tài liệu thi cuối khoá môn lý thuyết dịch Ehou EN43

tài liệu thi lý thuyết dịch Ehou CUối khoá đầy đủ nội dung thi. Kèm mục lục đầy đủ, tiện cho việc lật kiếm nội dung trong khi thi MỤC LỤC LỜI NÓI ĐẦU 5 Unit 1. 1.1. 1.2. 1.3. 1.4. 1.5. 1.6. Unit 2. 2.1. 2.2. 2.3. 2.4. 2.5. Unit 3. 3.1. 3.2. 3.3. 3.4. Unit 4. 4.1. 4.2. 4.3. Unit 5. 5.1. 5.2. 5.3. Unit 6. 6.1. Trang TRANSLATION AND TRANSLATION THEORY 6 Definition of translation and translation theory 6 Translation history 9 The dynamics of translation 9 Translation and culture 11 Pre-translation considerations 22 Questions for discussion 39 TRANSLATION PROCESS AND METHOD 40 Translation process 40 The approach to translation 41 The unit of translation 42

MỤC LỤC

Trang

1.1 Definition of translation and translation theory 6

Unit 3 TRANSLATION EQUIVALENCE AND TRANSLATION

Unit 4 GRAMMATICAL SKEWING AND TRANSLATION

SHIFTS

61

6.2 Who evaluates the translation? 83

Unit 7 INTERPRETATION AND INTERPRETING IN

7.6 Codes of ethics for liaison interpreters 113

LỜI NÓI ĐẦU

Lý thuyết dịch là một môn học trong chương trình đào tạo đại học ngoạingữ chuyên ngành ngôn ngữ Anh tại Học viện Khoa học Quân sự Đây là mộtmôn học khó yêu cầu người học phải nắm được một lượng kiến thức lớn về lýthuyết Nhằm đáp ứng yêu cầu giảng dạy, năm 2002, Khoa tiếng Anh đã biênsoạn cuốn Giáo trình Lý thuyết dịch để phục vụ cho việc giảng dạy môn học này.Tuy nhiên, do thời gian biên soạn đã khá lâu nên nhiều nội dung đã không cònphù hợp với kiến thức hiện nay Bên cạnh đó, cuốn giáo trình biên soạn năm 2002chưa đề cập đến quá trình dịch các chuyên ngành, đặc biệt là dịch tiếng Anh quân

sự Được sự chấp nhận của Thủ trưởng Học viện, chúng tôi đã lựa chọn và biênsoạn một cuốn giáo trình Lý thuyết dịch mới với mục đích cung cấp một cái nhìn

hệ thống hơn và bám sát với điều kiện thực tế hơn phục vụ cho việc giảng dạymôn Lý thuyết dịch tại Khoa Tiếng Anh, Học viện Khoa học Quân sự

Giáo trình Lý thuyết dịch gồm 7 bài, giới thiệu về các vấn đề cơ bản nhấttrong lý thuyết dịch Bài 1 giới thiệu các vấn đề chung của dịch thuật và lý thuyếtdịch Bài 2 giới thiệu về quá trình dịch (translation process) và các phương phápdịch (translation methods) phổ biến Bài 3 giới thiệu về tương đương(equivalence) và mất nghĩa (loss) trong khi dịch Bài 4 giới thiệu về các vấn đềbất tương xứng trên phương diện ngữ pháp (grammatical skewing) và chuyển dịch(translation shift) Bài 5 đề xuất một số chiến lược dịch (translation strategies) chongười dịch Bài 6 giới thiệu những nội dung về đánh giá bản dịch Bài 7 giới thiệu

về hoạt động phiên dịch và phiên dịch trong các lĩnh vực chuyên ngành

Giáo trình này được sử dụng cho các đối tượng đào tạo đại học ngoại ngữcấp Phân đội, đại học ngoại ngữ Dân sự và văn bằng 2 Mỗi bài sẽ được dạy trong

4 tiết Tuy nhiên, ở một số bài, tuỳ theo yêu cầu của từng đối tượng đào tạo vàthời gian dành cho môn học, giáo viên cần lựa chọn những phần trọng tâm ở từngbài để giảng dạy Đối với những phần còn lại, người học tự nghiên cứu ở nhà đểnắm vững những vấn đề liên quan Do lý thuyết dịch là một môn khó, bao hàmnhiều quan điểm khác nhau nên chúng tôi rất mong nhận được ý kiến đóng gópcủa các đồng nghiệp và các chuyên gia để giáo trình được hoàn thiện hơn

Các tác giả

Unit 1 TRANSLATION AND TRANSLATION THEORY 1.1 Definition of translation and translation theory

1.1.1 What is translation?

There has been a plethora of definitions which Nida (1964, pp.161-164) haselaborately surveyed He rightly elucidates: Definitions of proper translating arealmost as numerous and varied as the persons who have undertaken to discuss thesubject

This diversity is in a sense quite understandable; for there are vastdifferences in the materials translated, in the purpose of the publication, and in theneeds of the prospective audience Nevertheless, a definition which is notconfined to the mere transference of meaning is furnished by Nida and Taber(1964, p.12) who postulate translation consists in reproducing in the receptorlanguage the closest natural equivalent of the source language message, first interms of meaning and secondly in terms of style

Bell (1991, pp.5-6) seems to have pursued the same line of emphasis on

meaning and style in his translation of translation “Translation is the expression

in another language (or the target language) of what has been expressed in another, source language, preserving semantic and stylistic equivalences”.

The above definitions also stress the significance of ‘equivalence’which underlies the following definitions given by Catford (1965, p.20):

“Translation is the replacement of a text in one language by a replacement

of an equivalent text in a second language” and “Translation is the replacement of textual material in one language (SL) by equivalent textual material in another language (TL)”

On the other hand, functionalists view translation differently: Translation

is the production of a functional target text maintaining a relationship with agiven source text that is specified according to the intended or demandedfunction of the target text (Nord, in Shutttle Worth and Cowie, (1997, p.182).Nord, however, distinguishes between two senses of translation: wide andnarrow Translation is, in a narrow sense, any translational action where asource text is transferred into a target culture and language

According to the form and presentation of the target text we distinguishbetween oral translation (‘interpreting’) and written translation (‘translation’ inthe narrow sense) (Nord, 2001, p.141) Widening the above definitions, Sager(1989, p.293) maintains that translation should reflect the environment in whichthe professional translation activity takes place: Translation is an extremelymotivated industrial activity, supported by information technology, which isdiversified in response to the particular needs of this form of communication In asimilar vein, Koller (1989, p.196) describes translation as a ‘text processing

activity and simultaneously highlights the significance of ‘equivalence’:Translation can be understood as the result of a text-processing activity, by means

of which a source-language text is transposed into a target-language text Betweenthe resulting text in L2 (the target-language text) and the source text L1 (thesource language text) there exists a relationship which can be designated astranslational, or equivalence relation

Amongst the above definitions, Nida and Taber's (1964) may serve as abasis for our concept of translation as a TL product which is as semanticallyaccurate, grammatically correct, stylistically effective and textually coherent asthe SL text In other words, the translator's main attention should not be focusedonly on the accurate semantic transference of SL message into the TL, but also onthe appropriate syntax and diction in the TL, which are explicitly the translator's(not the source author's) domain of activity which displays his true competence.Indeed, according to Wilss (2001, p.95), "the notion of translation competence,"

"is aptly assessed in transfer situations that require at least some degree ofadaptation to new and challenging textual demands." He describes such situations

as "accommodatory situations" which need "structural adjustment" (ibid) andgenerally textual manipulation In point of fact, the competent translator performsmultiple tasks with inevitable intricacies of performance His approach totranslating expressive, emotive or expository texts in particular is deemed to becreativity-oriented, that is, hermeneutic/manipulation rather than routine-oriented

In short, translation is concerned with the written word Hence, thetranslators render written texts from one language into another Translators arerequired to undertake assignments, which range from simple items, such as birthcertificates and driving licenses, to more complex written material, such asarticles in specialized professional journals, business contracts and legaldocuments

1.1.2 What is translation theory?

Translation theory, in a narrow sense, is concerned with the translationmethod appropriately used for a certain type of text, and it is therefore dependent

on a functional theory of language However, in a wider sense, translation theory

is the body of knowledge that we have about translating, extending from generalprinciples to guidelines, suggestions and hints

Since the mid 1980s there have been some major translation theories in theworld

- Linguistic Theory of Translation by Catford (1965), Nida (1975) focuses

on finding the equivalence (of meaning, grammar, content )

- Functionalist Theories of Translation (German school) by Reiss (2000),Neubart (1985) do not pay attention to source texts Their main aim is what we dowith translation

- Translation as Cultural Events Theory by Hormer (1975) sets up anintegrated approach to translation

- Manipulation School of Translation by Bassnett (1980) points out thepower of translation

- Deconstructionist Theories by Gentzler (1993) (USA) forget source textsand regard translation as the second original

- Culture and Context Theories by Newmark (1984) focus on culture andcontext during the translation process As this is the most suitable forundergraduate students, the theory, which is introduced below, is based onNewmark's

Translation theory, in a narrow sense, is concerned with the translationmethod appropriately used for a certain type of text, and it is therefore dependent

on a functional theory of language However, in a wider sense, translation theory

is the body of knowledge that we have about translating, extending from generalprinciples to guidelines, suggestions and hints

What translation theory does is, first, to identify and define a translationproblem (no problem - no translation theory!); second, to indicate all the factorsthat have to be taken into account in solving the problem; third, to list all thepossible translation procedures; finally, to recommend the most suitabletranslation procedure, plus the appropriate translation

Translation theory’s main concern is to determine appropriate translationmethods for the widest possible range of texts or text-categories Further, itprovides a framework of principles, restricted rules and hints for translatingtexts and criticizing translations, a background for problem-solving

1.2 Translation history

Translation has always been done by somebody for somebody The firsttrace of translation dates from 3000 B.C, during the Egyptian Old Kingdom,the area of the First Cataract, Elephantine, where inscriptions in two languageshave been found It became a significant factor in the West in 300 BC Luther'sBible translation in 1522 laid the foundations of modern German In the 19thcentury translation was mainly a one-way means of communication betweenprominent men of letters and, to a lesser degree, philosophers and scientistsand their educated readers abroad, whilst trade was conducted in the language

of the dominant nation, and diplomacy, previously in Latin, was in French

The 20th century has been called the “age of translation” to which onemay add “and interpreting” International agreements between states, betweenstate, public and private organizations are now translated for all interestedparties, whether or not the signatories understand each other's language Thesetting up of a new international body, the constitution of an independent state,the formation of a multinational company, gives translation enhancedimportance The exponential increase in technology (patents, specifications,documentation), the attempt to bring it to developing countries, thesimultaneous publication of the same book in various languages, the increase inworld communication, has correspondingly increased requirements That thevery survival of such bodies as the United Nations is crucially dependent oninterpreting and translation can be taken as a good example of the importance

of translation and interpreting

1.3 The dynamics of translation

According to Newmark (1988), there are some participants/actors in thetranslation process:

L1 C1 L1 C1 L1 C1 L2 C2 Author  Reader Translator  Reader L2 C2

Translation Initiator

Translation Commissioner

9 The truth (the facts of the matter)

1 SL writer 5 TL readership

Figure 1.2 Newmark’s participants/actors in the translation process

A text is pulled in ten different directions, as follows:

(1) The individual style or idiolect of the source language (SL) author when should it be preserved, normalized?

(2) The conventional grammatical and lexical usage for this type of text, depending on the topic and situation.

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

(4) The typical format of a text in a book, periodical, newspaper etc, as in influenced by tradition at the time.

(5) The expectations of the putative readership, bearing in mind their estimated knowledge of the topic and the style of language they use, expressed in terms of the largest common factor, since one should not translate down (or up)

to the readership.

(6), (7), (8) As for (2),(3) and (4) respectively, but related to the TL.

(9) What is being described or reported, ascertained or verified (the referential truth) Where are possible independently of the SL text and the expectations of the readership.

(10) The views and perfidies of the translator, which may be personal and subjective, or may be social and cultural, involving the translator’s “group loyalty factor”, which may reflect the national, political, ethnic, religious, social

class, sex etc, assumptions of the translator

1.4 Translation and culture

Language and culture may thus be seen as being closely related and bothaspects must be considered for translation When considering the translation ofcultural words and notions, Newmark proposes two opposing methods:transference and componential analysis (Newmark, 1988, p.96) As Newmarkmentions, transference gives "local colour," keeping cultural names and concepts

1.4.1 Definition of culture

Culture here is defined as the way of life and its manifestations that arepeculiar to a community that uses a particular language as its means ofexpression There is a clear distinction between ‘cultural’, ‘universal’ and

‘personal’ language ‘Die’, ‘live’, ‘star’, ‘swim’, ‘mirror’ and ‘table’ areuniversals – usually there is no translation problem there ‘Monsoon’, ‘steppe’,

‘dacha’, ‘tagliatelle’ are cultural words – there will be a translation problemunless there is cultural overlap between the source and the target language (and itsreadership) Universal words such as ‘breakfast’, ‘embrace’, ‘pile’ often cover theuniversal function, but not the cultural description of the referent And if one

expresses himself in a personal way – ‘you’re weaving (creating conversation) as

usual’, his “underlife” (personal qualities and private life) is evident in that

poem’, ‘he’s a monologer’ (never finishes the sentence) – he uses personal, not

immediately social language, what is often called idiolect, and there is normally atranslation problem

All these are broad and fuzzy distinctions You can have several cultures(and sub-cultures) within one language When a speech community focuses itsattention on a particular topic (this is usually called ‘cultural focus), it spawns aplethora of words to designate its special language or terminology – the English

on sport, notably the crazy cricket words (‘a maiden over’, ‘silly mid-on’,

‘howzzat’), the French on wine and cheeses, the Germans on sausages, Spaniards

on bull-fighting, Arabs on camels, Eskimos on snow, the Vietnamese on bambooand bamboo products Frequently where there is cultural focus, there is atranslation problem due to the cultural ‘gap’ or ‘distance’ between the source andthe target languages

It should be noted that language is not regarded as a component or feature

of culture If it were so, translation would be impossible Language does howevercontain all kinds of cultural deposits, in the grammar (genders of inanimate

nouns), forms of address (like chú bác, cậu mợ, cô dì) as well as the lexis (the sun

sets) which are not taken account of universals either in consciousness oftranslation The more specific a language becomes for natural phenomena (e.g.flora and fauna) the more it becomes embedded in cultural features, and thereforecreates translation problems

Most ‘cultural’ words are easy to detect, since they are associated with aparticular language and cannot be literally translated, but many cultural customsare described in ordinary language (‘topping out a building’, ‘time, gentlemen,please’, ‘mud in your eyes’), where literal translation would distort the meaningand a translation may include an appropriate descriptive functional equivalent.Cultural objects may be referred to by a relatively culture-free generic term orclassifier (e.g tea) plus the various additions in different cultures

1.4.2 Cultural categories

A few general considerations govern the translation of all cultural words.First, your ultimate consideration should be recognition of the culturalachievements referred to in the SL text, and respect for all foreign countries andtheir cultures

Two translation procedures which are at opposite ends of the scale arenormally available; transference, which, usually in literary texts, offers localcolour and atmosphere, and in specialist texts enables the readership (some ofwhom may be more or less familiar with the SL) to identify the referent –particularly a name or a concept – in other texts (or conversations) withoutdifficulty However, transference, though it is brief and concise, blockscomprehension, it emphasizes the culture and excludes the message, does notcommunicate; some would say it is not a translation procedure at all At the otherend, there is componential analysis, the most accurate translation procedure,which excludes the culture and highlights the message Componential analysis isbased on a component common to the SL and the TL, say in the case of dacha,

‘house’ to which you add extra contextual distinguishing components (for thewealthy’, ‘summer residence’) Inevitably, a componential analysis is not aseconomical and has not the pragmatic impact of the original Lastly, the translator

of a cultural word, which is always less context-bound than ordinary language,has to bear in mind both the motivation and the cultural specialist (in relation tothe text’s topic) and linguistic level of the readership

The first part of this chapter brings together, under a single heading, anumber of issues directly connected with the fact that translating involves not justtwo languages, but a transfer from one culture to another The second part looks attwo related translation techniques necessitated by the transfer from one culturalmode of expression to another: compromise and compensation

b) Material culture (artefacts)

Material culture concerns with the physical aspects of the culture includingfood, clothes, houses, towns, transport and communication:

- Food

Food is for many the most sensitive and important expression of national

culture: sake, nem, tương, nước mắm, sushi, pho, etc; food terms are subject to the

widest variety of translation procedures Various settings: menus – straight,multilingual, glossed; cookbooks, food guides; tourist brochures; journalismincreasingly contain foreign food terms

- Clothes

National costumes when distinctive are not translated, e.g., sari, kimono, áo

dài, kilt, kimono, Saree, Hanbok and jeans (which is an internationalism, and an

American symbol like ‘coke’)

Clothes as cultural terms may be sufficiently explained for TL general

readers if the generic noun or classifier is added: e.g., ‘shintigin trousers’ or

‘basque skirt, Kufi or kufi cap or Kente cloth’, if the particular is of no interest,

the generic word can simply replace it However, it has to be borne in mind thatthe function of the generic clothes is approximately constant, indicating the part

of the body that is covered, but the description varies depending on climate andmaterial used

- Houses and towns

Many language communities have a typical house which for general

purposes remains untranslated: ‘palazzo (large house); chalet, bungalow, nhà sàn,

nhà rông, Treetops, Oaklands’.

- Transport

Transport is dominated by American and the car American English has 26words for the car Now, the names of planes and cars are often near-internationalisms for educated readerships: ‘747’, ‘727’, ‘DC-10’, ‘jumbo jet’,

‘Mini’, ‘Ford’, ‘BMW’, ‘Volvo’ In this case, the generic word should be added tomake it clear for the general readership In other cases, words remain

untranslated: ‘cyclo, xích lô, double-decker bus, or xe ôm’

c) Social culture – work and leisure

The obvious cultural words that denote leisure activities in Europe are thenational games with their lexical sets: cricket, bull-fighting, hockey To thesemust be added the largely non-team games: tennis, snooker, squash, badminton,fives, and a large number of card games, the gambling games and their lexical setsbeing French in casinos

1.4.3 Organizations, customs, activities, procedures, concepts

a) Political and administrative

The political and social life of a country is reflected in its institutionalterms Where the title of a head of state (President’, ‘Prime Minister’, ‘King’) or

the name of a parliament (‘Quốc hội’, Camera dei Deputati) are ‘transparent’, that

is, made up of ‘international’ or easy translated morphemes, they are translated (‘National Assembly’, ‘Chamber of Deputies’) Where the name of aparliament is not ‘readily’ translatable (Bundestag (Germany); GosudarstvennajaDuma (Russia), Congress, Senate, it can be transferred or translated by using ageneric term and the country’s name (Quốc hội Đức, Đu-ma quốc gia Nga, Quốchội Mỹ, Thượng viện) A government inner circle is usually designated as a

through-‘cabinet’ or a ‘council of ministers’ and may be informally be referred to by thename of the capital city Some ministries and other political institutions andparties may also be referred to by their familiar alternative terms, i.e., the name ofthe building – Elysée, ‘Pentagon’, ‘White House’, ‘Westminster’ – or the streetswhere they are housed

Names of ministries are usually literally translated, provided they areappropriately descriptive Therefore ‘Treasury’ becomes ‘Bộ tài chính’; ‘Homeoffice’, ‘Ministry of the Interior’ – Bộ Nội vụ; ‘attorney-general’, ‘chief justice’ -

Bộ trưởng Bộ tư pháp, or the appropriate cultural equivalent; ‘Defence Ministry’,

‘Ministry of National Defence’

Where a public body or organization has an ‘opaque’ name, say, Maison de

la Culture, ‘British Council’, ‘National Trust, ‘Arts Council’, ‘Privy Council’ –

the translator has first to establish whether there is a recognized translation andsecondly whether it will be understood by the readership and is appropriate in thesetting; if not, in a formal informative text, the name should be transferred, and a

functional, culture-free equivalent given (Maison de la Culture, ‘cung văn hoá’); such equivalent may have to extend over a word group: ‘National Trust’, tổ chức

bảo tồn tượng đài và công viên quốc gia của Anh; in some cases, a cultural

equivalent may be adequate; ‘British Council’, Alliance francaise, Institut, but a literal translation is not enough; Hội đồng Anh, and in this case, thefunctional equivalent is preferable, e.g ‘tổ chức của nhà nước chịu trách nhiệmtruyền bá tiếng Anh và văn hoá Anh ở nước ngoài’

Goethe-b) Religious

In religious language, the proselytizing activities of Christianity,particularly the Catholic Church and the Baptists, are reflected in manifoldtranslation The language of the other world religions tends to be transferred when

it becomes of TL interest, the commonest words being naturalized

and music remain Italian, but French in ballet (e.g fouetté, pas de deux) Art

nouveau in English and French becomes Jugendstil in German and stile liberty in

Italian The Bauhaus and Neue Sachlichkeit (sometimes ‘New Objectivity’), being

opaque, are transferred but the various –isms are neutralized, even though

‘Fauvism’ is opaque Such terms tend to transference when they are regarded as

faits de civilisation, i.e cultural features, and to naturalization if their universality

is accepted

d) Gestures and habits

For ‘gestures and habits’ there is a distinction between description andfunction which can be made where necessary in ambiguous cases: thus, if peoplesmile a little when someone dies, do a slow hand-clap to express warmappreciation, spit as a blessing, nod to dissent or shake their head to assent, kisstheir finger tips to greet or to praise, give a thumps-up to signal OK, all of whichoccur in some cultures and not in others

1.4.4 Cultural transposition

We shall use the general term cultural transposition as a cover-term for thevarious degrees of departure from literal translation that one may resort to in theprocess of transferring the contents of a ST into the context of a target culture.That is to say, the various kinds of cultural transposition we are about to discussare all alternatives to a maximally SL-biased literal translation Any degree ofcultural transposition involves the choice of features indigenous to the TL and thetarget culture in preference to features with their roots in the source culture Theresult is to minimize ‘foreign’ (that is, SL-specific) features in the TT, thereby tosome extent ‘naturalizing’ it into the TL and its cultural setting

Although placing the emphasis on culture, meaningful to initiatedreaders, he claims this method may cause problems for the general readershipand limit the comprehension of certain aspects The importance of thetranslation process in communication leads Newmark to propose componentialanalysis which he describes as being "the most accurate translation procedure,which excludes the culture and highlights the message" (Newmark, 1988,p.96) The various degrees of cultural transposition can be visualized as points

along a scale between the extremes of exoticism and cultural transplantation

proposed by Hervey et al (1996, p.28), visualised as follows:

_

Exoticism Cultural Calque Communicative Cultural

Figure 1.4.4 Hervey’s cultural transplantation

Some of the most straightforward examples of the basic issues in culturaltransposition are offered by place-names and proper names Translating names isnot usually a major concern, but a brief look at the question provides a simpleintroduction to what is often complex problem

How a name is transliterated may be entirely up to the translator, if there is

no established precedent for transcribing the name in question, or it may requirefollowing a standard transliteration created by early translators Standardtransliteration varies, of course, from language to language Examples arecommon in the translation of place-names: Mat-xcơ-va/ Moscow/Moscou

b) Exoticism

In general, the extreme options in signaling cultural foreignness in a TT fall into

a category of exoticism A TT translated in an exotic manner is one which constantlyresorts to linguistic and cultural features imported from the ST into the TT with

minimal adaptation, and which, thereby, constantly signals the exotic source cultureand its cultural strangeness Of course, this may be one of the TT’s chief attractions, aswith some translations of Icelandic sagas or Arabic poetry that deliberately trade onexoticism However, such a TT has an impact on TL audience which the ST couldnever have had on a SL audience, for whom the text has no features of an alien

culture: Xì-tốp, ma ket ting, mit tinh, etc.

c) Cultural transplantation

At the opposite end of the scale from exoticism is cultural transplantation,whose extreme forms are hardly translations at all, but more like adaptations – thewholesale transplanting of the entire setting of the ST, resulting in the text beingcompletely rewritten in an indigenous target culture setting Culturaltransplantation sometimes can produce successful texts, but it is not normaltranslation practice

By and large, normal translation practice avoids both wholesale exoticismand wholesale cultural transplantation In attempting to avoid the two extremes,the translator may have to consider the alternatives lying between them on the

scale given above: Khúc chiết, thanh niên, etc.

d) Cultural borrowing

The first alternative is to transfer a ST expression verbatim into the TT.This is termed Cultural borrowing The translators will resort to it when it provesimpossible to find a suitable TL expression of indigenous origins for translatingthe SL expression A vital for cultural borrowing is that the textual context of the

TT should make the meaning of the borrowed expression clear Culturalborrowing will be most frequent in texts on history or social or political matters,where the simplest solution is to give a definition of terms, and then to use the SLword in the TT

Of course cultural borrowing only presents translators with an open andfree choice in cases where previous translation practice has not already set up aprecedent for the verbatim borrowing of the ST expression The Saussureanlinguistic term ‘langue’ and ‘parole’ are good examples of this issue The option

of translating ‘langue’ and ‘parole’ as ‘language’ and ‘speaking’ does exist, butthe fact that English texts frequently resort to the borrowed terms ‘langue’ and

‘parole’ in the precise linguistic sense prejudices the issue in favour of borrowing.Furthermore, where terms with SL origins have already passed into the TLwithout significant change of meaning, thus constituting standard conventionalequivalents of the original SL terms borrowed, the translator may not be faced

with a significant decision at all: Lão Phật gia, Mama Chuê, etc.

e) Communicative translation

In contrast with cultural borrowing, the translator may opt forcommunicative translation This is often mandatory for culturally conventionalformulae where a literal rendering would be inappropriate

For example, many proverbs, idioms and clichés have readily identifiablecommunicative equivalents in the TL Only special contextual reasons can justifyopting against a standard communicative translation in such cases Otherwise theresult is likely to be ludicrous translation The translator has virtually no freedom of

choice in rendering stock institutionalized phrases such as ‘Beware of the

dogs(Fierce Dog)/ Nhà có chó dữ’, ‘Carry coal to Newcastle/ Chở củi về rừng, Keep off the grass/ Không dẫm lên cỏ!, Tổng quản, Chuột túi, etc.’ The very fact

that the ST uses a set phrase or idiom usually part and parcel of its stylistic effect,and if the TT does not use corresponding TL set phrases or idioms this stylisticeffect will be lost

f) Calque

“The morning guest never stays long” is an instance of calque, anexpression that consists of TL words and respects TL syntax, but is unidiomatic inthe TL because it is modelled on the structure of a SL expression In essence,then, calque is a form of literal translation A bad calque imitates ST structure tothe point of being ungrammatical in the TL; a good calque manages tocompromise between imitating a ST structure and not offending against thegrammar of the TL

Calquing may also be called a form of cultural borrowing, although, instead

of verbatim borrowing of expressions, only the model of SL grammatical

structures is borrowed For example, if ST ‘cherchez la femme’ in a detective

story is rendered in the TT ‘look for the woman’ would be calque Like culturalborrowing proper, and for similar reasons, translation by creating calques doesoccur in practice Furthermore, as also happens with cultural borrowing proper,some originally calqued expressions become standard TL cultural equivalents oftheir SL origins

Clearly, there are certain dangers in using calque as a translation device.The major one is that the meaning of calques phrases may not be clear in the TT

In the worst cases, calques are not even recognizable for what they are, but aremerely puzzling to the reader or listener This is why in our Hungarian example,

we suggested using a device like ‘you know the saying’ to signal the calquingprocess But, of course, it is not sufficient for the TT to make it clear that aparticular phrase is an intentional calque The meaning of the calqued phrase mustalso be transparent in the TT context The most successful calques need noexplanation; less successful ones may need to be explained, perhaps in a footnote

or a glossary

Like all forms of cultural borrowing, calque exhibits a certain degree ofexoticism, bringing into the TT the cultural foreignness and strangeness of the

source culture: ‘As ancient as the sun/Xưa như quả đất, as alike as 2 peas in the

pot/Giống nhau như hai giọt nước, It never rains but pours/Phúc bất trùng lai hoạ vô đơn chí, and The early bird catches the worms/Trâu chậm uống nước đục, etc.’ Consequently, it should generally be avoided in texts where exoticism is

inappropriate, such as in instruction manual, whose prime function is to give clearand explicit information In any text, one should also definitely avoidunintentional calquing resulting from too slavish a simulation of the grammaticalstructures of the ST

In brief summary of the discussion so far, where standard communicativeequivalents exist for a ST expression, the translator should give these firstpreferences, unless there are particular reasons for not doing so Where standardcommunicative equivalents are lacking, and also a particular ST concept is alien tothe target culture, preference should be given to cultural borrowing, unless there areparticular reasons against it

1. 1.4.5 Schema of textual filters

Translation is a kind of activity which inevitably involves at least twolanguages and two cultural traditions (Toury, 1978, p.200) As this statementimplies, translators are permanently faced with the problem of how to treat thecultural aspects implicit in a source text (ST) and of finding the most appropriatetechnique of successfully conveying these aspects in the target language (TL).These problems may vary in scope depending on the cultural and linguistic gapbetween the two (or more) languages concerned (Nida, 1964, p.30)

The cultural implications for translation may take several forms rangingfrom lexical content and syntax to ideologies and ways of life in a given culture.The translator also has to decide on the importance given to certain culturalaspects and to what extent it is necessary or desirable to translate them into the

TL The aims of the ST will also have implications for translation as well as theintended readership for both the ST and the target text (TT) by looking at thefollowing schema by Hervey, Higgins and Haywood (1996, p.216)

TE XT

Figure 1.4.5 Schema of textual filters

1.5 Pre-translation considerations

1.5.1 Reading the text

The translator starts the first stage of the translation process, theunderstanding stage

The purpose is to extract all content and expressive value to thenreformulate them in the target language Capturing and understanding the textdoes not end the communication process opened by the author Instead it restarts

it and the reader/translator becomes a spokesperson for the author of the originaltext

At the same time, the reader/translator becomes the author of a text inanother language The translator is also an unusual reader in the sense that he orshe has to read in a language other than their native one.

In each of the first two stages, understanding and re-expression, thetranslator must have a linguistic competency that is optimal in both languagesand, of equal importance, a broad wealth of knowledge The translator must workhard on being the best reader of the text On the first reading, the translatorfamiliarizes him or herself with the text in its setting Textual problems (related tolexical elements or unfamiliar concepts) require a specific solution Extra-textualproblems (related to the desired motive and function of the translation) influence

on the translation strategy adopted in consideration of the text in its totality Anintense reading is the basis of a syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic analysis of thetext

1.5.2 The intention of the text

The understanding of a text naturally involves a search for the intention ofthe text By intention we mean the point of view of the text Different texts maydescribe a particular incident differently using the same facts and figures But thetype of language used in the text, the ways of describing, and the style, etc.display the intention of a text They represent writer's attitude to the subjectmatter A translator must ascertain the intention of the text and has to represent it

in his translation If a piece is redundant and confusing he can simplify, rearrange,clarify, and detail the text maintaining the tone and point of view displayed in theoriginal

In principle translator's intention is identical to that of the author of the SLtext But there may be certain instances where a translator may differ Take forexample a case of translation of advertisements where the translators need notalways match the intention of the copy-writer If a translator is translating such atext to persuade TL consumers to buy a certain product then he may have tochange the style and the way of presentation in his translation However suchinstances are rare and mostly translators are expected to follow the originalclosely

In literary translations, this subjective element plays a major role.Though in principle translation theorists agree that translator should not imposehis intentions on a text or misrepresent a text, it is very difficult to judge it for

a literary text throws itself open for many kinds of readings The notions ofauthority and original become problematic as far as the literary texts areconcerned Secondly, the politics of translation may also force a translator tomake some deliberate interventions in a particular cultural setting whiletranslating a text However, sine Newmark does not concerned with suchdimensions of a literary translation these questions do not bother him

Any translation is ultimately meant for a readership Therefore, it is important

to characterize the readership of the translation in terms of expert or layman,

informed or ignorant, age or young, etc the likely setting of a text is that by which

we indicate where the translation would be published? This is another point to beconsidered by the translator Keeping nature of the readership and setting oftranslation in view, a translator has to design his translation and its style ofpresentation according to the requirements of his readership

1.5.3 Text styles

Text categories and text types can be made either on the basis of subjectmatter, focus or on consideration of the function of language in a given text.Newmark and others distinguishes text-types on the basis of language functions

The linguist, Halliday, distinguished three linguistically relevant languagefunctions: 'ideational' the 'interpersonal' and the 'textual', Karl Bühlercharacterized language functions as 'representational', 'expressive' and 'conative'.Famous linguist and translation theorist Roman Jackobson later modified thesethree functions of language proposed by Bühler: "… The main three functions oflanguage are the 'expressive' (the subjective 'I' form), the descriptive or'informative' (the 'it' form) and the 'vocative' or directive or persuasive (the 'you'form) and the minor functions being the 'phatic', the 'metalingual' and the'aesthetic' as cited in Newmark (1988, p.21)

It is important to notice that the tripartite division is an attempt to generalizelanguage functions and these generalizations "directed towards sociological orpsychological inquiries" rather than linguistic Moreover, in many texts all the threefunctions may be found Hence, the text-categories based on these generalizationsare helpful only to the extent of understanding the main focus of a particular textwhich will, in turn, help translators to choose an appropriate translation method.The following are the text categories

important in such texts The following are the expressive text types:

(1) Serious imaginative literature: Poetry, short-stories, novels, plays etc.

(2) Authoritative statements: This kind of texts have the personal 'stamp' of

their authors, and show certain originally as far as the quality of writing isconcerned Authority of their authors derives from their status and quality ofwriting Political statements, speeches, documents, legal documents, academicworks, etc constitute this text-type

(3) Autobiography, essays, personal correspondence, etc are expressive

when addressed to the general readership and when they express very personalfeelings

b) The ‘descriptive’ or 'informative'

In all types of fact-oriented, scientific and knowledge-based writing thefunction of language can be characterized as informative These texts are intended

to convey the truth and to keep their readers well-informed They neither aim atpleasing our senses nor appeal to our attitude Hence, informative texts tend to usestandard, non-regional, non-class, non-dialectal language The style is mostlytechnical and non-emotive Text-books, reports, research reports, academic articles,scientific literature, etc form this text-type

c) The ‘vocative’

The readership or the addressee is central to the vocative function of language thevocative texts usually try to impress upon their readership to act, think, feel and react inthe way intended by the text Notices, propaganda and publicity materials, instructions

as well as advertisements etc come under this category

d) Other functions

Jackobson has proposed three other functions of language These functions are

the aesthetic function, the phatic function and the meta-lingual function

- The Aesthetic Function: The language designed to please our senses and

appeal to our attitudes through sounds, repetitions, metaphors, similes,onomatopoeia, alliteration, metre, rhyme, etc intended to serve this function oflanguage Poetry, nursery rhymes, advertising material etc use this kind oflanguage In these texts 'beauty; precedes the truth We can regard aestheticfunction as a part of expressive function of language

- The Phatic Function: Consider the sentences such as 'How are you? , 'You know', 'Are you well?', 'See you tomorrow' (Newmark, 1988, p.43),

etc in the Phatic function of language the speaker intends to establish an intimateand friendly relationship with the addressee If some phatic expressions areuniversal, some others are culture-specific The expression we use in writing inorder to win the confidence of the readership also serve the phatic function; e.g

‘naturally’, 'of course', 'it is important to note that' etc

- The Meta-lingual Function: Language has an ability to explain or criticize

its own features and functions In other words, language can speak about itself.The categories we use in linguistics such as 'verb', 'grammar’, ‘sentence', etc.explains us the features of language by using a language Apart from this, most

modern languages have expressions such as 'strictly speaking',' in the true sense

of the word', 'so-called',' literally', 'so to speak' (Newmark, 1988, p.44), etc These

are either intended to criticize certain expression in language or to clarify them.This function of language is the meta-lingual function of language

1.5.4 The readership

The readership is a group of readers that the text is aimed at and this group

is marked with level of education, the class, age and sex In translation, asNewmark (1988) claimed, the readership of SL text should be characterized, thenthe readership of the translation to decide how much attention to pay to the TLreaders

Newmark (1988) also states that there is a tendency to make the

translation for “educated, middle – class readership in an informal, colloquial

1.5.5 The quality of the writing

Another important thing the translator has to pay attention is the quality ofthe writing in order to choose the translation method The quality of the writing, asNewmark (1988) claimed, depends upon the author’s writing skill, author’sintention and the requirement of the subject matter A text is considered to be a well– written one when is uses the right words in right places, it has a minimum ofredundancy, it is logical, etc The authority of a text is subject to the status ofwriter in his field If the text is written by an expert, of course, the accuracy is

better If the text is written with “stereotyped phrased, poorly written”, the

translator at that time, has to deal with the badly written text Hence, the translatorhas to consider the quality of writing and the authority of the original text Quality

of a text derives from the intention of the text, subject-matter and the style of writing

If the writing efficiently fulfills the requirements of its subject matter and intention ofthe author, it is a good writing In a well-written text every nuance of meaningshould be regarded as important by the translator S/He should follow and must makeher/his best efforts to retain them in translation Good syntax, use of fresh words thatare rich in connotative meaning etc attract us immediately for they are the qualities

of a high quality writing A bad text would not only use stereotyped languagephrases and ideas but also words and jargons of the contemporary fashion

Authority of text essentially derives from two things: from the quality ofwriting and from the status of the author A sensitive translator would grasp bothquality of writing and authority of the text and take his own decisions regarding

translation in creative writing it is advisable to follow the style and every nuance ofwords used and in informative texts 'truth' should be given prime consideration.

1.5.6 Codes of ethics

"Every translation shall be faithful and render exactly the idea and form of the original – this fidelity constitutes both a moral and legal obligation for the translator” - International Federation of Translators

a) Professional conduct

- Interpreters and translators act at all times in accordance with thestandards of conduct and decorum appropriate to the aims of the nationalprofessional association of interpreting and translation practitioners

- Interpreters and translators take responsibility for their work and conduct;they are committed to providing quality service in a respectful and culturallysensitive manner, dealing honestly and fairly with other parties and colleagues,and dealing honestly in all business practices They disclose any conflict ofinterest or any matter that may compromise their impartiality They observecommon professional ethics of diligence and responsiveness to the needs of otherparticipants in their work

+ In order to practise, interpreters and translators need to have particularlevels of expertise for particular types of work Those who work with interpretersand translators are entitled to expect that they are working with appropriatelyqualified practitioners Practitioners always represent their credentials honestly.Where formal training or accreditation is not available (e.g in less frequently usedlanguage combinations and new and emerging languages), practitioners have anobligation to increase and maintain skills through their own professionaldevelopment or request employers, agencies or institutions to provide it

- Impartiality

+ Interpreters and translators observe impartiality in all professionalcontacts Interpreters remain unbiased throughout the communication exchangedbetween the participants in any interpreted encounter Translators do not show

bias towards either the author of the source text or the intended readers of theirtranslation

+ Interpreters and translators play an important role in facilitating partieswho do not share a common language to communicate effectively with eachother They aim to ensure that the full intent of the communication is conveyed.Interpreters and translators are not responsible for what the parties communicate,only for complete and accurate transfer of the message They do not allow bias toinfluence their performance; likewise they do not soften, strengthen or alter themessages being conveyed

- Clarity of role boundaries

+ Interpreters and translators maintain clear boundaries between their task

as facilitators of communication through message transfer and any tasks that may

be undertaken by other parties involved in the assignment

+ The focus of interpreters and translators is on message transfer.Practitioners do not, in the course of their interpreting or translation duties,engage in other tasks such as advocacy, guidance or advice Even where suchother tasks are mandated by particular employment arrangements, practitionersinsist that a clear demarcation is agreed on between interpreting and translatingand other tasks For this purpose, interpreters and translators will, where thesituation requires it, provide an explanation of their role in line with the principles

of this code

- Maintaining professional relationships

+ Interpreters and translators are responsible for the quality of their work,whether as employees, freelance practitioners or contractors with interpreting andtranslation agencies They always endeavour to secure satisfactory workingconditions for the performance of their duties, including physical facilities,appropriate briefing, a clear commission, and clear conduct protocols whereneeded in specific institutional settings They ensure that they have allocatedadequate time to complete their work; they foster a mutually respectful businessrelationship with the people with whom they work and encourage them to becomefamiliar with the interpreter or translator role

+ Interpreters and translators work in a variety of settings with specificinstitutional demands and a wide range of professional and business contexts.Some settings involve strict protocols where the interpreter or translator is a

totally independent party, while others are marked by cooperation and sharedresponsibilities Interpreters and translators must be familiar with these contexts,and endeavour to have the people they work with understand their role Forpractitioners who work through agencies, the agency providing them with thework is one of their clients, and practitioners maintain the same professionalstandards when working with them as when working with individual clients Atthe same time agencies must have appropriate and fair procedures in place thatrecognize and foster the professionalism of interpreting and translatingpractitioners

- Professional solidarity

+ Interpreters and translators respect and support their fellow professionals,and they uphold the reputation and trustworthiness of the profession ofinterpreting and translating

+ Practitioners have a loyalty to the profession that extends beyond theirindividual interest They support and further the interests of the profession andtheir colleagues and offer each other assistance

b) Code of conduct

- Obligations towards recipients of services

+ Professional conduct: Interpreters and translators maintain their integrityand independence at all times

+ Interpreters and translators undertake appropriate preparations for allassignments

+ Interpreters and translators complete assignments they have accepted,unless they are unable to do so for ethical reasons

+ Interpreters and translators adhere to appointment times and deadlines, oradvise clients promptly of any hindrance

+ Interpreters and translators do not exercise power or influence over theirclients

+ Interpreters and translators do not solicit or accept gratuities or otherbenefits They may, however, accept typical small gifts in specific culturalcontexts

+ Ethical principle: Interpreters and translators act at all times in accordancewith the standards of conduct and decorum appropriate to the aims of the nationalprofessional association of interpreting and translation practitioners

+ Ethical principle: Interpreters and translators maintain confidentiality and

do not disclose information acquired in the course of their work

- Competence

+ The acceptance of an interpreting or translation assignment is an implicitdeclaration of an interpreter's or translator's competence to carry out thatassignment

+ Interpreters and translators are familiar with the varied contexts,institutional structures, terminology and genres of the areas in which they acceptwork

+ Interpreters and translators clearly state their qualifications in particularlanguages or language directions if requested by the client

+ If it becomes apparent in the course of an assignment that expertisebeyond their competence is required, interpreters and translators inform theclient(s) immediately and work to resolve the situation, either withdrawing fromthe assignment or following another acceptable strategy

+ If a client wishes to change the language of the interpretation ortranslation to a different language, this can only be done if the interpreter ortranslator has relevant competence in the other language

+ Ethical principle: Interpreters and translators only undertake work theyare competent to perform, in the languages for which they are professionallyqualified through training and credentials

- Impartiality

+ Professional detachment is required for interpreting and translationassignments in all situations

+ Where impartiality may be difficult to maintain because of personalbeliefs or other circumstances, interpreters and translators do not acceptassignments, or they offer to withdraw from the assignment

+ Interpreters and translators are not responsible for what clients say or write + Interpreters and translators do not voice or write an opinion, solicited orunsolicited, on any matter or person during an assignment

+ Interpreters and translators frankly disclose all conflicts of interest, e.g inassignments for relatives or friends and those affecting their employers

+ Interpreters and translators do not recommend to clients any business,agency, process, substance or material matters in which they have a personal orfinancial interest, without fully disclosing this interest to the clients

+ Ethical principle: Interpreters and translators observe impartiality inprofessional contacts Interpreters remain unbiased throughout thecommunication exchanged between the participants in any interpretedencounter Translators do not show bias towards either the author of the sourcetext or the intended readers of their translation

- Accuracy

+ Interpreters and translators provide accurate renditions of the sourceutterance or text in the target language Accurate is defined for this purpose asoptimal and complete, without distortion or omission and preserving the contentand intent of the source message or text Interpreters and translators are able toprovide an accurate and complete rendition of the source message using the skillsand understanding they have acquired through their training and education

+ Interpreters and translators do not alter, add to, or omit anything from thecontent and intent of the source message

+ Interpreters and translators acknowledge and promptly rectify anyinterpreting or translation mistakes

+ Where circumstances permit, interpreters and translators ask forrepetition, rephrasing or explanation if anything is unclear

+ Ethical principle: Interpreters and translators use their best professionaljudgement in remaining faithful at all times to the meaning of texts and messages

- Clarity of role boundaries

+ Interpreters and translators do not, in the course of their interpreting ortranslation duties, assume other roles such as offering advocacy, guidance oradvice Even where such other tasks are mandated (e.g by specific institutionalrequirements for employees), practitioners insist that a clear demarcation isagreed on by all parties between interpreting and translating and other tasks

+ Interpreters and translators respect the professional boundaries of otherparticipants involved in an assignment

+ Interpreters and translators draw attention to any situation where otherparties misunderstand the interpreter or translator role or have inappropriateexpectations

+ Interpreters and translators understand, and help their clients understand,the difference between professional and personal interactions They assumeresponsibility for establishing and maintaining appropriate boundaries betweenthemselves and the other participants in the communicative interaction

+ Ethical principle: Interpreters and translators maintain clear boundariesbetween their task as facilitators of communication through message transfer andany tasks that may be undertaken by other parties involved in the assignment

- Maintaining professional relationships

+ Practitioners follow this Code whenever they are interpreting ortranslating - as employees, as freelancers, as agency contractors or as supervisors

or employers of other interpreters and translators

+ When working as freelancers, interpreters and translators deal withclients and agencies honestly and transparently

+ When working through agencies, interpreters and translators maintain thesame professional standards as when working with individual clients

+ Interpreters and translators request briefing and access to referencematerial and background information before their work commences

+ In interpreting assignments, interpreters endeavour to secure a physicalenvironment that enables optimal message transfer in the given context Thisincludes the use of any devices and aids which participants typically require forhearing and speaking, such as appropriate standard booths for conferenceinterpreting or appropriate physical arrangements for confidentiality, or securitymeasures in cases of physical risk It also includes provision of seating andreasonable breaks to avoid interpreter fatigue

+ In acknowledging the shared responsibility to provide effective languageservices, interpreters and translators can expect that agencies, employers or clientswho stipulate this Code as mandatory for interpreter or translator behaviour haveappropriate procedures in place that recognise the professional obligations of thepractitioners, and that they support interpreters and translators in securing theconditions outlined above

+ Interpreters and translators are responsible for the quality of their work,whether as employees, freelance practitioners or contractors with interpreting andtranslation agencies They always endeavour to secure satisfactory workingconditions for the performance of their duties, including physical facilities,appropriate briefing, a clear commission and clear conduct protocols where

needed in specific institutional settings They ensure that they have allocatedadequate time to complete their work, they foster a mutually respectful businessrelationship with the people with whom they work and encourage them to becomefamiliar with the interpreter or translator role

- Professional development

+ Interpreters and translators enhance their skills and knowledge throughcontinuing education and professional development throughout their professionalcareer

+ Interpreters and translators maintain proficiency in the languages andfamiliarity with the cultures for which they offer professional interpreting andtranslation services

+ Interpreters and translators support and encourage professionaldevelopment within the profession and among their colleagues

+ Interpreters and translators endeavour to keep themselves informed aboutnew trends and developments and the results of research in the field to improvetheir competence and practice

+ Ethical principle: Interpreters and translators continue to develop theirprofessional knowledge and skills

- Conduct issues specific to translators

+ Before commencing work, translators ascertain the intended purpose ofthe translation and the form of delivery required

+ Translators obtain from the client as much information, terminology orreference material as possible and necessary for the proper and timely execution

of the translation commission, and treat such material confidentially or asexpressly agreed If the client possesses but fails to provide reference texts crucial

to the desired outcome, the translator is not responsible for inadequacies in thetranslation that are demonstrably due to such aids being withheld

+ Translators deliver a translation that completely and impartially rendersthe meaning and intention of the source text within the parameters andrequirements of the target language and culture and is in keeping with the purposespecified in the commission received from the client/initiator

+ Translators work only from source languages and into target languages inwhich they are qualified

+ Translators only perform work which they believe is within theirtranslation competence and relevant specialist competence and for which theyhave the necessary resources, transfer abilities, level of understanding andfluency, or which will be revised by a person with the relevant knowledge orcompetence

+ If the source text contains particular elements that need to be takeninto account in carrying out the translation, translators use their bestendeavours and apply professional judgment to bring this to the attention of theclient (except where the translated document is expected or required to be anexact reproduction of all source text content, meaning, style and language andneeds to be thus certified) Such elements may include ambiguities, factualinaccuracies, linguistic errors, imprecise terminology, language that in thejudgment of the translator is discriminatory, or wording or references thatwould jeopardize achieving the purpose of the text in the target languageculture

+ If a translator is contracted by an agency, he or she does not contact theclient of the agency directly, except as provided for under the terms of the relevantagreement entered into with the agency If contacted by the client of the agencydirectly, the translator follows the procedures agreed with the agency

+ Translators may sub-contract work only to other practitioners who they havegood reason to believe possess the necessary competence and resources and whoadhere to this Code of Ethics and Code of Conduct, and always in compliance withany agreement entered into with the client The responsibility for the translated text

in any case rests with the translator who sub-contracted the work to the otherpractitioner, unless otherwise expressly agreed

+ If a translation is subject to revision or checking by another translator, therevision is returned to the original translator for approval and finalization Ifchanges are made to the translated text after delivery to the client without thetranslator's agreement and knowledge, the translator is no longer responsible forthe translated text

+ Professional translators working in areas involving copyright mattersendeavour to follow the principles laid out in the Nairobi Recommendation ofUNESCO on the Legal Protection of Translators and Translations, and the FITTranslator’s Charter

- Conduct issues specific to interpreters

+ Interpreters prepare themselves by obtaining from the initiator/client asmuch information and briefing as is necessary for the proper execution of theirinterpreting, and treat such material confidentially or as expressly agreed

- Completeness in interpreting

+ In order to ensure the same access to all that is said or signed by allparties involved in a meeting, interpreters relay accurately and completelyeverything that is communicated

+ Interpreters interpret in the first person

+ Interpreters maintain the emotions of the speakers in their interpretingand do not soften or enhance the force of messages conveyed or language used Inspecific contexts such as in court or psychometric assessments, incoherence,hesitations and unclear statements are maintained in the interpretation

+ If obvious untruths are uttered, interpreters convey these accurately in thesame manner as presented

+ Relations with other parties and the interpreting role in dialogue situations.+ In dialogue situations where some participants may be unaccustomed toworking with interpreters, the interpreter encourages such participants to addresseach other directly

+ In situations with a number of participants and where the interpreter is notinterpreting aloud to all, the interpreter enables each participant to remainlinguistically present where appropriate by whispered simultaneous interpreting orother suitable means, when other participants are communicating in the languagenot understood by the party or parties in question

+ If anything is unclear, the interpreter asks for repetition, rephrasing orexplanation, informing all participants of what is happening

+ In emergency situations where interpreters may not have had theopportunity to be adequately briefed or given enough time to prepare, or if thereare safety/security issues, they communicate this to the responsible person orinitiator who is participating in the session

+ Interpreters keep the participants informed of any side comments made

by any of the parties or of their attempts to engage the interpreter in a private orany other conversation In business or intergovernmental contexts where one ormore parties bring their own interpreter, it is appropriate for the interpreter torelay side comments of the other party to his or her own party

+ Various participants may place competing expectations on interpreters.These expectations may contravene the interpreters’ ethics, therefore the onus is oninterpreters to clarify the boundaries of their role and assist their clients inunderstanding how to achieve the best outcomes in an interpreted session.Interpreters take care that conversations that may arise during periods of waitingremain courteous but do not become personal, and that information divulged in thecourse of such conversations also remains confidential

+ Interpreters testify to their qualifications and the accuracy of their interpretingand, when requested, explain their linguistic choices, but do not testify to participants’understanding of messages; this remains an issue for participants

- Remote interpreting

+ Interpreters familiarize themselves with the increasing use of technologyfor interpreting, including telephone, video and internet interpreting, and diverserecording/transmitting devices Interpreters who engage in interpreting usingthese technologies prepare themselves by understanding the purposes of their useand the way in which communication is shaped by these technologies.Institutions, agencies and clients who use these technologies are encouraged todevelop protocols and brief interpreters on their use and on any particularrequirements they may have

- Specific institutional settings of interpreting work

+ Where interpreters have roles in addition to that of interpreting due tospecific employment arrangements, they clearly indicate when they are acting asinterpreters and do not switch roles without notice

+ In specific institutional settings where duty of care or security rulesregulate the behaviour of all participants, such as in health care or high securitysettings, interpreters follow the relevant policies and procedures combining themwith their interpreting code of ethics

+ The professional ethics of translation have traditionally been defined verynarrowly: it is unethical for the translator to distort the meaning of the source text

As we have seen, this conception of translator ethics is far too narrow even fromthe user's point of view: there are many cases when the translator is explicitlyasked to "distort" the meaning of the source text in specific ways, as whenadapting a text for television, a children's book, or an advertising campaign

1.6 Questions for discussions

1 What is translation? What definition do you think is the mostappropriate? Can you give your own definition of translation?

2 What is the relationship between translation and culture?

3 How do you translate ecological features of a country? Give an example

4 How do you translate material culture concerning the physical aspects ofthe culture including food, clothes, houses, towns, transport and communication?Give each type an example

5 How do you translate culture concerning social culture such as work andleisure? Give each type an example

6 How do you translate culture concerning organizations, customs,activities, procedures and concepts? Give each type an example

7 How do you translate culture concerning gestures and habits? Give eachtype an example.

8 What is cultural transposition?

9 How many kinds of cultural transposition are there? What are they? Giveeach type an example

10 What are pre-translation considerations when translating?

Unit 2 TRANSLATION PROCESS AND METHOD 2.1 Translation process

There are three main steps of translating activities The first step is analysis,

or analyzing the SL text by understanding that text In order to understand thetext, the content, meaning, and idea of the text, the translator has to read it first.Understanding a source text is quiet difficult for a translator because texts genreare vary and the translator’s knowledge is limited or has no deep knowledge in aspecific area For example in translating literary text, science, economic, business,

or health that may contains a word in those area which is difficult for thetranslator to understand it and finding the equivalence For that reason a translatormay need help from the experts on the area of what the source text is about, so theTarget Language Text Content, Meaning, Message Content, Meaning, MessageSource Language Text the translator will be able to understand some difficultwords, then transferring them and finding the equivalence of the words into thetarget text, thus the inner process

The second step of the translation process, the translator uses his/her mind

to do that Here is the most difficult part of the process, because sometimes thetranslator faces some problems on how to convey the intention of the source textinto the target text On this step the translator is also doing an evaluation andrevision of the transferred words or the equivalences that has been found before

Then the third step, the last step in the translation process is restructuring

In this step the translator is re-writing the text into the acceptable structural andcultural form of the target text The translator should make his/her writing asnatural as possible for the target readers and he/she should also consider abouttheir readability After this process is finished, the translation work is done by thetranslator but if a translator is doing it for the need of a publisher, it is not doneyet that the publisher is still consider it as a draft of translation that needs someediting before can finally be published Translation process can be interpreted as aseries of activities carried out by a translator when he transferred the messagefrom the source language into the target language

According to Nida (1964, p.80), the process of translating consists of fewsteps of activities, so a translator should do those 4 steps To help understandingabout the steps of translation process here is a figure explaining about it by Nida:

Figure 2.1 Translation process 2.2 The approach to translation

There are two approaches to translation:

(1) You start translating sentence by sentence, for say the paragraph orchapter, to get the feel and the feeling tone of the text, and then you deliberatelysit back, review the position, and read the rest of the SL text;

(2) You read the whole text two or three times, and find the intention,register, tone, mark the difficult words and passages and start translating onlywhen you have taken your bearings

Which of the two methods you choose may depend on your temperament,

or on whether you trust your intuition (for the first method) or your powers ofanalysis (for the second) You may think: the first method more suitable for aliterary and the second for a technical or an institutional text The danger of thefirst method is that it may leave you with too much revision to do on the earlypart, and is therefore time wasting The second method (usually preferable) can bemechanical

2.3 The unit of translation

The unit of translation can vary It is what you are translating at thatmoment It can range from a word, a sentence to a paragraph or whole passage.However, normally you translate sentence by sentence, running the risk of notpaying enough attention to the sentence joins If the translation of a sentence has

no problem, it is based firmly on literal translation Since the sentence is the basicunit of thought, presenting an object and what it does, is, or is affected by, so thesentence is your common unit of translation In each sentence, it is the object andwhat happens to it that you sort out first

Below the sentence, you go to clause, both finite and non-finite Within theclause, you may take next the two obviously cohesive types of collocations,adjective-plus-noun or verb-plus object, or the various groups that are lesscontext-bound

2.4 Translation methods

For a good translator, which could be considered the utmost importance andthe guideline in translation job is translation methodology It has been a centralproblem whether to translate “literally or freely” at least since the first century

BC Many years have gone, some methods have been identified and Newmark(1988) has put the argument in the form of a flattened V diagram as the following:

Figure 2.4 V diagram of translation method

2.4.1 Word-for-word translation

This is often demonstrated as interlinear translation, with the TLimmediately below the SL words The SL word order is preserved and the wordstranslated singly by their most common meanings, out of context Cultural wordsare translated literally The main use of word-for-word translation is either tounderstand the mechanics of the source language or to construe a difficult text as

a pre-translation process

Word-for-word translation is a method in which the words are translated

“singly by their most common meanings, out of context”, the method in which the

“SL word-order is preserved” This method is used to understand the mechanics

of source language and to attempt to analyze preliminarily draft of translationprocess

e.g (1) Vietnamese: Tên anh là gì?

Word-for-word translation into English: Name you is what?

Appropriate translation into English: What is your name?

(2) English: I can swim.

Word-for-word translation into Vietnamese: Tôi có thể bơi.

Appropriate translation into Vietnamese: Tôi/Mình biết bơi.

2.4.2 Literal translation

This kind of method is somehow similar to word-for-word translation in that

“the lexical words are again translated singly” except for one thing, that is, it lays

focus on the conversion of the SL grammatical construction into their nearest TLequivalents In other words, the SL grammatical construction is converted to itsnearest TL equivalent but the lexical words are again translated out of context It

is also a translation that closely follows the form of the SL text Because languagederives a great deal of meaning from its form, a literal translation may distort theoriginal meaning

e.g (1) English: I love you!

Literal translation into Vietnamese: Tôi yêu bạn!

Suggested translation into Vietnamese: Anh yêu em!/Mẹ yêu con! etc.

(2) Vietnamese: Cô ấy thích đi mua sắm.

Literal translation into English: She likes going shopping.

Suggested translation into English: She likes shopping.

e.g (1) English: Mary has done well.

Faithful translation into Vietnamese: Mary đã làm tốt.

(2) Vietnamese: Mary vừa bị ngã.

Faithful translation into English: Mary has just fallen out.

2.4.4 Semantic translation

Semantic translation takes into account the aesthetic value – the beauty ofthe SL text It is more flexible than faithful translation in that it admits creativeexception to 100% fidelity and allows the translator’s intuitive empathy with theoriginal

e.g (1) Vietnamese: Đừng dẫm lên cỏ.

Semantic translation into English: Keep off the grass.

e.g (1) Vietnamese: Chào Đang làm gì đấy?/Bác đi đâu đấy?

Adaptation translation into English: Hi! How are you?

(2) English: Where do you go when you’re lonely?

Where do you go when you’re blue?

Where do you go when you’re lonely?

I’ll follow you When the stars go blue (Ryan Adams LISEY’S STORY)

Adaptation translation into Vietnamese:

Đơn côi đâu chốn em về?

Nỗi buồn buông xuống bộn bề, xa xăm?

Đơn côi đâu chốn em về?

Đi đâu tôi cũng nguyện thề theo em.

Khi những vì sao, Nhuốm buồn! Sáng xanh!

2.4.6 Free translation

Free translation reproduces the manner without paying attention to themanner t expresses the content without the form of the original

e.g (1) Vietnamese: - Bạn khỏe không? - Tớ không khoẻ lắm Cảm ơn Free translation into English: - How are you? – I’m under the weather.

Thank you.

(2) English: Killing two birds with one stone.

Free translation into Vietnamese: Một mũi tên trúng hai đích.

2.4.7 Idiomatic translation

This type of translation conveys the “message” of the original text Andwith idiomatic translation, nuances of meaning are transmitted to TL text bycolloquialisms and idioms which do not have in the original

e.g (1) Vietnamese: - Anh ta bị ném đá.

Idiomatic translation into English: He faces the music.

(2) English: This exercise is a piece of cake.

Idiomatic translation into Vietnamese: Bài tập này dễ.

2.4.8 Communicative translation

Communicative translation presents the exact contextual meaning of theoriginal in such a way that both content and language are made to be acceptableand comprehensible to the readers of TL language

On analyzing the method of translation, it is experienced thatcommunicative translation is appreciated However, depending on the text type,the translation method is chosen because with this kind of text, this method is thebest but it is not good for the others

e.g (1) Vietnamese: Họ giống nhau như 2 giọt nước.

Communicative translation into English: They are as alike as 2 peas in the

pot.

(2) English: Beware of dog!

Communicative translation into Vietnamese: Nhà có chó dữ.

2.5 Questions for discussion

1 What is translation process? How many steps are there in the translationprocess?

2 How many translation methods are there? What are they?

3 What are the differences between a literal translation and an idiomatictranslation?

4 What is faithful translation? Give one example

5 What is adaptation translation? Give one example

6 What is free translation? Give one example

7 What is idiomatic translation? Give one example.

8 What should you do to translate a text idiomatically?