Sunteți pe pagina 1din 11

NEOLOGISMS

Introduction: Translation is the action of interpretation of the meaning of a text, and


subsequent production of an equivalent text that communicates the same message in another language. The text to be translated is called the source text, and the language it is to be translated into is called the target language; the final product is sometimes called the target text or, simply, the translation. The goal of translation is to establish a relation of equivalence of intent between the source and target texts (that is to say, to ensure that both texts communicate the same message), while taking into account a number of constraints. These constraints include context, the rules of grammar of languages, their writing conventions, the readership, their idioms, and the like. Translated documents should read as if they were originally written in the target language by a sub ect matter expert.

Neologisms: overview: !eologisms have been given a lot of different definitions.


"n dictionaries, a neologism is generally defined as #a new word or a new meaning for an established word$. To be more specific, %eter !ewmark defines neologisms as &newly come lexical or existing units that acquire a new sense' (!ewmark ()**+ (,-). .ccording to /xford 0ictionary of 1nglish a neologism is &a newly coined word or expression that may be in the process of entering common use, but has not yet been accepted into mainstream language'. "n other words, a neologism is a word, a term, or a phrase that has been recently created (or coined) often to apply to new concepts, to synthesi2e pre3existing concepts, or to make older terminology sound more contemporary. They are also said to be the non3literary and the professional translator$s biggest problem. !ew ob ects and processes are continually created in technology. !ew ideas and variations of feelings come from the media. Terms from the social sciences, slangs, transferred words. !eologisms cannot be accurately quantified+ their number is increasing steeply and as we become more language3conscious and self3conscious; articles, books and dictionaries devoted to them appear more commonly. 4ince they first arise in a response to a particular need, a ma ority of them have a single meaning and

can therefore be translated out of context, but many of them soon acquire new meaning in the T5. 1ven though they are opaque, obscure and possibly cacophonous (having a harsh, unpleasant sound; discordant), neologisms usually attract and please everybody. 6ost people like them, and so the media and commercial interest exploit this liking. 6ultinationals, with their ingenious adv ertising, make efforts to convert their brand names (7oke, %epsi, 8and3aid 9 7urita, 7hiclet) into eponyms (i.e. any word derived from a propper noun, including acronyms). The creation of neologisms: "n non3literary texts, you should not normally create neologisms unless you have authority or you compose it out of readily understood :raeco35atin morphemes. .s a translator, your ob is to account for (not necessarily translate) every 45 word, and you therefore have to guess the word;s meaning+ the external evidence (i.e., the linguistic and situational contexts) and the internal evidence (the composition of the word). <egarding the translator$s right to create neologisms+ =irstly, in literary texts it is traslators$ duty to re3create any neologism he meets on the basis of the 45 neologism. 4econdly, when translating a popular advertisment, he can create a neologism, usually for a strong phonaesthetic effect, if it appears to follow the sense of its 45 counterpart and is pragmatically effective. Thirdly, the translator can transfer 45 neologisms, if for one reason or another he thinks it important. "n that case, he has to assure himself that no other translation alredy exists and that both the referent and the neologisms are likely to interest the 45 readership. To know whether the translation alredy exists, he has to consult the "4/ ("nternational 4tandards /rgani2ation) glossary. >owever, translators should not transfer 45 neologisms which are evidently recent or devised for a particular 45 text. >e should acknowledge at least with inverted commas any neologism he creates in that case. The more formal the language, the more conservative he should be in respect of neologisms. The contextual factors of neologisms are+ a. %urpose of the neologism b. "mportance of the neologism to the 45 and T5 culture c. <ecency

d. =requency e. 5ikely duration f. Translator$s authority g. <ecognise translations h. 1xistence of referents in the T5 i. Type of text . <eadership k. 4etting l. =ashion, commercial m. 1uphony n. 7ompetition with others o. "f it is linguistically ustified p. "f it is likely to become an internationalism q. "f it is formed for prestige reasons

Types of Neologisms
(. OLD WORDS WITH NEW SENSES: These do not normally refer to new ob ects or processes, and therefore are rarely technological. The translation of this kind of neologisms can be technical or informal depending on the type of readership, who can be either experts on the sub ect, educated people with general knowledge who may require extra explanations of the topic or the 45 culture, or ignorant people, who may need linguistic as well as technical explanations at various levels. They are usually translated either by a word that alredy exists in the T5, or by a brief functional or descriptive term. and cultural

@ith the chart above, we can notice how the meaning of a word can change along the years. "n the (?th century, #gay$ should have been traslated as #lacivo$ o #lu urioso$, whereas in the (,th century as #alegre$, between the (Ath 3()th as

#alguien con un mati2 de promiscuidad$ and finally as #homosexual$ o #aburrido y pasado de moda$ in the ?-th century.

The case of network is similar. @hile in the (C th century it may have been trasnlated as #tipo de disposiciDn de hilos y cables$, in the () th century as #un sistema comple o de interconxiones$, in the early ?-th century as #trasnmitir mediante una red de radio$, around ()A? as #una red de computadoras$ and in the late ?- th century as #red de personas$ .nother example, if simpler, is the one with the word #web$, which in the past was used for #spider3webs$ (#telaraEa$ in 4panish) and has gained the meaning over the years of #a very large collection of documents, pictures, sounds etc stored on computers in many different places and connected through the "nternet$, trasnlated nowadays as #red$. @e can also mention the case of #ship$, which if you look it up you will find &a very large boat used for carrying people or goods long distances' though nowadays it has a widely spread meaning, mainly in social networks, which is+ &short for romantic relationship 9 to endorse a romantic relationship' ?. COLLOC TIONS WITH NEW SENSES: 1xisting colloc!tions with new senses are a translator;s trap+ usually these are #normal$ descriptive terms which suddenly become technical terms; their meaning sometimes hides innocently behind a more general or figurative meaning; thus #"ig"#s$eed tr!in% F tren bala (in this case, the through3translation procedure is used). 7ollocations with new senses may be cultural or non3cultural; if the referent (concept or ob ect) exists in the T5, there is usually a recognised translation or through3 translation. =or example #couc"#$ot!to% (someone who spends a lot of time sitting at home watching television) should be translated as alguein que estG todo el dHa tirado mirado televisiDn (inf) o un adicto a la televisiDn. "f the concept does not exist (e.g.,

&tug#o'#love$) or the T5 speakers are not yet aware of it, an economical descriptive equivalent has to be given+ i.e. in 1nglish it means #a disagreement between parents who are divorced or living separately about who their child should live with$ and in 4panish it should be translated as &5itigio o disputa entre padres divorciados por la custodia de los hi os'. .nother example would be ()u!lit* control% which means the theory of probablity applied to sampling and that in 4panish would be #control de calidad$. . literal trasnlation is being used in this case. There is also the possibility of devising a new collocation (predator cafIs9 hotspots) in inverted commas (&cafeterHas depredadoras9hotspots'), which can later be slyly withdrawn along the text. .nother example is Sm!rt$"ones (a mobile phone that also works as a small computer, allowing you to store information and write letters and reports) translated as telIfonos inteligentes. B. NEW COIGN TES: !owadays, the main new coinages are brand or trade names (4prite, 8acardi, :oogle, Tupper, 4chweppes 3onomatopoeic3) and these are usually transferred using recoignised T5 translation so using transference unless the product is marketed in the T5 culture under another name (7oca 7ola and not 7oke, .spirina and not .spirin); or the proper name may be replaced by a functional or generic term, if the trade name has no cultural or identifying significance (compramos #paEuelitos$ (tissues) y no Jleenex , limpiamos con una #aspiradora$ (vacuum cleaner) y no con una >oover) ,. DERI+ED WORDS: The great ma ority of neologisms are words derived by comparison from ancient :reek (increasingly) and 5atin morphemes usually with suffixes such as 3ismo, 3ismus, 3 a, etc., naturali2ed in the appropriate language. This word3forming procedure is employed mainly to designate non3cultural scientific and technological institutional terms. The translator will have to consult the appropriate "4/ ("nternational 4tandards /rgani2ations) glossary, to find out whether there is already a recogni2ed translation,

whether the referent yet exists in the T5 culture, how important it is and therefore whether it is worth &transplanting' at all. The translator has to distinguish the serious derived neologisms of industry from the created by the media (blends in particular), which may be short lived. @hether they are permanent or not, the translator has to consider their function (advertisingL,etc) before deciding whether to re3create them in the T5 or to translate the completed component of the blends. 6edical neologisms and particularly the approved chemical names of generic drugs can often be produced with a naturali2ed suffix. 1g+ somatomedin F somatomedina. Examples+ Type F tipear 7loud F !ube Tablet F T ableta :oogle F googlear 5ike 3 6e:usta K. ,RE+I TIONS: .bbreviations have always been a common type of pseudo3 neologism. =or many speakers of 1nglish, one time abbreviations such as 70 (compact disc), 1< (emergency room), and %7 (personal computer), respectively, in most style of speech; through this process new, previously nonexistent words have come into use. 7haracteristic of these alphabetic abbreviations (or initialisms) is that each of their letters is individually pronounced (they contrast with acronyms in this respect). 7lipped abbreviations such as &prof' for professor, &fax' for facsimile, and &photo op' for photographic are known in common use. There are also orthographic abbreviations such as 0r. (doctor), 6r. (mister), .2 (.ri2ona), and 68 (megabyte), where the spelling of a word has been shortened but its pronunciation is not (necessarily)altered. C. COLLOC TIONS: !ew collocations (noun compounds) or (ad ective plus noun) are particularly common in the social sciences and in computer language. Thus ;lead time,; a term for the time between design and production or between ordering and delivery of a product, has to be translated in context; ;cold3calling; (making unsolicited sales call) may not last as a term, though the practice will; ;acid rain,; a C

universal phenomenon, is likely to be literally translated everywhere, since it is ;transparent;; ;sunrise industries; refers to electronics and other ;high3tech; industries, and is likely to be ephemeral; therefore the metaphor can be ignored or reduced to sense. !arrow money (money held predominantly for spending), contrasts with 8road 6oney (physic money and as a store of value). The computer terms are given their recogni2ed translation F if they do not exist, the translator has to transfer them, if they appear important, and then add a functional F descriptive term F as the translator does not have the authority to devise their own neologism. 4ometimes there is the difficulty of translating 1nglish collocations which appear to uxtapose nouns with verb3nouns because they indicate the two most significant meaning components, but have varied and sometimes have strange case3relations. @hen translating institutional terms, such as M8ritish 7ouncilM, it is often transferred and the glossed to suit the readership+ M:overnment institution promoting cultural and scientific relations abroadM. 5anguages that cannot convert verbs to nouns, cannot imitate this procedure. =or this reason 1nglish collocations are difficult to translate succinctly, and an acceptable term emerges only when the referent becomes as important (usually as a universal, but occasionally as a feature of the 45 culture) that a more or less lengthy functional3 descriptive term will no longer do. Examples+ 4mall business9 pequeEas empresas :uide book9 guHa de via e .gricultural policy9 politica agrHcola 6edical certificate 9 7ertificado mIdico

A. E-ON.MS: .ny word from a proper name (therefore including toponyms) when they refer directly to the person, they are translated without difficulty and tend to fall or rise depending on their popularity, but if they refer to the referent;s ideas or qualities, the translator may have to add necessary explanations. @hen derived from

ob ects, eponyms are usually brand names, and can be transferred only when they are equally well known and accepted in the T5 (e.g. ; nylon). "n general, the translator should curb the use of brand name eponyms.

!ew eponyms deriving from geographical names appear to be rareNmost commonly they originate from the products (wines, cheeses, sausages etc) of the relevant area in translation the generic term is added until the product is well enough known. 8rand names eponyms normally have to be translated by denotative terms, e.g.+ MTipp3 1xM3 corrector. M8icM3 lapicera. Examples Oeff+ Pou probably ust 8ritta$d the test results. 8ritta+ !o, " double33waitQ .re people using my name to mean #make a small mistake$L Oeff+ Pes. (Ooel 6c>ale and :illian Oacobs in R>orror =iction in 4even 4pooky 4teps.R 7ommunity, /ctober ?A, ?-(() R@e are well3armed for battle in a 6achiavellian world of reputation manipulation, and one of our most important weapons is the delusion that we are noncombatants.R (Oonathan >aidt, The >appiness >ypothesis+ =inding 6odern Truth in .ncient @isdom. 8asic 8ooks, ?--C) 7ardigan+ a knitted garment, such as a sweater or acket, that opens down the front. !amed after the 4eventh 1arl of 7ardigan, Oames Thomas 8rudenell ((A)AF (*C*), a 8ritish army officer. 4andwich+ named after Oohn 6ontagu, the =ourth 1arl of 4andwich ((A(*F(A)?), a 8ritish politician. .ndy+ " really schruted it. 6ichael+ @hatL .ndy+ 4chruted it. "t;s ust this thing that people say around your office all the time. 5ike, when you screw something up in a really irreversible way, you schruted it. " don;t know where it comes from though. 0o you think it comes from 0wight 4chruteL 6ichael+ " don;t know. @ho knows how words are formed. (RTraveling 4alesmen,R The /ffice, Oan. ((, ?--A)

/ther eponyms in 1nglish include boycott, braille, camellia, chauvinist, dahlia, diesel, dunce, gardenia, gerrymander, guillotine, hooligan, leotard, lynch, magnolia, ohm, pasteuri2e, poinsettia, praline, quixotic, rit2y, sequoia, shrapnel, silhouette, volt, watt, and 2eppelin. *. -HR S L WORDS: !ew phrasal words are restricted to 1nglish$s facility in converting verbs to nouns. 1.g.+ @ork3out 8reak3up, 7heck3out. "n 1nglish, they are usually between &informal' and &colloquial' whilst their translations are more formal. %hrasal words are often more economical than their translation. Examples: @ork3out+ .ctividad fHsica 7heck3out+ 4alida9%ago Jnock3on 1ffect (or 0omino 1ffect)+ 1fecto 6ultiplicador91fecto 0ominD 8reak3up+ <uptura ). TR NS/ERRED WORDS: !ewly transferred words keep only one sense of their foreign nationality. Their meanings are the least dependent on their contexts. "f they are frequently used, they can develop additional senses. They are likely to be &media' or &product' rather than technological neologisms. Examples+ 6arketing S"% 4paghetti Jung =u They may be common in several languages but have to be given a functional3 descriptive equivalent for less sophisticated T5 readerships. Transferred words are translated like any other culture3bound words, therefore they are usually transferred together with a generic term and the requisite specific detail depending on readership and setting. 4paghetti+ 5a famosa pasta italiana, 1spaguetti Jung =u+ 1l arte marcial chino, Jung =u

S"%+ 1ven though it is widely used nowadays as an ad ective in 4panish, if we are not sure whether the reader will understand the meaning, we can translate it as &exclusivo', &de mayor categorHa', depending on the context. (-. CRON.MS: They are an increasingly common feature of all non3literary texts, for reasons of brevity or euphony, and often to give the reference an artificial prestige to rouse people to find out what the letters stand for. "n science, the letters are usually oined up and become internationalisms, like &5.41<' (light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation, amplificaciDn de lu2 por emisiDn estimulada de radiaciDn) and &<.0.<' (<adio 0etection and <anging, detecciDn y mediciDn de distancias por radio) "t is important to note that even though such words are originally created as acronyms, speakers quickly forget such origins and the acronyms become new independent words. The world of computers offers a wealth of acronyms+ &T<5' U Tniform <esource 5ocator &5.!'+ 5ocal .rea !etwork &:"='+:raphics "nterchange =ormat

.cronyms are frequently created within special topics and designate products, appliances and processes. "n translation, there is either a standard equivalent term or, if it does not yet exist, a descriptive term. 1xample+ T/%% (Tagging of %acific %redators) can be translated as &1tiquetado de depredadores del %acHfico, por sus siglas en inglIs T/%%' .cronyms for institutions and names of companies are usually transferred, like =8" (=ederal 8ureau of "nvestigation), 86@ (8avarian 6otor @orks), and 784 (7olumbia 8roadcasting 4ystem). @hen acronyms are as important in the 45 as in the T5, they may be different in both languages+ 1T (1uropean Tnion) U T1 (TniDn 1uropea) @>/ (@orld >ealth /rganisation) U /64 (/rgani2aciDn 6undial de la 4alud) T! (Tnited !ations) U /!T (/rgani2aciDn de las !aciones Tnidas).

(-

.cronyms for international institutions, which themselves are usually through3 translated, usually switch for each language, but some, like &.41.!' (.ssociation of 4outheast .sian !ations), &T!147/' (Tnited !ations 1ducational, 4cientific and 7ultural /rgani2ation) and T!"71= (Tnited !ations 7hildren;s =und) are internationalisms ((. -SE0DO NEOLOGISMS: . generic word stands in for a specific word. %eter !ewmark has tried to give a comprehensive and flexible view of how to translate the words that teeter in the edge of language, which may stay, may vanish, depending on the needs of their users. The only generalisation he makes is that the translator should be neither favourable nor unfavourable in his view of new words. Example+ &8ug' has always meant &insects' in general but now it also means &error'+ &6y computer has a bug' 3 6i computadora tiene un error (informGtico1 (?. INTERN TION LISMS: .n internationalism or international word is a loanword that occurs in several languages with the same or at least similar meaning and etymology. These words exist in several different languages as a result of simultaneous or successive borrowings from the ultimate source and as result of globali2ation. %ronunciation and orthography are similar so that the word is understandable between the different languages. "t is debated how many languages are required so that a word is an internationalism. 1nglish has contributed a considerable number of words to world languages though there are a few which come from other languages. 4ome examples are+ academy, airport, centre, chocolate, coffe, computer, doctor, hospital, international, internet, /J, police, radio, tsunami, ticket, television, taxi. "n general, internationalisms are trasnlated by naturalisation.

Conclusion: .ll in all, a neologism is a word, a term, or a phrase that has been
recently coined often to apply to new concepts to maintain languages up to date according to new tendencies, technological and scientific developments and people$s beliefs. 8esides it$s important to highlight that some of them are created to last for a short period, mainly in advertising, and other to remain for a long time.

((

S-ar putea să vă placă și