator can make a draft. Which one do you

think is better? Explain your reasons.


58/161

3

Unit of

Translation andEquivalence


59/161


60/161

UNIT OF TRANSLATION AND EQUIVALENCE 47

3.0 Introduction

The methods of translation were discussed before(see chapter 1). Now, the question remains as to what the

main issues are after choosing the method. In fact, these

two topics are related to each other. In other words, the

choice of equivalence and unit of translation simply has

to do with the kind of method you chose in order to do

your translation.

But, what does the concept of equivalence refer

to? What is the unit of translation? These are types of

questions which are going to be discussed in this chapter.

3.1 Unit of Translation

There always has been an argue among the

theorists as to what the Unit of Translation (UT) is. Is the

UT the word, meaning that the text should be translated

word by word, is the UT phrase, clause, sentence or the

whole text?

According to Vinay and Darbelnet, the Unit of

Translation is “the smallest segment of an utterance

whose cohesion of signs is such that they must not be

separately translated” (as cited in Newmark, 1988, p45).

As Hass believes, the length of UT should be “as short as

is possible, as long as is necessary” (p.45).


61/161


Newmark's reflection about UT is as

followings:

The freer the translation, the longer the UT, the

more literal the translation, the shorter the UT.

…Free translation has always favored the

sentence; literal translation the word. Now, since

the rise of text linguistics, free translation has

moved from the sentence to the whole text (1988,

p.54).

3.2 Nida and equivalence

The old terms such as literal, free and faithful

translation, are rejected by Nida in favor of "two basicorientations" or types of equivalences (as cited in

Munday, 2001, pp.41-2):

3.2.1 Formal Equivalence:

Formal equivalence focuses attention on the

message itself, in both form and content… One is

concerned that the message in the receptor

language should match as closely as possible the

different elements in the source language (as

cited in Munday, 2001, p.41).

Thus, formal equivalence is ST-oriented.


62/161


3.2.2 Dynamic Equivalence:

Dynamic equivalence is based on what Nida calls“the principle of equivalent effect”, which means that

“the relationship between receptor and message should

be substantially the same as that which existed between

the original receptors and the message” (as cited in

Munday, 2001, p.42). Dynamic equivalence is TT-

oriented.

3.3 Koller and equivalence

Among German scholars during the 1970s and

1980s, Wolfram Wilss, Otto Kade, Albert Neuber and

Werner Koller were the ones who worked on the conceptof translation equivalence. Koller describes five different

types of equivalence. The followings are definitions

made by Koller (as cited in Munday, 2001, pp.46-9):

3.3.1 Denotative Equivalence is related to

equivalence of the extralinguistic content of a text.

Here, by extralinguistic contents of a text, we

mean different linguistic aspects that form a text, also

known as metalinguistic levels of a language or meta-

systems. As an example, morphology, syntax, etc. are

different metalinguistic aspects of a text. Generally

speaking, we can say these meta-systems lead to the


63/161


process of finding the primary meanings of the words,

which mostly exist in dictionaries. For instance, the

denotative equivalence for the word “night” would be

“the part of the natural day when the sun is beneath the

horizon”.

3.3.2 Connotative Equivalence is related to the

lexical choices, especially between near-synonyms.

To explain this type of equivalence, we could saythat sometimes, some words carry a figurative meaning.

For example, the word “night” might have some other

connotative meanings rather than the primary meaning it

has which include “darkness” and “presence of cruelty”,

“ignorance” and “death”.

3.3.3 Text-normative Equivalence is related to texttypes, with different kinds of texts behaving in different

ways.

By this type of equivalence, Koller means that

any kind of a text should be translated in accordance to

its target audience and the context which it is going to be

used in. Thus, the suitable equivalence for the word“dog” in a context which relates to the children would be

«» .

3.3.4 Pragmatic Equivalence or “communicative

equivalence” is oriented towards the receiver of the text

or message. This is Nida’s “dynamic equivalence”.


64/161


3.3.5 Formal Equivalence which is related to the form

and aesthetics of the text and includes word plays and

individual stylistic features of the ST. This is sometimes

referred to as “expressive equivalence” and must not be

confused with Nida’s formal equivalence.

3.4 Problems in finding lexical equivalence

In her meaning-based translation, Larson (1998, pp.195-

202) mentions some special problems in finding the

proper equivalence for a translator. Among these

problems are:

3.4.1 Key words: are the words which are used over

and over in a text, being crucial to the theme or topic indiscussion. As they are the words which represent an

essential or basic concept of the text and are often

thematic, finding adequate lexical equivalence by the

translator is of utmost importance. Check the following

translations for a key word like “base” in different

contexts:

General

Military

Agriculture


65/161


Mathematics

Chemistry

Electronics

Sports

.

3.4.2 Symbolic words: are the words which may carry

a figurative or metaphorical meaning, as well as the

basic meaning of the word. “Rose” might be the symbol

of love, “White”, can be the symbol of peace, etc. The

important thing here is that these words are directly

related to the cultural backgrounds. A word might be the

symbol of something in a language, while represents

another figurative meaning in other languages.

3.4.3 Word combinations and false literal

translation: In most languages, there are groups of

words that when are added together, function as a simple

word. For instance, a compound is a new word which is

created by adding simple words together. Thus, the

proper equivalence for “hotdog” in English would not be

«» in Persian. In fact the word “hotdog” should not

be broken into pieces during the process of translation.


66/161


3.4.4 False friends: are the words in SL which look

much like and cognate to the words in TL, but in fact are

different in their meanings. As an example, the word

"machine" in English refers to a device consisting of

different parts that work together on a basis of unity,

while the word «» in Persian refers to any kind of

vehicle.


67/161


3.5 Exercises

A. Answer the following questions:1. What does the term “UT” refer to? 2. What is the definition of UT in Vinay and

Darbelnet’s opinion?

3. In Hass’s opinion, to what extent is the length of UT?

4. What is Newmark’s approach toward UT? 5. What are the two types of equivalence introduced

by Nida?

6.

What are the five types of equivalence introduced by Koller?

7. What are key words? Provide some examples.8. What are symbolic words? Provide some

examples.

9. What are false friends? Provide some examples.10. What are cognate words? Provide some

examples.

B. Choose the correct answer:


68/161


1. Which one did not have his focus on the termequivalence?

A. Wills B. Neuber

C. Nida D. Kade

2. In Vinay and Darbelnet’s opinion, what is thesmallest segment of an utterance whose cohesion of

signs is such that they must not be separately

translated?

A. translation strategy B. equivalence

C. shift D. UT

3. What are the words used over and over in a textcalled?

A. symbolic words B. key words

C. false friends D. word combination

4. What are the words which carry a figurative or metaphorical meaning called?

A. false friends B. keywords

C. simple words D. symbolic words

5. What are the cognate words with different meaningscalled?

A. compounds B. word combination

C. false friends D. symbolic words


69/161


C. Write T for true or F for false:1. Koller’s “formal equivalence” is the same as

Nida’s “formal equivalence”.

____

2. Koller’s “pragmatic equivalence” is the same as Nida’s “dynamic equivalence”.

____

3. According to “text-normative equivalence”, eachtext should be translated according to its context

and readership.

____

4. Nida and Koller were the only theorists whoworked on the concept of equivalence. ____

5. The freer the translation, the longer the UT. ____

6. Free translation has always favored the word,literal translation the sentence.

____

D. Discuss the following question in your class:


70/161


What unit of translation do you think is the best

for the translation of different literary texts, such as

poems, literary proses, etc.?


71/161


72/161

4

Translation

“Shift”


73/161


74/161


75/161


shifts in

translation

level shiftcatagory

shift

class shift

unit shift

structuralshift

intrasystem

shift

translation. These reasons can include cultural, religious,

linguistic reasons, etc.

The term “shift” was pointed out by Catford

(1965) for the first time. According to this notion, shifts

may occur within the words level and category.

Figure 4.1

Catford’s translation shifts


76/161

TRANSLATION “SHIFT” 63

4.1.1 Level shift: according to Catford (as cited inMunday, pp.60-1), this would be something which is

expressed by grammar in one language and lexis in

another.

Example:

It is certified that the above-named person has been

working in this factory since 1997.

7991

. In the English sentence, the notion of «» is

introduced at the level of syntax, while in Persian, we

change that into the level of word (Khazaeefar, 2008, p.45).

4.1.2 Class shifts: are shifts from one part of speech toanother. For example, "the good teacher with a smile on

her face" in English would be:

" "

in Persian.

The word “good” is an adjective appearing

before the noun in English, while its translation appears

after the noun in Persian. Thus, there has been a change

in part of the speech (Khazaeefar, 2008, p.45).


77/161


4.1.3 Unit shifts or Rank shifts: In Munday's (2001)definition: “These are shifts where the translation

equivalence in the TL is at a different rank to the SL.

Rank here refers to the hierarchical linguistic unit of

sentence, clause, group, word and morpheme” (p.61).

For example, in changing the phrase «

» from Persian into English, the exact translation

would be “with the suit” or “wearing suit”. Another example is in translating the English clause “according

to Steve” into Persian, which would be «»

Thus, a unit shift has occurred here.

4.1.4 Structural shift: Catford (as cited in Munday,2001) believes, this is the most common form of the

shifts which involves mostly a shift in grammatical

structure (p.61).

To give an example, English is an SVO language,

while Persian is an SOV one. Thus, the rules of the

target language should be taken into account.

I saw Mary. (SVO (

. (SOV) 4.1.5 Intersystem shifts: these are shifts that take

place when there is approximately a corresponding


78/161


system between SL and TL, but is not applicable in the

process of translation.

As an example, in both English and Persian we

have singular and plural nouns. While the word

“information” is a singular noun in English, it has to be

translated as » «in Persian, and not «» .

4.2 Vinay and Darbelnet's model According to Vinay and Darbelnet (as cited in

Munday, 2001), there are mainly two general translation

strategies: Direct translation and oblique translation (or

indirect translation) (pp.56-9).

4.2.1 Direct translation: as Vinay and Darbelnet pointout, “literal” is the name given to direct translation by

the authors (p.56). It consists of three sub-categories:

borrowing, calque and literal translation.

4.2.1.1 Borrowing: when an SL word is directly

transferred into TL. An example can be the words:“telephone, telefax, address, television, ambulance and

lamp”, directly transferred into Persian as:

» «,

respectively.


79/161


There is one important thing you have to put into

consideration about borrowings, and that is while

transferring the words, the number one filter would be

the pronunciation filter the words have to pass in order to

be accepted by the TL speakers. That is why, in the case

of borrowings, although a word from SL enters TL, but

the pronunciation of the word may (or sometimes may

not) differ.

4.2.1.2 Calque: this is a special kind of borrowing(p.56) where the SL expressions or structures are

transferred in a literal translation. For instance, the words

“E-mail and skyscraper” are changed into the following

Persian words through this process respectively:

«.»

4.2.1.3 Literal translation: this is word-for-word

translation which Vinay and Darbelnet ( p.57) believe is

the most common between the languages of the same

family and culture and is their prescription for a good

translation: “Literalness should only be sacrificed

because of structural and metalinguistic requirementsand only after checking that the meaning is fully

preserved”( p.57). But they say that the translator may

judge literal translation to be “unacceptable” because it:

(a). gives a different meaning;

(b). has no meaning;


80/161


(c). is impossible for structural reasons;

(d). does not have a corresponding expression within themetalinguistic experience of the TL;

(e). corresponds to something at a different level of

language.

4.2.2 Oblique translation (Indirect translation): this

procedure is applied when literal translation is not possible. Oblique translation consists of four sub-

categories: transposition, modulation, equivalence and

adaptation.

4.2.2.1 Transposition (p. 57): is a change of one part of

speech for another without changing the sense:

He didn’t dare to say what he was thinking about.

.

In this example, the Persian phrase is the result of

translating the English clause.

4.2.2.2 Modulation: changing the semantic and point of view of the SL. Modulation at the level of message is

divided to some ten sub-categories (p.57). Some of the

most important ones are the followings (the first two

examples are from Khazaeefar (2008, p.48) :

He is no mean performer on the violin.


81/161


. He read the book from cover to cover.

.

You are quiet a stranger!

!

4.2.2.3 Equivalence: according to Vinay and Darbelnet

(p.58), this term refers to cases when languages describe

the same situation by different stylistic or structural

means. Equivalence is particularly useful in translating

idioms and proverbs:

Third time lucky!

!

Nice to meet you!

!

Once bitten, twice shy!

!

4.2.2.4 Adaptation (pp. 58-9): this involves changing

the cultural reference when a situation in the source


82/161


culture is absent in the target culture. That is why the

following translations do not look odd or strange:

mister Sun

sucker I’m on cloud nine! !

She’s not in the picture! !


83/161


Figure 4.2

Vinay and Darbelnet’s model


84/161


4.3 Exercises

A. Answer the following questions:

1. What are some of the items which make your

job as a translator difficult?

2. What does the term “translation shift” refer

to?

3. What are sources of the shifts? Name some of

them.

4. What are level shifts? Provide some examples.

5. What are class shifts? Provide some examples. 6. What are unit shifts? Provide some examples.

7. What are structural shifts? Provide some

examples.

8. What are intrasystem shifts? Provide some

examples.

9. What are the two “translation strategies”introduced by Vinay and Darbelnet? Name them.

10. What is borrowing? Provide some examples.

11. What is calque? Provide some examples.


85/161


12. What is literal translation? Provide some

examples.

13. What is transposition? Provide some

examples.

14. What is modulation? Provide some examples.

15. What is equivalence in oblique translation?

Provide some examples.

16. What is adaptation in oblique translation?

Provide some examples.

B. Write T for true or F for false:

1. Unit shift occurs where the translation

equivalence in the TL is at the same rank to theSL. _____

2. According to Catford, structural shift is the

most common form of the shifts.

_____ 3. Oblique translation means indirect translation.

_____

4. Equivalence is particularly useful in translating

idioms and proverbs. _____


86/161


5. Modulation is a change of one part of speech

for another without changing the sense. _____

C. Choose the correct answer:

1. Which one involves changing the semantic and

point of view of the SL?

A. transposition B. modulation

C. intrasystem shift D. rank shift

2. which one is applied where literal translation

is not possible?

A. oblique translation B. indirect translation

C. unit shift D. choices A and B

3. Which one is a prescription for a goodtranslation according to Vinay and Darbelnet?

A. literal translation B. modulation

C. transposition D. adaptation

4. Which shift occurs when there is

approximately a corresponding system betweenSL and TL, but is not applicable?

A. unit shift B. structural shift

C. class shift D. intrasystem shift


87/161


D. Discuss the following question in your class:

A number of translation shifts wereintroduced in this chapter. Do you think they can

be used interchangeably? Discuss your ideas.


88/161

5

How to Be a

Good Translator


89/161


90/161

HOW TO BE A GOOD TRANSLATOR 77

5.0 Introduction

As time passes, a number of theorists point out aseries of suggestions in order to help those who are

going to step into that field. For translation, it is the same

story. Although the academic studies of translation is a

new field of study (see chapter 1), but the practice of

translation goes back to a long time ago.

People read a translator’s job and then start to judge the quality of that. That is how one method

survives, but the other does not.

As a person working in this field, it is important

to have an overview about what different theorists have

had in mind about having a good translation. This

chapter will discuss these topics.

5.1 The features of a good translation

As cited In Munday (2001), different scholars

have pointed out different types of principles in order to

have a good translation (p.26, see also p.42):

5.1.1 Dolet (as cited in Munday, 2001, p.26) set out

five principles for a good translator to have in mind:


91/161


Figure 5.1

Dolet’s “principles” for a good translation

5.1.1.1 The translator must perfectly understand the

sense and material of the original author, although he

should feel free to clarify the obscurities.

5.1.1.2 The translator should have a perfect knowledge

of both SL and TL, so as not to lessen the majesty of the

language.

Dolet

understanding

the SL sense

and material

assembling

words

eloquently to

avoide

clumsiness

avoiding

Latinate and

unusual forms

avoiding word

for word

translation

having a

perfect

knowledge of

both SL and TL


92/161


5.1.1.3 The translator should avoid word-for-word

renderings.

5.1.1.4 The translator should avoid Latinate and unusual

forms.

5.1.1.5 The translator should assemble and liaise words

eloquently to avoid clumsiness.

5.1.2 While Dolet has five “principles”, Tytler (p.26)

has three general “laws” or “rules”:

Figure 5.2

Tytler’s “rules” for a good translation

Tytler

giving a

complete

transcript of

the SL ideas

having all

the ease of

the ST

having the

same style

and manner

as the ST


93/161


5.1.2.1 The translation should give a complete transcript

of the ideas of the original work.

5.1.2.2 The style and manner of writing should be of the

same character with that of the original.

5.1.2.3 The translation should have all the ease of the

original composition.

5.1.3 Likewise, in Nida’s (p.42) opinion, there are “four

basic requirements for a good translation”, which are:

5.1.3.1 making sense;

5.1.3.2 conveying the spirit and manner of the original;

5.1.3.3 having a natural and easy form of expression;

5.1.3.4 producing a similar response; (i.e. making a

similar response as comparing to the original one).


94/161


Figure 5.3

Nida’s four basic “requirements” for a good translation

Nida

making

sense

producing a

similar

response

having a

natural and

easy form of

expression

conveying

the spirit

and manner

of the ST


95/161


5.2 Exercises

A. Answer the following questions: 1. What are the features of a good translation

according to Dolet?

2. What are the features of a good translationaccording to Tytler?

3. What are the features of a good translationaccording to Nida?

4. How much do the theorists introduced in thischapter have in common in terms of their

ideas for having a good translation?

B. Discuss the following questions in your class: Think of some other features for a good

translation which have not been mentioned in this

chapter. Discuss your ideas.


96/161

6

Translation

Practice


97/161


98/161

TRANSLATION PRACTICE 85

This chapter provides you with some texts both

in English and Persian simultaneously in order to

improve your translation skills. As literature has long

gone hand in hand with translation, the authors have

tried to choose literary texts and poems, mostly because

of the high rate of interaction they are known to have.

After translating each text, there are a number of

general self-evaluative questions you have to answer

about different aspects of the translation you made.

These questions include:

1. What method did you use for your translation?2. What are your reasons for choosing such a

method?

3. Do you think there are any other suitablemethods for dealing with the text? Name them.

4. As you know, in most of the translations youhave to make some “shifts” in order to creat a

natural translation. Name some of the shifts you

have made. What kind of shifts are they?

5. In each text, there might be a number of culturalreferences (terms) for which you have chosen anequivalent. Name them with their corresponding

equivalents.

6. Evaluate your final job in terms of accuracy,clearness and naturalness of the translation.

7. What is the “unit of translation” you chose for the text?


99/161


8. Have the other students or ordinary peoplearound you read your translated text and ask

them to evaluate the piece of work.

9. Make any necessary changes and enjoy your translation!

10. Keep up the good work!


100/161


Text 1

The aim of the text: translation of English poetries with different linguistic references

“LETTER C” by Eric Ode (2006)

All the poems used by permission of the author

Oh letter C, why kan't you see

you drive me up the wall!

You konstantly konfuse me.

I kan't kount on you at all.

You seem to be so sivilized, but this is krystal klear,

I'd be a whole lot happier

if you would disappear.

I kan not komprehend you.

You make my mind a mess.

Sometimes they say you make a K,

at other times an S.

It's not that I am kareless.


101/161


It's not that I am lazy,

but letter C, why kan't you see

you drive me nearly krazy!


102/161


Text 2

The aim of the text: translation of English literary poems

“COCOON” by Eric Ode (2005)

This small cocoon, so smooth and still,

I found it only yesterday

upon a branch, atop a hill,

as cold as stone - alone and gray.

But see now what a new day brings!It rests beside an empty tomb,

with sunlight on its quilted wings

among a field where flowers bloom,

then lifts its eyes

and flies away.


103/161


Text 3

The aim of the text: translation of English textswith different cultural references

“I COULD HAVE BEEN THE FARMER” by

Eric Ode (2008)

The students and the parents

have been seated in the gym.

The curtains will be opening.

The lights are turning dim.

My class has done so many plays

it could be called a habit.

Today's the day we're putting on

The Tale of Peter Rabbit.

I could have been the handsome prince

or any other fella.

Instead I was the pumpkin

when my class did Cinderella.


104/161


And later, Johnny Appleseed

was who I thought I'd be.

But Hector played the hero,

and I played the apple tree.

I thought I'd be the giant

who was chasing after Jack.

Instead I played the beanstalk with the giant on my back.

But Peter Rabbit's story

has me going rather crazy.

I could have been the farmer,

but they've dressed me as a daisy!


105/161


Text 4

The aim of the text: translation of English textswith a humorous mood

“MY BOOK REPORT” by Eric Ode (2006)

Here it is. My book report.It’s all about the book I read.

I’ll tell you what the people did,

and what they saw, and what they said.

It all begins... Now, let me think.

I knew it just the other night.This girl is there and says some things

and... No, that’s not exactly right.

There is a boy. He has a dog.

Or maybe... No, he has a cat.

And then they sort of have a friend,

or something kind of just like that.

I think there was this other thing,

but I’m not certain what it does.


106/161


And something happens later on.

I don’t remember what it was.

And then they do some other stuff;

the boy and cat and then the friend.

But I won’t say what happens next.

I wouldn’t want to spoil the end.


107/161


108/161


-

) (.

) (

. : .

) (.

:

.“good”

:

....

.

.


109/161


. “the good”« ».

“the good people”

“good”“ people”

“the good”

“the good

people” « »

.

(. )

) (

) (

()


110/161


()

:-

.

-

.

- (label)

.

.

- “Shorter

Oxford”“Webster's Seventh”

“x” “y”

.


111/161


.

. ) (

“adenotomy”

“adeno” tom”-“ ”y-“.

«»

«»«».

" "

.


112/161


Text 6

The aim of the text: translation of Persianallusive modern poetry

"" ""

.

:

«

»

:

«


113/161


114/161


»...

...!


115/161


116/161



117/161


Text 8

The aim of the text: translation of texts with a

humorous style .

.

.

..

: .

«...» .

:«...!» «...» «!» «...»

:

« ! ...» «... ...» «...!»


118/161


«...» «...! ...» «...»

:

«...!» «...!»

:

«...!» ... «... ... .

...» :

«...! ...» :

«...!» :

«...!...!

...!!»

:


119/161


«.. ... ....

»...!:

«......»...

:

«.. !.... ...

!»....

.

.

..

.

. .

:«...! ...»

:« ...

.»..


120/161


.

.

:

« !»...

:

«...»:

«... ...»

«! ...»...

«....!»...

:

« ! ...»...

.

:«... ... ...»

.

:


121/161


«!! ...»...

.

.

.

" "

.


122/161


Text 9

The aim of the text: translation of Persian formal

language

.

: .«... ...

.

.!»...

.

. .


123/161


.

! ....

.

:

«!! ...!... ... ......

!»...

:« ...»:

« ...

......

!»...

. .


124/161


.

.

.""


125/161


Text 10

The aim of the text: translation of Old Persian

terms

.

.

:

...... ... ... ...

.. ....

... ...

..

.

.

.

.

.


126/161


.. .

.

.

:

-... !!...

.

.

" "


127/161


Text 11

The aim of the text: translation of Persian slangs

...

.

: .

!...

-! ... ......

- ...

...

:

-... .........

-!...

-... ... ... ...

-!!!...

-... ......

:


128/161


... ...

!! ...... ... ... ... ... ... ...

...

....... ... ... ........

:

...!...

.... ... ... ..

!!!...

.

:

....!!! .....

.

:

! ......


129/161


:

. ... ...... ... ..!... .. ....

......

... ... ...

.

..

" "


130/161


Text 12

The aim of the text: translation of Persian modern

poetry

"" "

"

.


131/161


!

!

!

!

...


132/161


:

-


133/161


!

!

!


134/161


135/161


!


136/161


Text 14

The aim of the text: translation of English literary

texts

He was a small man with a beard and was very

nervous. I remember how the cords of his neck were

drawn taut.

For years he had been trying to cure people with illness

by the method called psychoanalysis. The idea was the passion of his life. “I came here because I am tired”, He

said dejectedly. “My body is not tired but something

inside me is old and worn-out. I want joy. For a few

days or weeks I would like to forget men and women

and the influences that make them the sick things they

are.”

There is a note that comes into the human voice

by which you may know real weariness. It comes when

one has been trying with all his heart and soul to think

his way along to some difficult road of thought. Of a

sudden he finds himself unable to go on. Something

within him stops. A tiny explosion takes place. He bursts

into words and talks, perhaps foolishly. Little side

currents of his nature he didn’t know were there run out

and get themselves expressed. It is at such times that a

man boasts, uses big words, makes a fool of himself in

general. From “Seed” by Sherwood Anderson (Deceased)


137/161


Text 15

The aim of the text: translation of idioms

He’s living on the breadline.

Pigs might fly!

The last straw!

Don’t add insult to the injury!

I’ve had it!

Shake a leg!

She has friends in high places.

“The haves and the haves not”

I can’t make ends meet.

I don’t know the first thing about them!

After you!

You can’t win them all.


138/161


Text 16

The aim of the text: translation of English literarytexts

Whatever hour you woke there was a door

shutting. From room to room they went, hand in hand,

lifting here, opening there, making sure a ghostly couple.

“Here we left it,” she said. And he added, “Oh, but here

too!” “It’s upstairs,” she murmured. “And in the

garden,” he whispered. “Quietly,” they said, “or we shall

wake them.”

But it wasn’t that you woke us. Oh, no. “They’re

looking for it; they’re drawing the curtain,” one might

say, and so read on a page or two. “Now, they’ve found

it,” one would be certain, stopping the pencil on themargin. And then, tired of reading, one might rise and

see for oneself, the house all empty, the doors standing

open, only the wood pigeons bubbling with content and

the hum of the threshing machine sounding from the

farm. “What did I come in here for? What did I want to

find?” my hands were empty. “Perhaps it’s upstairs

then?” The apples were in the loft. And so down again,

the garden still as ever, only the book had slipped into

the grass. From “A Haunted House” by Virginia Woolf (Deceased)


139/161


140/161


Text 18

The aim of the text: translation of English literary poems

“The Little Boy and the Old Man” by Shel

Silverstein

Said the little boy, "Sometimes I drop my spoon."

Said the old man, "I do that too."

The little boy whispered, "I wet my pants."

"I do that too," laughed the little old man.

Said the little boy, "I often cry."

The old man nodded, "So do I."

"But worst of all," said the boy, "it seemsGrown-ups don't pay attention to me."

And he felt the warmth of a wrinkled old hand.

"I know what you mean," said the little old man.


141/161


Glossary

Academic translation: a type of translation, practiced in

some British universities

Accuracy: the quality of being near to the true value of

ST

Adaptation (a strategy of oblique translation introduced

by Vinay and Darbelnet (2000)): changing the cultural

reference when a situation in a source culture is absent

Adaptation (a method of translation): the freest form of

translation which is used mainly for plays (comedies)

and poetry

Adjective: a word that expresses the attribute of

something

Adverb phrase: a group of words that add more

information about place, time, circumstance, manner,

cause, degree, etc. to a verb, an adjective, a phrase or

another adverb

Aesthetic value: concerning or characterized by an

appreciation of beauty or good taste

Audience: the part of the general public interested in a

source of information


142/161

GLOSSARY 129

Basic meaning: the main definition which exists for a

word and is usually far enough from other meanings

available for that word in order to distinguish from

Borrowing: the appropriation of ideas or words from

another source

Calque: a special kind of borrowing where the SL

expressions or structures are transferred in a literal

translation

Character: the peculiar quality, or the sum of qualities by

which a person or a thing is distinguished from others

Class shift: shift from one part of speech to another

Clause: an expression including a subject and predicate,

but not constituting a complete sentence

Clearness: free from obscurity and being easy to

understand

Clumsiness: unskillfulness resulting from a lack of

training

Cognate words: two words derived from the same word

in an ancestral language

Cognitive translation: reproducing the information in an

SL text converting the SL grammar to its normal TL


143/161


144/161

GLOSSARY 131

Contextual meaning: the meaning relating to or

determined by or in context (the set of facts or

circumstances that surround a situation or event)

Corresponding systems: similar systems (i.e. languages),

especially in position or purpose

Cultural reference: a se

basic concepts in translation

Documents