INTRODUCTIONTO

TRANSLATIONSTUDIES

InaSTNIC
Universitylecturer,
MA,PhDstudent
 RECOMMENDEDBIBLIOGRAPHY
E.Nida,Ch.Taber,TheTheoryandPracticeof
Translation,1982.
P.Newmark,ATextbookofTranslation,New
York,1988.
R.Bell,Teoriaipracticatraducerii,Polirom2000.

J.Munday,IntroducingTranslationStudies:
TheoriesandApplications,Routledge,2001.
SusanBassnett,TranslationStudies,2002.

..
().1990.
..(
).1975.
 COURSECONTENTS:
Definition(s)ofTranslation/Interpreting;

TypesofTranslation/Interpreting;

Unitoftranslation;

Translationtheories;

Context.Typesofcontext;

Equivalenceintranslation;

Translationmethods,techniques,strategies;

TranslatorsFalsefriends;

Lexical,grammaticalandstylisticaspectsof
translation;
Translationassessmentcriteria;

TranslationinMoldova
TOPIC1
Definition(s)ofTranslation/
Interpreting
 HOWDOYOUUNDERSTAND
TRANSLATION?
Art
Science
Professionalskill
Communicativemeans
Talent
Afactorforculturalchange

 ETYMOLOGYOFTRANSLATION

"translation" "carry across" or "bring

across".

The Latin "translatio" derives from

"transferre" ("to transfer" from "trans,"
"across"+"ferre,""tocarry"or"tobring").
DEFINITIONSOFTRANSLATION
Translationisrenderingthemeaning
ofatextintoanotherlanguageinthe
waythattheauthorintendedthetext.
(PeterNewmark)
Translation"anactofcommunication
whichattemptstorelay,acrosscultural
andlinguisticboundaries,anotheractof
communication.
(BasilHatimandIanMason)
 DEFINITIONSOFTRANSLATION
Translationisatransformationofatextin
onelanguageintoanequivalenttextinanother
language,preservingthecontentsofthe
messageandthestyleoftheoriginaltext.
(RogerBell).
Translationisatextthatconformstothe
targetculturesnormsofwhattranslationsare
supposedtobelike,atagiventime.
Translating,asI.A.Richardsclaims,is
probablythemostcomplextypeofeventinthe
historyofthecosmos(E.Nida).
THEMAINOBJECTIVESOFTRANSLATION

todefinewhatistranslationandhow
itdiffersfromthesimpleforeign
language;

todiscussmainpeculiaritiesof
languagesystemstheknowledgeof
whichisimportantfortheproper
translationprocess;

toclassifythetypesoftranslation;
THEMAINOBJECTIVESOF
TRANSLATION
todescribethenotionoftranslation
equivalenceandstateitsimportancefor
thetranslationprocess;
tostatetheinfluenceofpragmaticand
sociolinguisticfactorsintheprocessof
translation;
todefinethenotionoftranslation
normsandestablishtheprinciplesof
evaluationofthequalityoftranslation.
TRANSLATIONASPROCESSANDPRODUCT

Process:stagesintranslation:
reading,analyzing,transferringthe
meaning}cognitiveprocessesin
translating.

Product:themessagerenderedin
theTL,theobservableresultofthe
process.
 TRANSLATIONASPROCESSAND
PRODUCT
AlexanderFraserTytler,authorofThe
PrinciplesofTranslation,triedto
systematizetheprocessoftranslation.

Heoutlinedthreeprinciples:

Thetranslationshouldrecreatetheoriginal
(ideas);
Itshouldresembletheoriginalinstyle;

Itshouldreadeasilyliketheoriginal.
 THEOBJECTOFTRANSLATION
STUDIES
Termsusedtorefertotranslationstudies:

"translatology"

"traductology(lesscommon),andthe
correspondingFrenchtermforthediscipline
isusuallytraductologie.

Translationstudiesthestudyofthe
theoryandpracticeoftranslatingand
interpreting,especiallyinan
academiccontext,combiningelementsof
socialscienceandthehumanities.
 TRANSLATIONSTUDIES
Asaninterdiscipline,Translation
Studiesborrowsmuchfromthevarious
fieldsofstudythatsupporttranslation:
history,linguistics,philology,
pragmatics,
comparativeliterature,
computerscience,
andterminology.
 AIMSOFTRANSLATIONSTUDIES
Theoreticalaims:toincrease
understanding...by

definingcentralconcepts;

describingwhattranslationsarelike,what
translatorsdo;
explainingwhytranslationsarelikethis;

discoveringhowtranslationsaffectreaders
andcultures.
 AIMSOFTRANSLATIONSTUDIES
Appliedaims:toimprovethequalityof
translations(andthereforeintercultural
relations)...by
developingbettertrainingmethods,

developingbettertools,computeraids,
dictionaries,termbanks...,
developingmachinetranslation,

developingwaysofassessingtranslation
quality,
educatingthepublic,makingtranslators
morevisible...
 BASICTRANSLATIONPROBLEMS

Textproblems:

Thesourcetextisnotfinal;
Thehandwrittentextisillegible;
Thetexthasmanyspelling
mistakes;
Thegiventextisanextractfroma
biggerpart;
BASICTRANSLATIONPROBLEMS

Textproblems
Languageproblems
BASICTRANSLATIONPROBLEMS
Textproblems

Textstructureisfaulty;
Missingheadingsandcaptions(for
example,thetranslatorneedsto
translateheadingsorcaptionsforthe
missingpicturesorphotos)
 BASICTRANSLATION
PROBLEMS
Languageproblems:
Dialectalwords(e.g.Dauncytolook
noticeablyunwell(inIreland);andneologisms
(e.g.Spam,noob);
Unknownabbreviations:acronymsand
initialisms(e.g.AIDS,BBC,B.C.,IOM,IMF,
etc);
Unknownslang:e.g.Thestudentscaught
cheatingonthetestweregiventhethird
degreebytheprinciple.=tobeinterrogated
by,Thethirddegreeisaeuphemismfor
torture
 BASICTRANSLATIONPROBLEMS

Languageproblems:
Lexicalandstructuralambiguity;
Multiwordunits:idioms(e.g.Beating
aroundthebush;pieceofcake)and
collocations(e.g.strongtea,ceasefire
agreement;takealook);
Veryspecificculturalphenomenaand
realia(culturespecificmaterialthings;
e.g.fjord,ramadan,pagoda,county,
duma).
SOCIOCULTURALCHARACTER
OFTRANSLATION
Translatingtakesplaceinacultural
context,aspartofculturaltransferand
evolution.
Onceseenasasubbranchoflinguistics,
translationtodayisperceivedasan
interdisciplinaryfieldofstudyandthe
indissolubleconnectionbetweenlanguage
andlifehasbecomeafocalpointof
academicattention.
SOCIOCULTURALCHARACTEROF
TRANSLATION

Translating,whichinvolvestwo
languages,isunavoidably
influencedbytwocultures,the
sourceculture(SC)andthetarget
culture(TC).
YuriLotmanclaimsNolanguage
canexistunlessitissteepedinthe
contextofculture.
 SOCIOCULTURALCHARACTER
OFTRANSLATION
Culturaldifferencesbetweenregionsofa
country,orbetweentimeperiodscanalso
actsignificantlyontheprocessof
translation.
Intraculturalfactorsoftenleadto
stylisticallyorevensemanticallydistinct
translationsofthesamesourcetext.
Themostinfluentialfactorsinthiscaseare
thestrategicorientationandperiodstyle
withintheTLculture.
 TRANSLATIONTHEORYANDPRACTICE

Goodtheoryisbasedoninformationgained
frompractice.Goodpracticeisbasedon
carefullyworkedouttheory.Thetwoare
interdependent.(Larson)

Theoryandpracticeareindissolublylinked,
NOTinconflict.
 TRANSLATIONTHEORYANDPRACTICE

Theoryandpracticemustbelinked
togetherinanytranslationexercisesimply
becauseonecontributessignificantlytothe
otherinthesensethattheoryoftranslation
makesstudentsoftranslationawareof
languagecomplexities;itgivesthema
senseofcreativityandintellect.
 LINGUISTICANDAESTHETIC
ARGUMENTSINTRANSLATIONTHEORY
Theaestheticnormsofagivenculture
reflecthowpeoplethink.
Whatisbeautifultooneculturemaynotbe
especiallybeautifulormayevenappear
uglytoanother.
Sometimes,effortstopursuebeautyattract
anegativereaction(unintelligibliness,
ridiculousness).atranslationmayalsobe
sostylisticallyheavyastomake
comprehensionalmostimpossible.
 LINGUISTICANDAESTHETIC
ARGUMENTSINTRANSLATION
THEORY
Linguistics/Textorientedtheories
takeintoaccounttheSLTandthe
wayanequivalentTLThasbeen
producedandconsiderittobeof
crucialimportancefordetermining
howthetranslationprocesshas
occurredandtowhatextentithas
beensuccessful.
 LINGUISTICANDAESTHETIC
ARGUMENTSINTRANSLATIONTHEORY

Linguisticfactorsexertadirectand
crucialinfluenceupontheprocessof
translating.

Eachofthelinguisticfactors,
phonological,lexical,syntactic
andtextual,caninterferewith
translation.
 POINTS
ANDBEPREPAREDTODISCUSS
THEM.

Isagraduateorapostgraduate
qualificationaprerequisiteforworking
asaprofessionaltranslatorinthe
RepublicofMoldova?
Ifsomeone(individual,company,etc.)
needsatranslation,howdotheygo
aboutobtainingit?