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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.
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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
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:
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……………
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.
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. …………………………………………………………………………………
Unit 3: STYLISTICS IN TRANSLATION
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)
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.
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.
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