An Introduction to the English Language System Dott. M. Gatto Lingue e Culture per il Turismo Lingua e Traduzione Inglese I

Riflessione teorica sul sistema linguistico > per conoscere la materia prima con cui da linguisti e, più in specifico, da traduttori, ci troviamo ad operare. Pratica traduttiva per riempire di contenuto esperienziale la riflessione teorica > per aumentare la domanda di teoria (>> divenire più ricettivi!)

Nel primo semestre avvieremo due moduli paralleli: I. An introduction to the English language system II. Lexis and grammar for translation

CIAO!

Arriva il Re!

HE KICKED THE BUCKET Farmer Brown was milking his cow and when he stood up to leave, he kicked the bucket and spilled all of the milk. Edward showed Tom a list he made of things he wanted to do before he kicked the bucket – visiting Rome, dining with Diana, etc.

Primarily degenerative dementia is a disorder whose essential feature is the presence of insidious onset and gradually progressive course. La demenza degenerativa primaria è un disturbo la cui caratteristica essenziale è la presenza di una demenza ad insorgenza subdola e a decorso gradualmente progressivo

GENTLE

Before my finger and my thumb the squat pen rests, as snug as a gun. (da S.Heaney,Digging) Tra lindice ed il pollice la penna riposa chiatta, quatta come un fucile

Gloria al Padre, al Figlio e allo Spirito Santo. Come era nel principio ora e sempre, nei secoli dei secoli. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.

KEYWORDS

SYSTEM system: a group or set of related or associated material or immaterial things forming a unity or complex whole (Oxford English Dictionary) system (-atic; ic): In its most general sense, the term refers to a network of patterned relationships constituting the organization of language. Language as a whole is then characterized as a system and often as a hierarchically ordered system of systems. (D.Cristal, A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics)

LANGUAGE SYSTEM STRUCTURES LEVELS USE VARIATION TEXT EVENT

STRUCTURES LEVELS

Structures Levels e.g. th ( ) > these > these old books > My grandfather gave me these old books > My grandfather gave me these old books but I never read them

STRUCTURES phonology/graphology (sound/sign) morphology (word) syntax (phrase/clause/clause complex)

Structure Use SHE LOVES YOU

Structures… > phonology SH > graphology SHE - LOVE > lexis -S > morphology YOU = direct object > syntax

… and use! SHE LOVES YOU Who? When? Why?

Use Variation Spatial Temporal Personal Social Cultural Contextual

SHE LOVES YOU This sentence can be perfectly described with reference to structure, as a sequence of sounds (phonology/phonetics), rendered as sign on a page (graphology), which combine to form words and sentences (morphology and syntax) with specific lexical meaning (semantics). But what do we know about it in terms of use? what kind of text is it?

MEANING FORM FUNCTION

Form Meaning He might have been being eaten by a pub… BUT…...the progress which might have been being made in these areas...

Form Function Dove vuoi che vada? Where do you want me to go? Where should I go? Where do you think Im going?

Widdowson (2001: 41-68) refers to form and meaning as complementary areas of linguistic enquiry: form > grammar (morphology + syntax) meaning > in language> semantics meaning > in context > pragmatics

Ho freddo!

This sentence can be described in terms of the structural relations among its parts (form > grammar), considering the lexical meaning of its words (meaning > semantics), and the effect it is meant to have in the interaction between addresser and addressee (meaning > pragmatics).

GRAMMAR SEMANTICS PRAGMATICS TEXT

And now… … you wont believe your eyes!

To sum up… People use words for a purpose: they do things with words, in a particular context and a specific culture. COMMUNICATION takes place successfully when the purpose of the message is encoded effectively in the SOURCE LANGUAGE, and decoded appropriately.

As a consequence... CROSS-LINGUISTIC COMMUNICATION (i.e. translation) is successful when the translator identifies the function of the SOURCE TEXT and conveys it appropriately in the TARGET LANGUAGE to the TARGET TEXT readers.

Therefore... The translator has to interpret the meaning in the ST in its linguistic and extralinguistic context and relay it across language boundaries into the TT. To be able to do this effectively, the translator needs to have a working knowledge of how sentences are organised together into larger units in both the SL and the TL.

In other words, the translator should be aware of how formal and functional levels interact both within the same language and between languages.

To be able to do this effectively, the translator needs to have a working knowledge of how sentences are organised together into larger units in both the SL and the TL. In other words, the translator should be aware of how formal and functional levels interact both within the same language and between languages.