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

2. 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.

3. Amplification v Reduction
Amplification requires the translator to add
some element(s) to lexical elements in the ST to
facilitate comprehension.
Collocation gaps: a lexical item in one language requires a co- selected collocate.
e.g. hanno interesse a tenere il prezzo basso
interest (curiosity) does not give the right meaning. Better is …
they have a vested interest in
Translators should not be afraid to amplify. The
problem is knowing when you need to do it.

4. Amplification v Reduction
Amplification is often required to decode ST lexical items whose linguistic, semantic, or cultural components may not be immediately clear, especially with proper nouns:
e.g.
United lost 4-0
Manchester United ha perso per quattro a zero
dopo Caporetto after the Battle of Caporetto
fave fava beans
fave fava beans
Amplification is usually used as an aid to comprehension.

5. Noun phrases Some noun phrases are easy to work out
It’s a health centre in death valley

6. Dividing noun phrases Other noun phrases can be harder to divide:
big city problems
big city problems, i.e. problems of big cities OR
big city problems, i.e. big problems of cities
You need to understand what modifies what
and then make the connection

7. Division of noun phrases
rural and small town social controls
the exploding divorce rate
The 19th century sex role system
peace-time western democracies

8. Division of noun phrases
exchange-rate policies
cell-substratum interactions
tightly multi-layered clusters
dialog box name
horizontal split bar

9. Amplification in simple noun phrases
An English noun phrase may need clarifying in Italian
for the reader.
This can be done by amplifying a particular lexical item:
e.g. “breached duplex”
breached duplex = struttura di duplicazione sconnessa
Here the lexical item “duplex” has been amplified to “struttura di duplicazione”

10. Amplification in complex noun phrases
Complex noun phrases may have a combination of amplification and diffusion (see later slides). Amplification is shown in green in three of the following examples.

11. Amplification (in green) of lexical items in noun phrases in Italian TT
rural and small town social controls
the exploding divorce rate
The 19th century sex role system
peace-time western democracies
le limitazioni sociali imposte
nelle cittadine e nelle
comunità rurali di
provenienza
l’impennata del tasso del
divorzio
le divisioni dei ruoli in base al
sesso nel XIX secolo
democrazie occidentali in
tempo di pace

12. Amplification of lexical items in noun phrases in Italian TT (in green)
exchange-rate policies
cell-substratum interactions
tightly multi-layered clusters
dialog box name
horizontal split bar
linee-guide riguardanti I tassi
di cambio
le interazioni tra cellula e
lamina basale
grappoli multistratificati
stretti tra loro
nome della finestra di dialogo
barra di divisione orizzontale

13. Reduction
Reduction consist of omitting an element in the TT text because it is regarded as redundant, or even misleading.
e.g. carta geografica = maps
globo terrestre = globe
esporre in modo visibile = display
Sometimes a translator can use reduction to improve the quality of the ST by making it less redundant

14. Diffusion
While amplification refers to addition or subtraction of elements to a lexical item to bring out the meaning of the item, diffusion refers to providing elaboration to bring out more general meaning.
e.g. Magari!
If only I could/
I wish I could!
I wish that were the case
Here there is no addition of items but a
complete reworking of the original

15. Diffusion Some grammatical forms in Italian have a number of
meanings and require diffusion in english:
Perfect conditional
La banda avrebbe rapinato altre tre banche
The gang is alleged/ said/ thought/ reported
to have robbed three other banks.
Imperfect form of dovere
doveva saperelo = he should have known that
This is diffusion because the grammatical structure of the ST has been completely reorganised

16. Condensation
Condensation entails producing a more economical text in the TT.
e.g. q buon prezzo cheaply
far vedere show
When Italian is the TT, English prepositional verbs are regularly condensed to a single verb.
to make up for/ compensare

17. Condensation
Condensation is often used to translate Italian sentences marked by verbs, adjectivals, and adverbial or prepositional phrases.
e.g. Lo scandalo suscitato dai risultati del rapporto
del Ministero dell’Ambiente sull’inquinamento
dell’aria
In this example “suscitato dai” is not needed in English
and is condensed in the English NP:
The Environmental Department Air Pollution
Report Findings scandal

18. Diffusion and condensation in a noun phrase
Diffusion goes the other way …… e.g. Lo scandalo suscitato dai risultati del rapporto del Ministero dell’Ambiente sull’inquinamento dell’aria ITALIAN Diffusion Condensation ENGLISH The Environmental Department Air Pollution Report Findings scandal

19. Note – reduction and condensation
Translation of a complex noun phrase can involve both reduction (taking something out of a text because it is redundant) and condensation (making a text more economical)
You usually find more reduction and condensation when you translate from an Italian ST to an English TT
And vice versa …

20. Note – amplification and diffusion
Translation of a complex noun phrase can involve both amplification (adding to a lexical item to bring out its meaning) and diffusion (expanding and reorganising the noun phrase to make the connections in the noun phrase more explicit in order to bring out its meaning ).
You usually find more amplification and diffusion when you translate from an English ST to an Italian TT
Look at the examples of both in the next two slides

21. Amplification (in green) Diffusion (in brown)
rural and small town social controls
the exploding divorce rate
The 19th century sex role system
peace-time western democracies
le limitazioni sociali imposte
nelle cittadine e nelle
comunità rurali di
provenienza
l’impennata del tasso del
divorzio
le divisioni dei ruoli in base al
sesso nel XIX secolo
democrazie occidentali in
tempo di pace

22. Amplification (in green) Diffusion (in brown)
exchange-rate policies
cell-substratum interactions
tightly multi-layered clusters
dialog box name
horizontal split bar
linee-guide riguardanti I tassi
di cambio
le interazioni tra cellula e
lamina basale
grappoli multistratificati
stretti tra loro
nome della finestra di dialogo
barra di divisione orizzontale

23. Understanding the difference
Amplification and reduction are about adding to and taking away from the meaning of particular lexical items in translation
Diffusion and condensation involve alterations to meaning beyond the lexical level (e.g. how to intepret complex noun phrases), particularly involving grammar.

24. Reordering è successa una disgrazia certi lavori li faceva lui
non è ancora giunto il
tempo
something terrible has happened
he did some of
the work
the time has not yet come
it is not yet time

25. Reordering – impersonal to passive
le tigri si trovano in
India
i risultati si possono
vedere
tigers can be /are
found in India
you can find
tigers in India
the results can be
seen (formal)
you can see the
results (informal)

26. Reordering –active to passive
mi hanno detto
che …
possiamo
dedurre che
lo stanno
interrogando
I have been told
that ….
it can be deduced
he is being
interrogated