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translation of technical documents-strategies

The document outlines basic translation techniques as described by Vinay and Darbelnet, categorizing them into direct and oblique translation methods. Direct translation includes literal translation, borrowing, and calque, while oblique translation encompasses transposition, modulation, equivalence, and adaptation. The document emphasizes the importance of considering various factors such as subject, text category, and target audience before translating.

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7 views

translation of technical documents-strategies

The document outlines basic translation techniques as described by Vinay and Darbelnet, categorizing them into direct and oblique translation methods. Direct translation includes literal translation, borrowing, and calque, while oblique translation encompasses transposition, modulation, equivalence, and adaptation. The document emphasizes the importance of considering various factors such as subject, text category, and target audience before translating.

Uploaded by

deanw7439
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Basic Translation Technique

Vinay and Darbelnet (1958/1995)


A: Direct Translation
It is straightforward with no intervention or deviation from the
..literal meaning
It involves:
Literal Translation
Borrowing
Calquing
A: Direct Translation
Literal Translation
 Literal translation is a word-for-word translation described by Vinay and
Darbelnet (1995) as being most common when translating between
languages that belong to the same family and culture. They argue that
“literalness should only be sacrificed because of structural and
metalinguistic requirements and only after checking that the meaning is
fully preserved.”
 John likes football: .‫جون يحب كرة القدم‬
A: Direct Translation
Borrowing
 Borrowing is the idea of taking the word from the source language
(SL) and maintaining it in the target language (TL). It is considered
the simplest of the procedures and tends to be employed in two
situations:
 either when discussing a new technical process for which no
term exists within the TL, or
 when maintaining a word from the SL for stylistic effect, in which
the translator uses the foreign term to add flavour to the target
text (TT). Or when the borrowed term is more common in the TL.
 Examples: email- YouTube- etc..
A: Direct Translation
:Calque
 is a special kind of borrowing where the SL expression is transferred
literally into the TL. Calque TL expression concerns the imitation of the
SL manner of expression.
 , e.g., play with fire .
 In addition, calque is widely used by translators in translating the names
of international organizations. North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

:B: Oblique translation

 When grammatical, lexical, and pragmatic differences


between the two languages are more significant to
allow direct translation.
 It involves:
 Transposition
 Modulation
 Equivalence
 Adaptation
B: Oblique translation:
Transposition
 Transposition
 is a translation procedure that is used when changing one part
of speech for another without changing the tense
 Transposition is a strategy sometimes used for stylistic reasons
and “simply shows a very good command of the target
language,”
 It works in different ways such as (a) singular to plural, e.g., car
manufacturing
 Verb to noun, e.g., Jack likes to cook on Sunday
 verb to Noun to, e.g. to write is fun
B: Oblique translation:
Modulation
 Modulation changes the view point of the SL
 Modulation is subdivided into different categories such
as
 (a) active for passive, e.g., it was revealed by the
BBC reporter that
 )b) positive for double negative, e.g., we have time for
negotiations, but it is not unlimited
 (c) part for whole, e.g., the village will establish a new
school next year
B: Oblique translation:
Equivalence
 Refer to cases where languages describe the same situation by
different stylistic or structural means.
 Equivalence also relates to idiomatic expressions, whereby all the
lexical and grammatical elements are there but translating literally
would leave a reader confused.
 Example: speaking of the devil, greenhouses, white as snow
B: Oblique translation:
Adaptation
 Last resort
 Used when:
 ST concept does not exist in TL
 Doesn’t have same connotations
 Doesn’t have same relevance to target audience
 ST is poorly written

 It is conducted by three procedures


1. Cultural substitution e.g. trade names of food, zip codes, points of distribution,
local bodies
2. Paraphrasing
3. Omission
Basic Translation Techniques

 Expansion and contraction


 Expansion or explicitation: making something implicit
in ST explicit in the TT
 E.g. add explanatory phrases, some background
information
 Adding connectors
Generalizing and particularizing

 Particularizing: Translating a word by a


hyponym (more specific)
 Herbs:‫كزبرة‬
 Green Herbs: ‫بقدونس‬
 Generalizing: Translating a word by a
hypernym (more general)
 Gram masala: ‫بهارات‬
Things to consider before starting to
:translate
Document profile

Subject
Text category/style
Function
Type of target audience

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