11. Translation strategies and techniques (1) Lingua Inglese 2 LM

Malone’s Strategies Equation v Substitution Divergence v Convergence Amplification v Reduction Diffusion v Condensation Reordering By referring to these strategies translators can justify adjustments of form depending on the semantic, stylistic and communicative requirements of the TT.

Equation Termini station is very crowded Stazione Termini è molto affollata Equation is word-for-word translation Equation is the default option man = uomo unless there is a contextual reason for it not to be. There may be quite a lot of these, e.g. Man = umanità Hey, man = ehi, capo you’ve moved your man = hai spostato il tuo pezzo it’s a man’s game = è un gioco da maschi

Equation – special cases Equation = a form of automatic equivalence. Borrowing Calques

Equation Borrowing when the loan word has the same referent in both languages: software, rap; brings new cultural features into target language. sometimes loan words can achieve equation even when the equivalent term exists in two languages e.g. rucola = rocket but we now understand what rucola refers to so we use “rucola” in Eng. absolute foreignisation – purpose is to retain the exotic. sociocultural style in the TT Translating menus is difficult because it is natural to use a loan word for food that is culture-specific.

Equation Calques Borrows the SL expression or structure and then transfer it in a literal translation e.g. faxare a calque strategy is a safe strategy both calques and borrowing are a form of literal translation

Menus Translating menus is difficult because it is natural to use a loan word for food that is culture-specific C.

What’s the problem here?

What’s the problem here? Bruschetta Ventricina Salami Tacconi Pasta Gnocchi Fava Ravioli Scamorza Abrzo porcini

What’s the problem here? Bruschetta Ventricina Salami Tacconi Pasta Gnocchi Fava Ravioli Scamorza Abruzzo porcini must salami of cheese platter of potato gnocchi ravioli of ricotta whit Abruzzo National Park Farms to the tile

Lessons for translators When deciding whether to retain a loan word in translation (e.g. ravioli, scamorza), translators of menus need to decide whether it is likely to be known to the TL reader. If it is known (ravioli), it can be included in an English translation If it is not known (scamorza) but you want to use it, it needs to be explained (glossed) in the text. The gloss needs to be good. Is “typical Italian cheese” a good gloss for scamorza?

Equation and non-equation Equation is what an unskilled translator does automatically The skill for a translator is to know when not to use equation D.

Substitution – false cognates False cognates are the most well known examples of lexical items that require substitution because despite their morphological similarities their meanings diverge. e.g. editore/ editor (publisher).

Substitution - partial cognates Partial cognates can be translated by substitution, depending on context e.g. direttore - managing director (company) - chief editor (newspaper) - school head, Principal (Am.) (school) - conductor (orchestra) F

Substitution -abstractions e.g. realtà - art as an imitation of nature - life is hard / it’s a hard life - her illness is genuine - plans which come to fruition - often we don’t see things as they really are - he’s realistic - we must keep local needs in mind - publishers need to have a thorough knowledge of the social scene - the economic situation the word “realtà” is also very divergent

Substitution Substitution is the implementation of a translation that bears little or no morphological resemblance or semantic relation to the ST. grammatical substitution semantic substitution

Substitution - grammatical Grammatical substitution Lorenzo fermò la macchina e si voltò verso il giovane: ’Allora tu vieni su o vuoi restare qui?’ Lorenzo stopped the car and turned towards the youth: ‘Well, then, are you coming up or d’you want to stay here?’ The continuous tense replace the simple present to express the imminent nature of the event.

Substitution - semantic Semantic substitution The straw that broke the camel’s back la goccia che fa traboccare il vaso Idioms and lexical phrases often require total or partial substitution: Buona giornata = Have a nice/good day/weekend Buon appetito = enjoy your meal Buon lavoro = ????

Divergence v convergence Divergence consists in choosing a suitable translation from a range of possible alternatives e.g. niente is very divergent in its translation I have nothing to say 23 – 24 – No! – start again not bad all this work for nothing not for nothing do they only accept girls no messing about they’ve got nothing at all

Divergence v convergence Grammatical divergence: different ways to express one concept e.g. dovesse succedere if it should happen should it happen were it to happen if it were to happen non serve lamentarsi there is no point (in) complaining it’s no use complaining

Divergence v convergence Convergence means rendering a range of alternatives with a single lexical item: e.g. tu,Lei, voi, Loro = you commercialista, ragioniere, contabile = accountant This is connected to the hyponym problem in lesson 3 (house = superordinate; cottage, hut etc. = hyponyms) English does not have hyponyms for types of accountant Translators need to know when to converge. This is often a question of acquiring cultural knowledge.