Docsity
Docsity

Prepare for your exams
Prepare for your exams

Study with the several resources on Docsity


Earn points to download
Earn points to download

Earn points by helping other students or get them with a premium plan


Guidelines and tips
Guidelines and tips

Translation Theory and Practice: A Comprehensive Guide for Beginners - Prof. Tran Vy, Essays (university) of Translation Theory

A comprehensive introduction to translation theory and practice, covering key concepts, methods, and strategies. It explores the 'what' and 'why' of translation, delves into stylistic features of different text types, and examines common problems of non-equivalence at word level. The document also includes practical exercises to reinforce learning and develop translation skills.

Typology: Essays (university)

2022/2023

Uploaded on 02/27/2025

trinh-nguyen-phuong
trinh-nguyen-phuong 🇻🇳

3 documents

1 / 98

Toggle sidebar

This page cannot be seen from the preview

Don't miss anything!

bg1
THE THEORY OF TRANSLATION
Compiled: Tôn Nữ Linh Thoại
Tôn Thiện Quỳnh Trâm
Phan Cảnh Minh Thy
DALAT UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES
2022
Áp dụng cho sinh viên từ K45
pf3
pf4
pf5
pf8
pf9
pfa
pfd
pfe
pff
pf12
pf13
pf14
pf15
pf16
pf17
pf18
pf19
pf1a
pf1b
pf1c
pf1d
pf1e
pf1f
pf20
pf21
pf22
pf23
pf24
pf25
pf26
pf27
pf28
pf29
pf2a
pf2b
pf2c
pf2d
pf2e
pf2f
pf30
pf31
pf32
pf33
pf34
pf35
pf36
pf37
pf38
pf39
pf3a
pf3b
pf3c
pf3d
pf3e
pf3f
pf40
pf41
pf42
pf43
pf44
pf45
pf46
pf47
pf48
pf49
pf4a
pf4b
pf4c
pf4d
pf4e
pf4f
pf50
pf51
pf52
pf53
pf54
pf55
pf56
pf57
pf58
pf59
pf5a
pf5b
pf5c
pf5d
pf5e
pf5f
pf60
pf61
pf62

Partial preview of the text

Download Translation Theory and Practice: A Comprehensive Guide for Beginners - Prof. Tran Vy and more Essays (university) Translation Theory in PDF only on Docsity!

THE THEORY OF TRANSLATION

Compiled: Tôn Nữ Linh Thoại

Tôn Thiện Quỳnh Trâm

Phan Cảnh Minh Thy

DALAT UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

LỜI GIỚI THIỆU

Giáo trình Lý Thuyết Dịch (The Theory of Translation) do nhóm giảng viên thuộc tổ ESP, Khoa Ngoại Ngữ - trường Đại học Đà Lạt tổng hợp. Giáo trình chủ yếu dựa trên sự tập hợp (collect) có chọn lọc từ các sách giáo khoa dành cho chuyên ngành dịch thuật của các tác giả nước ngoài, và các giáo trình được các trường đại học trong nước biên soạn. Giáo trình Lý Thuyết Dịch (The Theory of Translation) này dành cho sinh viên chuyên ngành tiếng Anh năm thứ hai, cung cấp cho sinh viên những kiến thức tổng quát về chuyên ngành dịch thuật, bao gồm biên dịch (translation) và phiên dịch (interpretation) kèm theo nhiều bài tập bổ ích nhằm giúp sinh viên luyện tập kỹ năng tra cứu từ điển để chọn lựa những từ vựng với nghĩa phù hợp trong văn cảnh, nhận diện các hình thức văn bản để chọn cách dịch phù hợp, và rèn luyện các kỹ năng dịch.

Unit 1: THE ‘WHAT’ AND ‘WHY’ OF TRANSLATION

I- What is translation? Translation is reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the message of the source language, first in terms of meaning, and second in terms of style (Nida, 1975). Translation is rendering the meaning of a text into another language in the way that the author intended the text (Newmark, 1988). Translation is the expression in another language (or target language) of what has been expressed in another, source language, preserving semantic and stylistic equivalent. Some common terms used in the course

  • Source language (SL): the language that is used in the original text.
  • Source text (ST): the original text
  • Target language (TL) or receptor language : the language that is used to translate the original text.
  • Target text (TT): the translated text II- Why translation?
  1. Translation is an activity that serves as a technique of language learning. It helps us
  • to understand better the influence of one language on the other, and to correct errors of habit that creep in unnoticed (such as the misuse of particular words or structures)
  • to explore the potentials of both languages, their strengths and weaknesses
  • to develop three qualities essential to all language learning: accuracy, clarity, and flexibility. It trains the learners to search (flexibility) for the most appropriate words (accuracy) to convey what it meant (clarity).
  1. Translation is an activity that serves as a means of communication: it is used for multilingual notices, for official documents, for reports, papers, articles, correspondence, and textbooks to convey information, advice and recommendations for every branch of knowledge.
  2. Translation is an activity that serves as a transmitter of culture: it has been instrumental in transmitting culture ever since centuries. Through translations we understand people’s customs, traditions, etc, in different countries.
  3. Translation is an activity that serves as a source of personal pleasure: Translation has its own excitement and its own interest. A satisfactory translation is always possible, but it can usually be improved, so a translator is always trying to extend his knowledge and improve his means of expression through a translation activity.

II- Distinguish the different uses of the verb TALK in the following sentences: They are talking of putting up a monument to him. ………………… He wasn’t keen on buying a car, but we talked him into it. ………………… We talked her out of marrying that awful chap. ………………… He may be very clever, but he always talks over our heads. ………………… I don’t like children who talk back to parents. ………………… Talking straight from the shoulder , I think your behaviour is not good. …………………

III- Find an appropriate expression for the Vietnamese word “ñaøn” in the

following phrases:

  • ñaøn chim/ ngoãng/ boà caâu...: ………………………………………
    • ñaøn gia suùc/ cöøu...: …………………………………………………
    • ñaøn caù: …………………………………………………
    • ñaøn ong: ………………………………………………… IV – Expressions with COME and GO
  1. Here are some phrasal verbs based on COME. Try to find out their meanings. I came across a beautiful old vase in that junk shop. ……………… Nothing can come between him and soccer. ……………… How did you come by that bruise? ……………… Did the meeting you were planning come off? ……………… When do the exam results come out? ……………… The stain on the carpet won’t come out. ……………… You bill comes to $55. ……………… An important point came up at the meeting. ……………… The movie comes on at six. ……………… After the surgery, it took the patient several hours to come to. ………………
  1. Here are some expressions with COME TO (which usu. means ‘arriving at’) and COME INTO (which means ‘starting/ acquiring’). Check the meanings and choose one of the expressions to complete the sentences that follow.

COME TO: an agreement / a conclusion / a standstill [stop]/ an end / a decision / mind / blows COME INTO: bloom / blossom / contact / a fortune / money / a legacy / operation / sight / view / power / existence / fashion / use

I found it hard to make up my mind, but finally I came…………… No ideas come……………, but I’ll tell you if I think of any. I love it in spring when my cherry tree comes…………… Halfway up the hill, the bus came…………… All good things must come …………… The telephone first came……………in the 19th^ century. They disagreed so fiercely that they actually came …………… As we rounded the corner the house came……………

  1. Some phrasal verbs based on GO. Some of them have different meanings. Make sure you know the meanings of the following expressions. GO ON: What is going on next door? ……………… They went on working despite the noise. ……………… As the weeks went on , things improved. ……………… You go on, we’ll catch up with you later. ……………… GO THROUGH I wouldn’t like to go through that again. ……………… Let’s go through the plans again. ……………… I went through three pairs of pantyhose this weekend.……………… He went through a fortune in one weekend. ………………

Unit 2: THE ANALYSIS OF A TEXT

I- Reading the text You begin by reading the original for two reasons: first, to understand what it is about; second to analyze it from a translator’s point of view. You have to determine its intention and the way it is written for the purpose of selecting a suitable translation method and identifying particular and recurrent problems. Understanding the text requires both general and close reading. General reading is to get the gist. Close reading is required, in any challenging text, of the words both out and in context. II- The intention of the text In reading, you search for the intention of the text, you cannot isolate this from understanding it. The intention of the text represents the SL writer’s attitude to the subject matter. Two texts may describe a battle or a riot or a debate, stating the same facts and figures, but the type of languages used and even the grammatical structures (passive voice, impersonal verbs often used to disclaim responsibility) in each case may be evidence of different points of view. III- The intention of the translator Usually, the translator’s intention is identical with that of the author of the SL text. But he may be translating an advertisement, a notice, or a set of instructions to show his clients how such matters are formulated and written in the source language, rather than how to adapt them in order to persuade or instruct a new TL readership. And again, he may be translating a manual of instructions for a less educated readership, so that the explanation of his translation may be much larger than a ‘reproduction’.

IV- Text styles Nida (1975) distinguished four types of (literary or non-literary) text: Narrative : a dynamic sequence of events, where the emphasis is on the verbs or, for English, ‘dummy’ or ‘empty’ verbs plus verb-nouns or phrasal verbs (“He made a sudden appearance,” “He burst in.”) Description , which is static, with emphasis on linking verbs, adjectives, adjectival nouns. Discussion , a treatment of ideas, with emphasis on abstract nouns (concepts), verbs of thought, mental activity (‘consider’, ‘argue’, etc.,) logical argument and connectives. Dialogues , with emphasis on colloquialisms, and phaticisms.

V- The readership On the basis of the variety of language used in the original, you attempt to characterize the readership of the original and then of the translation, and to decide how much attention you have to pay to the TL readers. You may try to assess the level of education, the class, age and sex of the readership if these are ‘marked’. The average text for translation tends to be for an educated, middle-class readership in an informal, not colloquial style. The most common variety of ‘marked’ error in register among student translators tends to be ‘colloquial’ and ‘intimate’, e.g. use of phrases such as ‘more and more’ for ‘increasingly’, ‘above all’ for ‘particularly’, ‘job’ for ‘work’, ‘got well’ for ‘recovered’ and excessively familiar phrasal verbs (‘get out of’, ‘get rid of’). The other common error, use of formal or official register (e.g. ‘decease’ for ‘death’) also shows signs of translationese.

PRACTICE 2

1. Fill in the missing gaps: MORE FORMAL MORE INFORMAL discover ……….…………… ……….…………… blow up .…………… come across invent ……….…………… enter ……….…………… ……….…………… put up with ……….…………… look into surrender ……….…………… ……….…………… make up one’s mind phone ……….…………… 2. How would you rewrite the sentence below in a more informal way? On the decease of his father, Mr. Peter Brown was obliged to seek alternative employment. …………………………………………………………………………………… 3. Say whether you think the following remarks/ sentences are too formal or too informal for each situation described. Suggest a diferent way to say it.

  1. (one classmate to another classmate) Should we go to your residence or mine to work on our assignment?
  2. (parent to another parent at a school parents’ meeting) How many offspring do you have in school?
  3. (student to a university professor) Will there be lab classses next week?
  4. (business letter to a customer) Dear___: Thank you for your inquiry reagrding our new line of clothing for kids…

4. What is the text style of each of the following extracts? 1- Sau bao nhieâu naêm khoùi löûa, toâi ñöôïc dòp veà queâ xöa xa caùch ñaõ möôøi

naêm. Ñi ngang qua ngoâi tröôøng cuõ, hoâm nay chæ coøn trô laïi ñoáng gaïch vuïn, toâi

boãng nhôù ñeán hình aûnh cuûa thaày toâi, ngöôøi ñaõ khoù nhoïc daïy toâi ngaøy vôõ loøng.

Toâi thaáy loøng mang maùc buoàn. Sau cuoäc taøn phaù cuûa chieán tranh, bieát thaày toâi

coù coøn laïi trong ñaùm ngöôøi soáng soùt khoâng? ………………………………………………………………………………… 2- Theo Boä Taøi Chính, chính phuû döï ñònh seõ naâng soá tieàn duøng vaøo vieäc

nghieân cöùu khoa hoïc vaø kyõ thuaät leân ñeán 505 tæ ñoàng (khoaûng 50 trieäu ñoâ la

Myõ) vaøo naêm tôùi. Soá tieàn daønh cho nghieân cöùu khoa hoïc cuûa naêm nay laø

khoaûng 410 tæ, hôn naêm ngoaùi 32%. Toång soá tieàn ñaõ ñöôïc chi cho 31 chöông

trình nghieân cöùu khoa hoïc caáp quoác gia vaø 1500 chöông trình caáp boä vaø caáp

tænh. ………………………………………………………………………………… 3- I hated almost every day of my time at a boarding school and, in any case,

my first term was a disaster. Apart from having to keep to a great many rules

and customs, many of which seemed to me stupid, we were never allowed to be

alone. You had to be with another boy at all time. I am extremely dependent on

being alone part of every day, so daily life at school was very hard for me,

though the other boys managed fairly well. …………………………………………………………………………………

4- The place where I was born is a small village scattered on the side of a

hill, among fields and meadows that gently slope down towards a little river.

From the top of the hill, you can see the whole of it: a group of hay cottages

Unit 3: STYLISTICS IN TRANSLATION

A. FACTORS AFFECTING STYLE

  1. Context : helps to understand the particular meaning of the word, phrase, etc.
  2. Region = dialect : brings about variations of pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar.
  3. Education and social standing : is related to what we call “standard” and “non-standard” language used.
  4. Subject matter = register : a particular register often distinguishes itself from other registers by having a number of distinctive words, by using words or phrases in a particular way and sometimes by special grammatical constructions.
  5. Medium : written and spoken language
  6. Attitude : the language used in a text may proceed from the writer’s attitude to the reader, to the subject matter, or to the purpose of the communication.
  7. Interference : for example the interference of the writer’s and the translator’s first language.

B. STYLISTIC FEATURES OF ADVERTISEMENTS

The aim of advertisements is to persuade. The ad will be fitted with the practical texts which identify a subject and with which the viewer identified as a matter of everyday life. The ad is not realistic. The context is imaginary. The voice of the narrator, the faces and the gestures, the choice of the names for the characters are all caricatures.

The narrator speaks in the third person, i.e., from the position of an observer. Advertisements use inflated language to make commonplace products seem glamorous. EX: rich golden-brown sea-food with superfine French fried potatoes as a side dish Advertisements seek to impress the reader by the use of long words whose meaning is not likely understood. They give an air of glamour by using long words to describe properties of the product that are either commonplace or disadvantageous. Words are often misused in advertisements. But the motive for their misuse is not necessarily an attempt to deceive. More often a word that has become a glamour-word is adopted without any clear idea of its meaning. EX: come in genuine simulated alligator grain case for compact storage (advertisement described a car polish)

C. STYLISTIC FEATURES OF NEWSPAPER ENGLISH

The chief characteristic of newspaper English is that it is both written and read by people who are in a hurry. The wording of a headline is affected by the ideas to be expressed, the technology of printing and the kind of reader associated with a particular reader. There are three criteria for good headlines writing: simplicity, informality and impact. It should be a clear signal, swiftly readable, economical in reading in time and space. Newspaper headlines have a familiar and conventional linguistic structure like telegrams in their brevity. Headlines use nouns, not verbs for actions.

The main distinguishing feature of technical language is its vocabulary. The vocabulary is characterized by sue of: nominal phrases, compounds, derivatives, new application of words. EX: bed mouth force word current Technical texts are characterized by a rigorously defined use of words and a high frequency of passive forms with no by-phrase to specify the actor. Technical language tends to be more logical and lucid than everyday language. The style is formal and impersonal.

E. STYLISTIC FEATURES OF LEGAL DOCUMENTS

Legal English contains complete major sentences. Most of them are statements, with no questions and only occasional command. Statements are of a characteristic type which is reflected in equally characteristic sentence structure. Legal sentences are long and complex. They use conditional clauses. Adverbials tend to cluster at the beginning of the sentence. They are sued as a means of clarifying meaning and avoiding ambiguity. Adverbial elements are often coordinated. EX: on the expiration… or on the previous death on credit or without such payment Adjectives like splendid, wise, disgusting , and happy are much less frequent and intensifying adverbs like very and rather are completely absent. Verbs are selected from a small number of lexical sets. EX: deem accept agree issue state specify constitute perform observe exercise Legal English is studded with archaic words and phrases of a kind that could be used by no one but lawyers. EX: witnesseth

The most obvious feature of legal documents is their prolixity. They are prolix because its author is trying to secure complete coverage of a given area of meaning.

F. STYLISTIC FEATURES OF LITERARY TEXTS

One defining feature of literature is its special use of language. I foregrounded, or made strange. Its style is different from that of other everyday uses. It deviates from ordinary languages. Use of figurative language. Words have a connotative meaning. A number of cliches tend to occur. EX: lofty flights of imagination Heights of majesty Use of vague adjectives of approval EX: fascinating profound exciting impressive