15, 22 and 29 april

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15, 22 and 29 april
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EXERCISE TRANSLATE THE OPENING LINES OF POES
The murders of the rue morgue trying to divide
the test into units of translation 25 mins.

• The mental features discoursed of as the
  analytical, are, in themselves, but little
  susceptible of analysis. We appreciate them only
  in their effects. We know of them, among other
  things, that they are always to their possessor,
  when inordinately possessed, a source of the
  liveliest enjoyment.
• As the strong man exults in his physical ability,
  delighting in such exercises as call his muscles
  into action, so glories the analyst in that moral
  activity which disentangles. He derives pleasure
  from even the most trivial occupations bringing
  his talent into play. He is fond of enigmas, of
  conundrums, of hieroglyphics exhibiting in his
  solutions of each a degree of acumen which
  appears to the ordinary apprehension
  preternatural.
• His results, brought about by the very soul and
  essence of method, have, in truth, the whole air
  of intuition.

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Compare with the italian official translation
what translation shifts have occurred? List all
the changes

• The mental features discoursed of as the
  analytical, are, in themselves, but little
  susceptible of analysis. We appreciate them only
  in their effects. We know of them, among other
  things, that they are always to their possessor,
  when inordinately possessed, a source of the
  liveliest enjoyment.
• Le facoltà mentali definite analitiche sono di
  per sè scarsamente suscettibili di analisi le
  valutiamo unicamente per via dei loro effetti.
  Sappiamo, tra laltro, che esse offrono, a chi le
  possiede in misura eccezionale, una fonte
  continua di godimento vivissimo.

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• As the strong man exults in his physical ability,
  delighting in such exercises as call his muscles
  into action, so glories the analyst in that moral
  activity which disentangles.
• Così come luomo forte esulta delle proprie doti
  fisiche e si appassiona a tutti gli esercizi che
  chiamino in azione i suoi muscoli, altrettanto
  lanalista si inorgoglisce di quellattività
  morale che districa.

5

• He derives pleasure from even the most trivial
  occupations bringing his talent into play. He is
  fond of enigmas, of conundrums, of hieroglyphics
  exhibiting in his solutions of each a degree of
  acumen which appears to the ordinary apprehension
  preternatural.
• Egli trae piacere da qualsiasi occupazione, anche
  la più insignificante, che possa mettere in gioco
  le sue qualità gli piacciono gli enigmi, gli
  indovinelli, i geroglifici, mostrando nelle
  soluzioni di ognuno di essi un grado di acumen
  che appare sovrannaturale alluomo di
  intelligenza comune.

6

• His results, brought about by the very soul and
  essence of method, have, in truth, the whole air
  of intuition.
• E i risultati, prodotti dallo spirito e
  dallessenza stessa del metodo, hanno in verità
  tutto laspetto dellintuizione.

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The analysis of meaning

• Two types of meaning
• Referential meaning denotation
• Connotative meaning connotation
• Which is the right meaning to be translated and
  how can we understand it?
• Many words are polysemous.
• Chair item of furniture, university position,
  chairperson at a conference and, as a verb, to
  preside over a meeting.
• Spirit liquor, determination, ghost, holy
  spirit etc.
• The right meaning is determined by the semotactic
  environment or co-text.

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• Many times the meaning is also figurative
  (father, children, blood, heart etc.) or there
  are near-synonyms (ex. grace, kindness, favour,
  mercy etc.).
• The first step for a translator is to
  disambiguate (differentiate between) the various
  possible senses, identifying the right TL
  equivalent.

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• Disambiguation
• SL Spanish
• We are writing to invite you to a conference. We
  expect you will attend.
• Whats the error here?
• The incorrect use of expect instead of hope.
• To expect aspettarsi, esigere, presumere.
• The problem is the Spanish SL verb esperar,
  because it covers a wide semantic field. Esperar
  can correspond to hope, want, expect, look
  forward and the choice of the translator was
  wrong.

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• This failure in disambiguation could have
  disastrous consequences.
• The destruction of Montecassino monastery during
  the Second World War.
• The Allies misinterpreted an intercepted German
  radio exchange that said Der Abt ist im
  Kloster.
• The translator confused the word ABT (abbot) for
  an abbreviation of Abteilung (batallion) and
  rendered the sentence The batallion is in the
  monastery.
• The result was the complete destruction of the
  building.

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• Hierarchical structuring
• This concerns the right choice of a term among a
  group of more or less specific words.
• The generic verb to move (a superodinate or
  hypernym) has many lower-level terms (hyponyms)
  walk, run, skip, hop, crawl etc.
• All of them involve movement, but they are very
  different.
• Another examp
• le flower is a hypernym of daisy, lily, rose,
  daffodil, forget-me-not, tulip etc.

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• Connotative meaning is the emotional response
  evoked in the reader/hearer.
• St. Johns Gospel the Greek word gunai was
  translated as woman in the old King James
  Version, but as mother in the New English
  Bible.
• The reason for the change is that gunai had to
  be interpreted with a good connotation and over
  centuries, the neutral term woman was
  transformed in a more precise and positive term
  as mother.

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• Connotation is one of the keys to the power of
  words.
• It's especially evident, particularly in a
  literary text, when the most innocent-looking
  word can acquire the most vivid connotations.
• Emotive connotations of a word can directly
  express or evoke
• 1) Emotion (e.g. daddy - father)
• 2) Evaluation (e.g. clique - group)
• 3) Intensity (e.g. adore - love)
• 4) Stylistic colouring (e.g. slay - kill).

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What are we talking about?

• These words belong to a text. What is it about in
  your view? Can you identify a genre?
• Fragile things
• Special handling
• Things damaged
• Things broken

15
Again

• God
• Angels
• Wings
• Pain
• Hope
• Pray
• Faith
• Trust
• Suffering

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• Precious and fragile thingsNeed special
  handlingMy God what have we done to You?We
  always try to shareThe tenderest of careNow
  look what we have put You through...Things get
  damagedThings get brokenI thought we'd
  manageBut words left unspokenLeft us so
  brittleThere was so little left to giveAngels
  with silver wingsShouldn't know sufferingI wish
  I could take the pain for You

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• If God has a master planThat only He
  understandsI hope it's Your eyes He's seeing
  throughThings get damagedThings get brokenI
  thought we'd manageBut words left unspokenLeft
  us so brittleThere was so little left to giveI
  pray You learn to trustHave faith in both of
  usAnd keep room in Your heart for twoThings
  get damagedThings get brokenI thought we'd
  manageBut words left unspokenLeft us so brittle
  There was so little left to give