Translation Methodology Methods, Levels and Techniques

By

Libardo Ospino

Professional Translator

September 2003

Contents

1 THE ANALYSIS OF THE TEXT

2 DIS COURSE ANALYSIS

3 THE INTENTION OF THE TEXT

4 THE INTENTION OF THE TRANSLATOR

5 THE QUALITY OF THE WRITING

6 TRANSLATION METHODS AND LEVELS

7 TRANSLATION TECHNIQUES

The Analysis Of The Text Reading the text - Is the starting point We read the text to:

Understand what it is about. Analyse it from a translator’s point of view not

from linguist’s, literary, teacher nor student

To determine it’s intention

To determine the way it’s written to select a suitable translation method

Kinds Of Reading When Analysing The Text

General reading is required

We read the words both

• Out of the context

• In the context

Close reading

• To get the gist

• To get the essence

• To get the substance

(literal meaning)

(Interpretation)

The Last Reading

This last reading is done for the purpose of

• Noting the cultural aspects of the SL text

We have to underline all: Neologism, Methophors, cultural words and institutional terms peculiar to the SL, proper names, technical terms and the untranslatable words

The Analysis Of The Text

Macro analysis

Micro analysis

Reading the text

• The intention of the text

• The intention of the translator

• The last reading

Text styles

• The readership

The quality of the writing

DISCOURSE ANALYSIS IN TRANSLATION

MACRO ANALYSIS

MICRO ANALYSIS

Macroanalysis

This analysis answers these questions

Who ?

When ?

Where ?

For whom?

How ?

Microanalysis

This analisys is based on the process of segmentation to take notes on the translation problems we find in the text.

• We split the text in

Lexical translation units

Sintagmatic translation units

• It is used to avoid both gain and loss of information

Microanalysis

LEXICAL TRANSLATION UNITS

VERBS

ADVERBS

NOUNS

PRONOUNS

PROPER NOUNS

Microanalysis

SINTAGMATIC TRANSLATION UNITS

DETERMINANTS

PREPOSITIONS

ARTICLES

POSSESSIVE WORDS

Examples

Roberto studies English everyday

The city is beautiful

The books are on the top of the book shelf

I have a nice watch

They are good students

The Intention Of The Text

We read to search for the intention of the text

The intention of the text goes hand in hand with the understanding of the text

The title may be remote from the content as well as the intention

The Intention Of The Text

It’s necessary to pay special attention to the type of language and even the grammatical structure (passive voice – impersonal verbs)

The intention of the text represents the SL writer’s attitude of the text or subject matter

The Intention Of The Translator

Usually, the translator’s intention is identical with that of the author of the SL text

The Quality Of The Writing

The quality of the writing has to be judged in relation to the author’s intention and the requirements of the subject matter

• The word must be in the right place

with the minimum of redundancy

The Process Of The Translation

The relation of translating to translation theory

The approach

The levels: The textual level

The referential

The cohesive level

The level of naturalness

Levels of approaches to a translation process

1 Translating sentences by sentence

2 Translating paragraphs by paragraphs

3 Translating chapter by chapter

4 Read the text as whole and translate it like wise

Approaches to translation and the texts

The first

approach

Sentence by

sentence

Paragraph by

paragraph

Literary

texts

Approaches to translation and the text

The second

approach

Reading

The whole text

Translate chapter

By chapter

For

Technical Or

Institutional texts

DANGERS OF THE APPROACHES

The fisrt approach

It may leave you with too much revision to do in the early part

It is time-wasting

The second approach

It is usually preferable

It can be mechanical

It may may inhibit the translator`s free play of intution

APPROACHES ALTERNATIVES

The first approach is advisable for a relatively easy text

The second approach is advisable for harder texts

THE TRANSLATION OF THE LEVELS

The textual Level

The referential Level

The cohesive level

The level of naturlness

The Textual Level

The grammar

And The lexical units are

translated

In the situation

Or context of The sentence

The referential level

Sentences of any text

Technical,Literary or Institutional must be

Read in the situation

Or context of the

text

The cohesive level

It follows both

The structure And the moods of

The text

The level of

Naturalness

Makes sense Reads naturally

It is written in

Ordinary language

That meet the Kind of situation

Translation Methods And levels

Translation methods obey to the main problem of translation it self

To translate literally or freely

This argument has been going on since at least the first century B.C up to the beginning the nineteenth century

Many writers are in favor of free translation

Translation Levels

WORD BY WORD

LITERAL TRANSLATION

EQUIVALENT TRANSLATION

Translation Methods or types

The methods or types

Faithful translation

Semantic translation

communicative translation

Adaptation

Idiomatic translation

Free translation

Writer’s Slogan Who Want The Truth To Be Read And Understood

We as translators are intended to translate

The spirit not the letter

The sense not the words

The message rather than the form

The matter not the manner

Word for word translation level characteristics

This is often demonstrated interlinear translation

The SL words order is preserved

The words are translated literally

The words are translated by their most common meaning

The words are translated out of context

Cultural words are translated literally

Usage of the word for word translation level

The use of this method is either to:

Understand the mechanism of the SL

Construe a difficult as a pre-translation process

Examples of the word for translation level

I love fried fish for lunch

I need to get there as soon as possible

Literal Translation

Usage

(presentation process)

Lexical words

Grammatical Constructions

Are converted to their nearest TL equivalents

Are translated singly out of context

It indicates the problems to be solved

Faithful Translation

Attempts to reproduce the precise contextual meaning of the original within the constraints of the TL grammatical structures

It transfers cultural words

It preserves the degree of grammatical and lexical abnormality

Semantic Translation

It is faithful

It takes more account the aesthetic value of SL text

The beautiful and natural sound of the SL text concerning it is meaning

A semantic translation is written at the author`s linguistic level

It may translate less important cultural words, not cultural equivalents, intact transference

It is used for expressive texts

Communicative Translation

It attemps to render the exact contextual meaning of the original

Both the content and the language comprehensible to the readership

More about Semantic and Communicative Translation

They must be seen as wholes

Semantic translation is personal and individual

It tends to over translate

It has to explain

It follows the thought processes of the author

It aims at concision in order to reproduce the pragmatic impact

More about Semantic and Communicative Translation

Communicative translation is social

It concentrates on the message

It tends to undertranslate

It is normally inferior to its original

There is both cognitive and pragmatic loss

A semantic translation has to interpret

Adaptation

This is the freest form of translation

Is not faithful

It is used meanly for Plays (comedies)

Poetry

Jokes

The themes, characters and plots are preserved

The SL culture is converted to be the TL culture text

The text is rewritten and adapted to the target culture

Free Translation

It reproduces

The matter with out the manner

The content with out the form of the original

It paraphrases the original (It makes the TL text larger than the original)

Idiomatic Translation

It reproduces the message of the original

It prefers colloquialisms and idioms

Translation Techniques

They are used with the purpose of helping the translator to translate away from literal translation.

Translations Techniques

Ampliación or Expansion

Reducción or Reduction

Modulación or Modulation

Transposition

Translation Techniques Definition

AMPLIACION OR WORD ADDING.

It consist of an extension of the target language text (texto de llegada) due to limitations in the languages involved in the process of translation (M Tricas Preckler)

TRANSPOSITION

It is used with verbs, adjectives, adverbs

Nouns, pronouns and prepositions.

Its intention is to recover the semantic and pragmatic function when translating into the target language.

MODULATION

It is used to change the conceptual basis of the words when translating.

It is believed to be the most interesting translation technique

It can be seen as reduction or as expansion of the words

REDUCTION

It is about not translating some words within the ideas in the source language.

Translation Techniques Examples

AMPLIACION OR WORD ADDING

The teacher will give us a test tomorrow morning

El profesor nos evaluara mañana en la mañana

Marcos is studying English next year

Marcos va a estudiar ingles el próximo año

TRANSPOSITION

WHAT A BEAUTIFUL HOUSE YOU LIVE IN

QUE CASA TAN LINDA EN LA QUE VIVES

O

VIVES EN UNA CASA MUY BONITA

REDUCTION

Please tell him the time

Por favor dile la hora

Please show them the house

por favor muestrales la casa

MODULATION

Speaking English is very important

Hablar Inglès es muy importante

Es muy importante hablar Inglés

Doing the right is sample of justice

Hacer lo correcto es una muestra de justicia