The Unit of Translation Translation Shifts

1
The Unit of TranslationTranslation Shifts

• Week 3

2

• Basil Hatim and Jeremy Munday (2004).
  Translation. An Advanced Resource Book.
  Routledge London New York
• Section A
• Chapters 3-4
• Section B
• Chapters 3-4

3
Jean-Paul Vinay Jean Darbelnet (1958/95)

• Unit of thought
• Lexicological unit
• Unit of translation
• They are equivalent terms
• They convey the same concept, but with emphasis
  on different points of view.

4

• The lexicological unit lexical elements grouped
  together to form a single element of thought
• The unit of translation the smallest segment of
  the utterance whose signs are linked in such a
  way that they should not be translated
  individually.

5

• - In the field of translation until recently
  attention was concentrated on words, as if these
  segments of the utterance were so obvious that
  they did not require definition.
• It is difficult to define the concept of word.
• What makes us hesitate about adopting the word
  as a unit is that the double structure of the
  sign then no longer seems clear to us, as the
  signifier takes on a more important role than the
  signified.

6

• Translators start from the meaning and carry
  out all translation procedures within the
  semantic field.
• They therefore need a unit which is not
  exclusively defined by formal criteria, since
  their work involves form only at the beginning
  and the end of their task.
• In this light, the unit that has to be identified
  is a unit of thought, taking into account that
  translators do not translate words, but ideas and
  feelings.

7

• The units of translation are lexicological
  units within which lexical elements are grouped
  together to form a single element of thought.
• The unit of translation is the predominant
  element within a such a segment of the
  utterance.
• E.g. to loom
• A ghost hanging in the air
• Imminence of the threat

8

• E.g.
• Travelling from Heathrow?
• There are easy to follow instructions on the
  larger self-service touch screen ticket machines.

9

• Travelling/ from /Heathrow?/
• There are easy to follow/instructions/
• on the/larger/self-service/touch screen/ticket
  machines
• Possible translations?

10

• Higher units of translation
• - Newmark (1988)
• Paragraph and text
• - Reiss and Vermeer (1854)
• Purpose
• - Advertisement and poetry need to be translated
  at level of text (or even culture).

11

• Keep out of reach of children

12

• Newmark (1988)
• all lengths of language can, at different
  moments and also simultaneously, be used as units
  of translation in the course of the translation
  activity.

13
Formal and textual correspondence

• Catford (1965)
• E.g.
• Ne pas se pencher ou dehors
• Do not lean out of the window

14

• Formal correspondence
• Any TL category which can be said to occupy,
  as nearly as possible, the same place in the
  economy of the TL as the given SL category
  occupies in the SL.
• E.g.
• Fenêtre window

15

• Textual correspondence
• any TL text or portion of text which is observed
  to be the equivalent of a given SL text or
  portion of text.
• E.g.
• Au dehors
• Outside (formal correspondent)
• Out of the window (textual equivalent)

16
Translation shifts

• A shift is said to occur if, in a given TT, a
• translation equivalent other than the formal
• correspondent occurs for a specific SL element.

17
Translation Shifts

• Catford (1965)
• Jean-Paul Vinay Jean Darbelnet, A Comparative
  Stylistics of French and English (1958/1995)

18
Jean-Paul Vinay Jean Darbelnets Classification

• 2 methods
• Direct translation
• (borrowing, calque, literal translation)
• 2. Oblique translation
• (transposition, modulation, equivalence,
  adaptation)

19

• These procedures can concern
• The lexicon
• The grammatical structure
• The message (situational utterance, sentence,
  paragraph)

20
Compensation, Loss and Gain

• At the level of message
• The translator offsets an inevitable loss at one
  point of the text by adding a suitable element at
  another point, achieving a compensatory
  translation gain.
• E.g.
• Tu informal lexis, the first name,
  nickname

21
Jean-Paul Vinay Jean Darbelnet Comparative
Stylistics of French and English1958/1995

• Direct Procedures
• 1) Borrowing
• e.g. foreign names
• 2) Calque
• e.g. Compliments of the season
  compliments de la saison (in French)
• 3) Literal translation
• e.g. I left my spectacles on the table downstairs
• Jai laissé mes lunettes sur la table en bas.

22

• Oblique procedures
• Transposition
• e.g. Il a annoncé quil reviendrait.
• He announced he would return.
• He announced his return.
• 2) Modulation
• e.g. The time when
• Le moment où (the moment where )

23

• 4) Equivalence
• e.g.
• Cry of pain Aïe (French) Ouch
  (English)
• - Too many cooks spoil the broth
• - Deux patrons fon chavirer la barque
• Troppi cuochi fanno la minestra salata
• Troppi galli a cantare non si fa mai giorno
• Non stanno bene due galli in un pollaio
• Con troppi galli non si fa mai giorno
• Ci sono troppi galli a cantare nel pollaio

24

• 7) Adaptation
• Beatrix Potter, The Tale of the Pie and the
  Patty-Pan
• e.g.
• My Great-aunt Squintina died of a thimble in
  a Christmas plum-pudding.

25

• - La mia Prozia Occhiolini è morta perché
  aveva ingerito della carta stagnola che avvolgeva
  un uovo di Pasqua.