Bài giảng biên dịch cao cấp ( ADVANCED TRANSLATION ) combo full slides

ADVANCED TRANSLATION

- PhD IN CONTRASTIVE LINGUISTICS

COURSE CONTENT (cont.)

1.Course content, course Intro., tests & marks, course target, teaching & learning styles

COURSE INTRODUCTION

- COURSE DURATION: 45 Ps

(theory & practice)

- Topics for practicing:

- International trade

- Economics & commerce activities

TESTS & MARKS

Total = 100% including:

 Attendance & class participation = 10%

 2 mini tests = 20% (4th & 12th weeks)

 Mid – term test: 20% (60 ms) (8th week)

 Final test: 50%

COURSE TARGET

During the course, participants may get in touch with some common translation methods as:

COURSE TARGET (cont.)

Participants are also introduced more knowledge involving in the translating process as Analysis, Procedures, Methods

And problems happening during this process and ways to deal with them.

COURSE TARGET (cont.)

After the course, participants have full ability and can perform the translating work:

- independently

- creatively

- actively

- self-confidently

TEACHING & LEARNING STYLES

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 Yoko Ono will talk about her husband - John Lennon who was killed in an interview with Barbara Walters (Pinker, 1994)

 The bank was the scene of the crime (Kooij, 1971)

This programme is sponsored by

Language is a means of thought and

shown that language of each nation is formed by its own characteristics of culture, history, thought among which thought is considered as the main source As other different signs, language has its meaning but the meaning changes – it has been - depending on the users 11

LANGUAGE (cont.)

In communities, when we need to communicate with others to exchange information, ask or reply a question language is the most effective way to do so Beside language, we also have other communication ways to apply as gesture, signs But language is the most important, diversified and

GENERAL (CONT.)

Winter (1961): even the simplest, most basic requirement we make of translation cannot be met without difficulty One cannot always match the content of a message in language A by an expression with exactly the same content in language B because what can be expressed and what must be expressed is a property of a specific language in much the same way as how it can be expressed *

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GENERAL (CONT.)

intellectual craft that is developed through experience and maturation and also is a profession with elements of both art, science and with deep

GENERAL (CONT.)

At its best, it can be exquisite form of communication, facilitating a meeting of minds across cultures

At its worst, it can be nothing more than a

slavish substitution of words stripped of meaning and hindering communication In the workaday world of most

translators, their practice is somewhere between these two extremes.

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GENERAL (CONT.)

Translation is multifaceted business => constantly changing b/c the market is constantly in unstable In that sense, as a business, translation is really no different from any other business

To maintain and sustain a translation business, we must have regular clients

GENERAL (CONT.)

Although translation is part of the service sector of the economy, we really do not have a clear picture of translation industry as a whole because reliable statistics are not available.

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GENERAL (CONT.)

The question most frequently asked by beginners: “How do I get started as a translator?” The answer is somewhat different now from 20 years ago

At that time, we had to write translation drafts by hand and typed the finals on a typewriter Things have changed now That has also changed although I am convinced that most translators are still

GENERAL (CONT.)

Beside the two main functions of language, Harvey A Daniels says each language is created and changed to meet the native users’ demand Nguyễn Văn Tu (1978) states clearly that the lexical system is not the same as it was

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GENERAL (CONT.)

It develops and expands shapely and minutely In order to meet the

phenomena and actions, a lot of new words are created and definitely, many old words disappear On the other hand, many words have changed their

GENERAL (CONT.)

In any languages, we can find the meaning of the word in dictionaries, grammar notes about this language in grammar books and all things concerned to this language

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GENERAL (CONT.)

The problem is that each native user has his / her own use and foreigners’ use of this language Then, another problem emerges That is, the similarity and the differences between languages – especially our work of dealing with two languages at the same time It is considered as contrastive studies

GENERAL (CONT.)

Translating and interpreting involves to at least two languages and so the gaps between them cause a lot of harsh matters to translators and interpreters We will talk later about the difficulties translators or interpreters meet

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STAGES IN TRANSLATION

Translation is essentially a decision – making process

language ability, subject – specific knowledge, intuition, research skills and judgment

STAGES IN TRANSLATION

A proper translation expresses the meaning behind the use of written words in one language and in the written word usage of a second language Although the translator appears to be dealing with words, in actual practice the translator is dealing with units of meaning that may or may not be expressed by the words appearing on paper

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STAGES IN TRANSLATION (CONT.)

Meaning is not contained in words but is abstracted from words and interpreted within the context The translator must rely not only on linguistic clues appearing in the documents but also on extra – linguistic knowledge

STAGES IN TRANSLATION (CONT.)

More than that, the translator must be able to understand and appreciate distinctions made in the SL of the documents to be translated and to make equivalent distinctions in the TL of the translation To be honest, this is not an easy task

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STAGES IN TRANSLATION (CONT.)

In the real world of translation, translators are constantly faced not only with typographical errors in the source text but also with

uncontinous errors in grammar, rhetoric and logic

A document must be analyzed for its linguistic structure as well as for its underlying meaning

Some documents are written under pressure and

STAGES IN TRANSLATION (CONT.)

In addition, highly sophisticated documents often contain ambiguities that are open to interpretation by readers The experienced and skilled translator will usually be able to convey the ambiguity in the translation The decision whether or not to preserve ambiguity challenges the judgment of the translator

For the reasons mentioned, let’s analyze these stages:

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GENERAL (CONT.)

As we know, when we get involved to translation, there are a lot of matters needed to be considered

These matters are suggested by Newmark as below

GENERAL (CONT.)

1 READING THE TEXT

2 THE INTENTION OF THE TEXT

3 THE INTENTION OF THE TRANSLATOR 4 TEXT STYLE

5 THE READERSHIP 6 STYLISTIC SCALE 7 ATTITUDE

8 SETTING

9 THE QUALITY OF THE WRITING

10 CONNOTATIONS AND DENOTATIONS 11 THE LAST READING

=> * LANGUAGES

* STYLES OF TRANSLATOR 31

STAGES IN TRANSLATION (CONT.)

1 READING THE TEXT

Before starting a translated work, we need to read the original for two purposes:

is not the same as a linguist’s or a literary critic’s

We have to determine its intention (we discuss the intention in the next following parts) and the way it is written for the purpose of selecting a suitable

STAGES IN TRANSLATION (CONT.)

1 READING THE TEXT (cont.)

Understanding the text requires both general and

close reading

General reading is to get the main ideas We may have to read textbook or specialist papers to understand the subject and the concepts, always keeping in mind that for the translator, the function precedes the description

Close reading requires the words both out of and in context In principle, everything has to be looked up that does not make good sense in its

STAGES IN TRANSLATION (CONT.)

1 READING THE TEXT (cont.)

Even common words like minute for example need to be considered to ensure that they are used figuratively, technically or colloquially.

Neologisms – we will likely find many if we are translating a recent publication (for non – equivalent words), acronyms, figures and measures are very important To talk more about

neologisms and acronyms which may be non – existent, we should not invent them, even if we note that the source language (SL) author has

STAGES IN TRANSLATION (CONT.)

2 THE INTENTION OF THE TEXT

In reading, we search for the intention of the text – we cannot isolate this from understanding it They go together but the title may be far away from the content as well as the intention

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STAGES IN TRANSLATION (CONT.)

2 THE INTENTION OF THE TEXT

Two texts may describe a battle or a debate stating the same facts and figures, but the type of language used and even the grammatical structures in each case may be evidence of different point of view

Note that the intention of the text represents the SL writer’s attitude to the subject matter.

STAGES IN TRANSLATION (CONT.)

2 THE INTENTION OF THE TEXT (cont.)

A summary of this nature which uses only a few key words from the original appears to be isolate from the language, simply to show what happens in the real life and it is very necessary to the translator

But the translator still has to return to the text, translate the text, even if he / she has to simplify, rearrange, clarify, decrease its redundancies and pare it down.*

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STAGES IN TRANSLATION (CONT.)

3 THE INTENTION OF THE TRANSLATOR

Normally, the translator’s intention is identical with that of the author of the SL text But we may be translating an ads, a notice or a set of instructions to show our clients how such matters are formulated and written in the SL rather than how to adapt them in order to persuade or instruct a new TL readership And again, we may be translating manual instructions for a less educated readership so that the explanation in our translation may be

STAGES IN TRANSLATION (CONT.)

4 TEXT STYLE

Nida introduces four types of text as follows:

4.1 Narrative: a dynamic sequence of events where the emphasis is on the verb For example, in English, verb + noun or phrasal verb are likely to be used.

Ex: “He burst in / He made a sudden appearance.” are more often than “He appeared suddenly.”

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STAGES IN TRANSLATION (CONT.)

4 TEXT STYLE (cont.)

4.2 Description: It is static with emphasis on linking verbs, adjectives, adjectival noun.

4.3 Discussion: a treatment of ideas where the emphasis is on abstract nouns (concepts), verbs of thought, mental activity (consider, argue ), logical argument and connectives.

4.4 Dialogue: it is with the emphasis on

STAGES IN TRANSLATION (CONT.)

5 THE READERSHIP

On the basic of the variety of language used in the original, we attempt to characterize the readership of the original and then of the translation and to decide how much attention we have to pay to the TL readers

We may try to assess the level of education, the class, age and sex of the readership if these are marked

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STAGES IN TRANSLATION (CONT.)

5 THE READERSHIP (cont.)

The average text for translation tends to be for an educated, middle – class readership in an informal, not colloquial style The most common variety of marked errors in register among student - translators tends to be colloquial and intimate For instant, use of phrases as more and more for

increasingly, above all for particularly, got well for

recovered and excessively familiar phrasal verbs

get out of, get rid of The other common error – the use of formal or official register - also shows signs

STAGES IN TRANSLATION (CONT.)

5 THE READERSHIP (cont.)

These tokens of language typify the student – translators instead of the readership they are translating for; they may epitomize their degree of knowledge and interest in the subject and the appropriate culture.

All this will help us to decide on the degree of formality, generality, specificity andemotional tone we must express when we work on the text*

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STAGES IN TRANSLATION (CONT.)

6 STYLISTIC SCALE

The scale of formality is variously expressed, as:

 Eating is not allowed here / You aren’t allowed to eat here => neutral

 The consumption of any nutriments whatsoever is categorically prohibited in this establishment => officialese

 The consumption of nutriments is prohibited in this establishment => official

STAGES IN TRANSLATION (CONT.)

6 STYLISTIC SCALE(cont.)

 Stop eating, please => informal

 Could you stop eating, please? / Would you mind stopping eating here? =>

 You can’t eat in here / Don’t eat in here => colloquial

 Lay off the nosh => slang

 Lay off the fucking nosh => taboo

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STAGES IN TRANSLATION (CONT.)

6 STYLISTIC SCALE (cont.)

Newmark suggests scales for generality or difficulty:

1 Simple: “The floor of the sea is covered with rows of big mountains and deep pits.”

2 Popular: “The floor of the sea is covered with great mountain chains and deep trenches.”

3 Neutral (using basic vocabulary only): “a graveyard of animal and plant remains lies

STAGES IN TRANSLATION (CONT.)

6 STYLISTIC SCALE(cont.)

4 Educated: “The latest step in vertebrate evolution was the tool – making man.”

5 Technical: “Critical path analysis is an operational research technique used in management.”

6 Opaquely technical (comprehensible only to an expert): “Neuraminic acid in the form of its alkali – stable methoxy derivative was first isolated by Klenk from gangliosides.” (letter to

Nature, November 1955, quoted in Qrirk, 1984).

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STAGES IN TRANSLATION (CONT.)

6 STYLISTIC SCALE (cont.)

And scales for emotional tone as:

 Intense / hot: absolutely wonderful, enormously successful

 Warm: gentle, soft, heart – warming melodies…

 Factual / cool: significant, exceptionally well judged, personable, presentable, considerable …

 Understatement / cold: not Undignified*

STAGES IN TRANSLATION (CONT.)

7 ATTITUDE

recommendations, we have to assess the standards of the writer

If he writes good, fair, average, poor, excellent ,

are his standards – relative to the context – generally accepted in his culture or arbitrary?

Often there is only a thin line in the critical difference between a positive and a negative opinion, which is not clarified by the middle words*

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