THEORY OF TRANSLATION AND INTERPRETING

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THEORY OF TRANSLATION AND INTERPRETING E€TION OE COURSE MATERIALS

[1] Peter Newmark, A Textbook of Translation, Prentice Hall International Language Teaching

[2] Franz Pochhacker and Miriam Shlesinger (2002), The Interpreting Studies Reader, Taylor and Francis Group [3] Franz PochHacker (2004), Introducing Interpreting

Studies, Routledge — Taylor and Francis Group

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8/4/2020

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8/4/2020

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

WHAT IS TRANSLATION ~ .is the transfer of a message from a language to

another in the written form or by means of writing

1 Would you mind giving me a lift on your way home tonight My car has just broken down?

2 She says that she will come tonight and | just can't wait

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1.1 WHAT IS TRANSLATION?

- .is the interpretation of the meaning of a text in one language (the source language — SL) and the production of an equivalent text in another language (the target language - TL) that communicates the same message

When the company first targeted Italian market, it used an interpreter but this was very frustrating A middle man, however fluent, can't hope to establish a relationship in a way that a committed member of the company can

1.1 WHAT IS TRANSLATION?

+ „ is the expression in target language of what has been expressed in source language, preserving semantic and stylistic equivalences

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1.1 WHAT IS TRANSLATION?

+ .fendering a written text into another language in the

Slow site clearance is still a major hurdlle hindering the progress of the project Local residents have urged faster progress on the project as half-completed construction and pavement have caused temporary markets to mushroom near the lake, leaving heaps of garbage that spills into the lake at the end of every day

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1.2 DYNAMICS OF TRANSLATION ‘The truth (the facts 1 SL writer and the matter) 5 TL readership 2 SL norms| 6 TL norms TEXT 3 SL culture 7 TL culture 4, SL setting 8 TL setting and tradition and tradition 10 Translator 1.2 DYNAMICS OF TRANSLATION 1 SL writer

» The individual style or idiolect of the SL author - Hey, Tom You've got work today?

- What do you call work? - Why isn't that work?

~ Maybe ít is Maybe it isn't, But it suits Tom Sawyer - Can | have a go then?

- No!

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1.2 DYNAMICS OF TRANSLATION 2 SL norms: * The conventional grammatical and lexical usage for the text

Paul didn't mind being surprised by the party to celebrate his 40° birthday, although he told his friends they shouldn't have done it

Nếu có vần đê gì xảy ra với sản phẩm, xin hãy liên hệ với trung tâm dịch vụ khách hàng của chúng tôi

> If there should be any problem with our product (should any problem happen to our product), please contact our customer service centre

1.2 DYNAMICS OF TRANSLATION

3 SL culture:

~ Content items referring specifically to the SL, or third language (i.e not SL or TL) cultures

Thủ tục cưới hỏi của người Việt Nam bao gồm: lễ ra mắt, lễ chạm ngõ, lễ ăn hỏi, lễ xin dâu, đám cười và lễ lại mặt > Marriage procedures in Vietnam include: the first parents’ meeting, marriage proposing ceremony,

engagement ceremony, bride fetching, wedding and

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1.2 DYNAMICS OF TRANSLATION

4 SL setting

* The typical format of a text in a book, periodical,

newspaper, etc., as influenced by tradition at the time Setting is the time when story happens or place where it happens

* ‘Ido not always stick to the author's words or even to his thoughts I

keep the effects he wants to produce in mind and then | arrange the

material after the fashion of time Different times do not just require different words, but also different thoughts and ambassador usually

dress in the fashion of the country they are sent to for fear of appearing ridiculous in the eyes of the people they try to please.”

~ Porot Ablaneourt~ a translation theorist

1.2 DYNAMICS OF TRANSLATION

5 TL readership:

* The expectations of the putative readership

Air traffic safety, needless to say, is deemed the highest among all transport means all over the world, but for local authorities, risks are looming large more than ever, not

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1.2 DYNAMICS OF TRANSLATION 6 TL norms: + The grammatical and lexical usage of target language 7 TL culture: + The cultural element of target language 8 TL setting:

+ The typical format of a text in target language

Vietnam and the U.S have announced that cooperation on cross-border crime has led to a U.S grand jury indictment of an

nation to have sex with minors

The U.S Attorney's Office in the Northern District of Califomia

alleged that the teacher, Paul Marshall Bodner, of San

Francisco, California, “met Vietnamese boys as young as 11 or

12 years old and engaged in sex acts with them at a hotel

located in Ho Chi Minh City when he traveled to Vietnam” in the

period from July 2015 to August 2016 If convicted he faces up

to 30 years in prison and a fine of $250,000

U.S ambassador to Vietnam, Daniel J Kritenbrink, said the

investigation was aided by close cooperation between the two

nations, which normalized relations in 1995, 20 years after the

Vietnam War, and have since become partners on security,

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1.2 DYNAMICS OF TRANSLATION

9 Truth:

+ Whatis being described or reported, ascertained or verified (the referential truth), where possible

independently of SL text and expectations of readership Our survey indicates that the young are turning their backs

on the traditional jobs, working for wages or staying in one

company for their whole life! Instead, more are going freelance or becoming self-employed They are not interested in making others rich but want to be rich themselves

1.2 DYNAMICS OF TRANSLATION

10 Translator:

+ The views and prejudices of translator, which may be personal and subjective, social and cultural, involving the translator's “group loyalty factor”, which may reflect his

national, political, ethnic, religious, social class, sex, etc

assumptions

As many questions remain unanswered after the rules banning smoking in public places and vending

substandard foods on the street fell into oblivion shortly after the dates they took effect, a new wave of queries has emerged around a law drafted by the Ministry of Health to

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2.2 INTENTION OF THE TEXT

+ represents the SL (source language) writer’s attitude to

the subject matter

+ the type of language used and even the grammatical structures (passive voice, impersonal verbs often used to disclaim responsibility) in each case may be evidence of different points of view

> search for the intention of the text and keep it in mind when translating

2.3 THE INTENTION OF THE TRANSLATOR

~ Identical with intention of the author of SL text

» Some adaptation in translation is allowed in accordance

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2.4 TEXT STYLES

+ Narrative: a dynamic sequence of events with emphasis on the verbs or, for English, ‘dummy’ or “empty” verbs plus verb-nouns or phrasal verbs

* Descriptive: is static with emphasis on linking verbs, adjectives, adjectival nouns

» Discussion: a treatment of ideas with emphasis on

abstract nouns, verbs of thought, mental activity, logical

argument and connectives

* Dialogue: emphasis on colloquialisms and pacifisms

2.4 TEXT STYLES * Narrative:

This past weekend | had the time of my life First, Friday night, | had my best friend over and we made a delicious, mouth- watering pizza After we ate, we had a friendly video game: competition On Saturday, my dad took us out on the boat The weather was perfect and the water was warm It was a great day to go for a swim Later that night, we went to the movies We saw an action packed thriller and ate a lot of popcorn Finally, on Sunday, we rode our bikes all over town By the end of the day, my legs were very tired | only hope that next

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2.4 TEXT STYLES + Descriptive:

My most valuable possession is an old, slightly warped blond guitar—the first instrument I taught myself how to play It's nothing fancy, just a Madeira folk guitar, all scuffed and scratched and finger-printed, At the top is a bramble of copper-wound strings, each one hooked through the eye of a silver tuning key The strings are stretched down a long, slim neck, its frets tarnished, the wood worn by years of fingers pressing chords and picking notes The body of the Madeira is shaped like an enormous yellow pear, one that was slightly damaged in shipping The

blond wood has been chipped and gouged to gray, particularly

where the pick guard fell off years ago No, it's not a beautiful instrument, but it still lets me make music, and for that | will

always treasure it

2.4 TEXT STYLES * Discussion:

‘Some people believe that break times should be shorter because some people don't have any friends to play with, Other people might feel cold during break times therefore want playtimes to be short

‘Alternatively some people think that break times should be longer because ifit was shorter children wouldn't have enough time to play in the playground iso if playtime were longer children wouldn't do well in tests Additionally children might fall down

However break times are good for fresh air and exercise if break time was longer children would have more time to chat and would have more time to ‘eat their snacks from the healthy tuck shop

On the other hand people think that it should not be long because if children had a longer play they would have a shorter time to learn

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2.4 TEXT STYLES

Dialogue:

TY - Oh, hi

~ How are you doing?

~ m doing alright How about you?

~ Not too bad The weather is great isn't it? ` today, ~ Í wish it was like this more frequently -Me too ~ §o where are you going now?

~ m going to meet a friend of mine at the department store ~ Going to do a litle shopping? ~ Yeah, l have to buy some presents for my parents ~ Whats the occasion? ~ Its their anniversary

~ Thats great Well, you better

get going You don't want to

be late

"'.— "`

2.5 READERSHIP

» characterize the readership of the original and then of the translation: > decide how much attention to pay to

the TL readers

+ assess the level of education, class, age and sex of the readership: > decide on the degree of formality,

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2.6 STYLISTIC SCALE

‘The scale of formality

———————————————

Taboo Slang Colloquial Informal Neutral Fermal Official Officialese The seale of generality or difficulty

——————-————— Simple Popular Neutral Educated Technical ‘The scale of emotional tone

——— + +

Understatement Factual Warm Intense

2.7 SETTING

7 Setting:

decide on the likely setting: Where would the text be published in the TL? What is the TL equivalent of the SL periodical, newspaper, textbook, journal, etc.?

- make assumptions about the SL readership: Who is the client you are translating for and what are his

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2.8 QUALITY OF THE WRITING

+ The quality of the reading has to be judged in relation to the author's intention and/or the requirements of the subject matter

+ If the text is well written: regard every nuance of the author's meaning as having precedence over the reader's response

+ If the text is badly written text: correct the text before

translation

PRACTICE

» In common with Western economies, Britain's industrial heartland also suffered the pain of de-industrialization Compared with a decade ago, only a handful of heavy engineering firms survived When the steel industry died, the proud city of Sheffield was brought to its knees Thousands of manufacturers had to close down, dozens

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NIFO Publications 5 as ooo |

The report ives an nicht overview ver the st 10 [EF imptementation dashboard

{hacroperabiity tramework by european Countries

NIFO

Nashik, Maharastra Beyond Vineyard Resort, exclusive accommodation ‘on the vineyards witha beautiful lake view, is beautiful property managed by Sula Vineyards This place offersan exclusive living experience offering ‘accommodation ina tranquil vineyard setting and promoting Wine Tourism in the country

Kasturi Cottage, Pune

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(1) Start by translating part of the worl

(paragraph / chapter) to get the feel and the feeling tone of the text, and then review the position, and read the rest of the SL text; + (2) start by reading the SL text two or three

times, and find the intention, register, tone, mark the difficult words and passages and translate

> Which way to choose depend on

temperament, intuition, analysis power, etc

3.2 LEVELS OF TRANSLATION

a The Textual level:

+ transpose SL grammar into their “ready” TL

equivalents, translate the lexical units into sense

that appears immediately appropriate in the context of the sentence

« translation is based on the text: level of the literal translation of the source language into the target language, the level of the translationese you have to eliminate, but it also acts as corrective of paraphrase and the parer-down of synonyms

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+ Competent managers know how to posifion their brand in relation to the competition, in terms of factors like price and quality of the product Managers should relate the brand’s values in a meaningful way to the consumers they have targeted With worldwide brands, this may mean changing your message from country to country

3.2.2 THE REFERENTIAL LEVEL

b The Referential Level

* analyze the text: what is it about, what is it in aid

for, what is the writer’s slant on it, etc

- when there is an ambiguity, when the writing is abstract or figurative, when the text is unclear, supplement the text level with the referential

level, the factual level with the necessary

additional information from this level of reality, the facts of the matter

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3.2 LEVELS OF TRANSLATION

ig tC

khai chương trình 242 | với một số trường đại học của Trung Quốc, Đài Loan và Pháp - As for cooperation in education and training,

we are implementing programs 2 + 2 with some universities from China, Taiwan and France, which involves students learning 2 years in our university before moving to partner university for another 2 years

3.2 LEVELS OF TRANSLATION,

c The Cohesive level:

* follow the structure and the moods of the text » Structure: connective words (conjunctions,

enumeration, reiterations, definite article, general

words, referential synonyms, punctuation marks) linking the sentences, usually proceeding from known information (theme) to new information (rheme)

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3.2 LEVELS OF TRANSLATION

Long-term unemployment waits for those whose skills are outdated On the other hand, people who have retrained or have more

flexible skills can find a position in new hi-tech

industries or services

» The company considers the downloading of game information as serious abuse of

company property and may regard this as grounds for dismissal

3.2 LEVELS OF TRANSLATION, |

d The Level of Naturalness

+ Ensure: (a) that translation makes sense; (b) that it reads naturally

* Tips for checking: temporarily disengaging from the SL text, by reading translation as though no original existed Ask yourself: Would you ever

see this in The Times, The Economist, in a

textbook ? Is it common usage in that kind of writing? How frequent is it?

» Check and crosscheck words and expressions in an up-to-date dictionary Note any word in

suspect

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3.2 LEVELS OF TRANSLATION

» More efforts should be made to improve the education quality to meet the

increasingly high demand of the society

» The country is unlikely to meet the target of sending 85,000 guest workers abroad

this year due to several problems facing

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CHAPTER 4 TRANSLATION METHODS TRANSLATION METHOD V-DIAGRAM SL emphasis TLemphasis

Word-for-word translation ‘Adaptation

Literal translation Free translation

Faithful translation Idiomatic translation

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WORD-FOR-WORD TRANSLATION TT Words translated out of context Non - grammatical Cultural words translated literally "xi - Language learning - Pre-translation process of dificult text Oren er >> Anh ấy là một lớn người nói dối LITERAL TRANSLATION

Grammar converted to 'nearest' TL equivalent Words translated singly out of context

Pre-translation process to identify problems

D0000 00v 00 s who don't

Mechs! D1 11)

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FAITHFUL TRANSLATION,

Words translated in context but uncompromising to VD

~ Cultural words transferred

- Grammatical and lexical ‘abnormality’ preserved - Literary translation mm 1 - Drafts Ís as fast as a kangaroo > Anh ây nhanh như r SEMANTIC TRANSLATION

~ Like faithful translation but take into account aesthetic value of SL text (beautiful and natural)

0 0 c0 0,0) converted into neutral equivalence in TL

>> Flexible, focus on aesthetic of SL (at expense of meaning if necessary)

- Texts that have high status (religious texts

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i ter, a is an enchanting body of water, ee oasis away from all the hustle thd bustle of the city ao ee

lắm ngay giữa trái tim Hà nội, hơ Hồn

là một hô nước đẹp mê hị

miles today

Tomorrow dies

All that we wish to stay Tempts and flies away,

Phù dụ

Bông hoa kia mim cười hôm nạn y Ngày mai tàn rữa

Tắt cả những gì ta ước 9fữhôm nay

Ngày mại còn đâu nữa

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COMMUNICATIVE TRANSLATION ontent: Route TU 0T wise and context-Wise

/ - Emphasis on naturalness and acceptability

CÔ TÂY (comprchensiveness) to TL readership,

° > Displ ning of SL text to make it to TLreaders Ta) > Give prioril be communicated Fly with kite, not with ice Sa atone RO) IDIOMATIC TRANSLATION No 0010.700) 0980020119000 TC

- Translate the message of original text but tends to distort nuances of meaning by using idioms and colloquialism

Who dare ns (headline)

can

He leads a peasant's hard life

>3 Anh ấy sống cuộc sống chắn lắm tay bùn

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the target text but with very different grammatical structures if need b

- Produces the translated text without the style and form of the original text

After 7 years were over he had said all that he had (to say for his conversation was limited ~> Sau 7 năm trôi qua, lão đã nói hết nhữn điều cần nói vì lưng vốn chuyện trò của lã Ca

ADAPTATION

The freest form of translation and more of a target languagefculture based

interpretation of the ext than a translation

- Mainly used for plays and poerns The text is rewriten while themes, char:

plots are preserved, SL culture

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+ Names of SL objects, inventions, devices, processes to be imported to the TL community

- Eg: Décor (đề co), demo (đề mô), module (mô đun),

ounce (ao xq’) etc

1.1 TRANSFERENCE

+ Naturalization: succeeds transference and adapts the SL

word first to the normal pronunciation, then to the normal

morphology of the TL

» Cultural equivalent: An approximate translation where a

SL cultural word is translated by a TL cultural word;

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1.1 TRANSFERENCE

* Functional equivalent: applied to cultural words, requires

the use of a culture-free word; neutralizes or generalizes the SL word; a cultural componential analysis, the most accurate way of translating (deculturalizing) a cultural

word, but also used when a SL technical word has no TL equivalent Eg: pudding (mon thịt đông của Anh)

* Discriptive equivalent: discription and function - essential elements in explanation —translation (function used to be neglected; now overplayed)

1.2 SYNONYMY

» Anear TL equivalent to a SL word in a context where a

precise equivalent may or may not exist

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8/4/2020

1.3 SHIFTS OR TRANSPOSITIONS

— ee ioe

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PRINCIPLES

+ No right to improve authoritative text -> pursue style: personality of author more important than forms of language (make comments/correction of facts in separate, signed note )

* More concessions to readership when translating non- literary texts than creative writing

* “anonymous” text (informative, vocative): first loyalty to truth/matter -> make as few modifications as possible

3 Idiolect: Particular way of speaking

depending on age, sex, mood, education, etc 2.4 Ambiguity: deliberate ambiguity -> retained,

unintentional -> clarified, avoiding possible misunderstandings

2.5 Metaphor: unnecessary to translate sense by metaphor in informative texts; original &

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understandably), repeated implied superlatives (basically, fundamentally), prepositional phrases (in the view of the fact

sonorous phrases used for sound effects (might and main, ways and means, ngay và luôn)

2.7 Slips, misprints, errors, miscopying: clearly a mistake -> correct it, write a note to explain

+ 2.8 Jargon: Language specifically used in a profession (Integrate: hội nhập - Integrate: tich hop (computing)) -> degree of authoritativeness of SL statement and norms of SLand TL

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3.2 COLLOCATIONS “Lexical items that enters mainly into high frequency grammatical structures: + Adj*N + NN + V+O

+ Others: unit/container + unc N

Useful way: consider acceptable collocational ra y

lexical word

+ Grammar - bones of text; collocations — nerves; lexis — flesh

+ Việt Nam đang thực hiện rất tốt chương trình

'mục tiêu quốc gia về xoá đói giảm nghèo

‘Vietnam.is.successfully-implementing.its national target program on hunger

elimination and poverty reduction

* Việt Nam hoàn thành trước thời hạn 2 mục tiêu trong chương trình phát triển thiên niên

kỷ của Liên Hợp Quốc

+ Vietnam has met 2 targets in the Millennium Development Program of the United Nations before the deadline/ earlier than the

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3.3 TRANSLATION OF DIALECTS

*Regional-variations-of-a-language: J

American English, New Zealand English, Australian English vs British English

» Translator’s main job: decide on functions of dialect:

+ Show slang use of langua + Stress social class contra

+ Indicate local cultural feat

3.4 TRANSLATION OF EPONYMS AND ACRONYMS

- Eponym: any words that is identical with or derived froma ` proper name that gives it a related sense

» 3 categories:

+ Persons: inventors/discoverers (Marxist, Marxism) (difficulty: alternative name, authenticity of discoverers disputed) -> replace by descriptive term: problem: transferred word be understood? -> use footnote if necessary) + Objects: brand names tending to monopolise manufacturers of products

(Formica, Honda)

+ Geographical names: transfer and gloss, beware of idioms, note

increasing metonymic practice of referring to governments by names of capitals/locations/institutions (the White House, Washington)