There are some
procedures in translating text which introduced by Nida (1964):
I.
Technical procedure
Technical prcedures:
applied by the translator used technically. Not directly translate a text but
also reas and understand it first.
a.
Analysis of the source and
target languages;
b.
A through study of the
source language text before making attempts translate it. Find the difficulties and
technical terms which appear in the text.
c.
Making judgements of the
semantic and syntactic (sentence structure) approximations. Deciding the meaning and sentence
structures.
II.
Organizational procedures
Translation results
should be evaluated constantly. The translators can contrast their works from
the same text with another translator’s work and ask the target language reader
to give constructive feedback for their translation works.
Newmark (1988b)
shows the difference between translation methods and translation procedures. He
writes that, "while translation methods relate to whole texts, translation
procedures are used for sentences and the smaller units of language"
(p.81). there are some translation methods which we know from him. For example,
Word-for-word translation, Literal translation, Faithful translation, Free
translation, Idiomatic translation, Communicative translation, etc.
Newmark
(1991:10-12) writes of a continuum existing between "semantic" and
"communicative" translation. Any translation can be "more, or
less semantic—more, or less, communicative—even a particular section or
sentence can be treated more communicatively or less semantically." Both
seek an "equivalent effect." Zhongying (1994: 97), who prefers
literal translation to free translation, writes that, "[i]n China, it is
agreed by many that one should translate literally, if possible, or appeal to free
translation."
Clarifying the
distinction between procedure and strategy, the next section is allotted to
discussing the procedures of translating culture-specific terms, and strategies
for rendering allusions will be explained in detail.
2.1. Procedures of translating culture-specific
concepts (CSCs)
Graedler (2000:3) introduces four procedures
for translating CSCs:
1. Making
up a new word.
2. Explaining
the meaning of the SL expression in lieu of translating it.
3. Preserving
the SL term intact.
4. Opting
for a word in the TL which seems similar to or has the same
"relevance" as the SL term.
The following are four major techniques for translating
CBTs from Harvey (2000):
1.
Functional
Equivalence: means using a referent in the TL culture whose function is similar
to that of the source language (SL) referent.
2.
Formal
Equivalence or 'linguistic equivalence': means a 'word-for-word' translation.
3.
Transcription
or 'borrowing': reproducing or, where necessary, transliterating the original
term. Usually, transcription is accompanied by an explanation or a translator's
note.
4.
Descriptive
or self-explanatory: It uses generic terms (not CBTs) to convey the meaning.
Involving the original SL to prevent the misunderstanding/ambiguity will be
helpful.
These are the
different translation procedures that proposed by Newmark (1988b):
1.
Transference:
it is the process of transferring an SL word to a TL text. It includes
transliteration and is the same as what Harvey (2000:5) named
"transcription."
Example :
People's names and place names and the like are usually transferred, except in
those cases where a conventional translation exists.
2.
Naturalization:
it adapts the SL word first to the normal pronunciation, then to the normal
morphology of the TL. (Newmark, 1988b:82)
Example :
You can often do this with names of concepts in the humanistic sciences such as
'-ism'-words.
3.
Cultural
equivalent: it means replacing a cultural word in the SL with a TL one.
however, "they are not accurate" (Newmark, 1988b:83)
Example :
“aftenkaffe” may be translated into “high tea” even though it is not the same
thing at all. A lot of translators use cultural equivalents when dealing with
institutional and educational terms. For instance, “master's degree” translates
into “kandidatuddannelsen”, and “gymnasiet” into “high school”.
4.
Functional
equivalent: it requires the use of a culture-neutral word. (Newmark, 1988b:83) Example
: “folketinget” could be translated into “Danish parliament”.
5.
Descriptive
equivalent: in this procedure the meaning of the CBT is explained in several
words. (Newmark, 1988b:83)
Example :
“J-dag” could be translated into “the first day that Christmas brews are
released in Denmark” or something like that.
6.
Componential
analysis: it means "comparing an SL word with a TL word which has a
similar meaning but is not an obvious one-to-one equivalent, by demonstrating
first their common and then their differing sense components." (Newmark,
1988b:114)
Example :
man = [+ male], [+ mature] or woman = [– male], [+ mature] or boy = [+ male],
[– mature] or girl = [– male] [– mature] or child = [+/– male] [– mature]. In
other words, the word girl can have three basic factors (or semantic
properties): human, young, and female.
7.
Synonymy:
it is a "near TL equivalent." Here economy trumps accuracy. (Newmark,
1988b:84)
Example :
“fin makker” can be translated into “nice guy”, “great dude”, “sympathetic man”
etc
8.
Through-translation:
it is the literal translation of common collocations, names of organizations
and components of compounds. It can also be called: calque or loan translation.
(Newmark, 1988b:84)
Example : The common English phrase "flea
market" is a phrase calque that literally translates the French
"marché aux puces" ("market of fleas"). The German word
"Flohmarkt" also corresponds.
9.
Shifts
or transpositions: it involves a change in the grammar from SL to TL, for
instance, (i) change from singular to plural, (ii) the change required when a
specific SL structure does not exist in the TL, (iii) change of an SL verb to a
TL word, change of an SL noun group to a TL noun and so forth. (Newmark,
1988b:86)
Example :
in messageboard terminology you will find that when Danish messageboards say
“Brugernavns profil”, English language messageboards use “profile of Username”
10.
Modulation:
it occurs when the translator reproduces the message of the original text in
the TL text in conformity with the current norms of the TL, since the SL and
the TL may appear dissimilar in terms of perspective. (Newmark, 1988b:88)
Example
: “you are going to be a father” in Arabic will be translated into “You are
going to have a child”.
11.
Recognized
translation: it occurs when the translator "normally uses the official or
the generally accepted translation of any institutional term." (Newmark,
1988b:89)
Example :
“secretary of foreign affairs” is typically translated into “udenrigsminister”.
12.
Compensation:
it occurs when loss of meaning in one part of a sentence is compensated in
another part. (Newmark, 1988b:90)
13.
Paraphrase:
in this procedure the meaning of the CBT is explained. Here the explanation is
much more detailed than that of descriptive equivalent. (Newmark, 1988b:91)
Example :
"The signal was red" might be paraphrased as "The train was not
allowed to pass because the signal was red". A paraphrase is usually
introduced with a verbum dicendi—a declaratory expression to signal the
transition to the paraphrase. For example, in "The signal was red, that
is, the train was not allowed to proceed," the that is signals the
paraphrase that follows.
14.
Couplets:
it occurs when the translator combines two different procedures. (Newmark,
1988b:91)
15.
Notes:
notes are additional information in a translation. (Newmark, 1988b:91)
Notes can appear in the form of 'footnotes.'
Although some stylists consider a translation sprinkled with footnotes terrible
with regard to appearance, nonetheless, their use can assist the TT readers to
make better judgments of the ST contents. Nida (1964:237-39) advocates the use
of footnotes to fulfill at least the two following functions: (i) to provide
supplementary information, and (ii) to call attention to the original's
discrepancies.
2.2. Strategies of translating allusions
Leppihalme (1997:79) proposes another set of
strategies for translating the proper name allusions:
i. Retention of the name:
a. Using
the name as such.
b. Using
the name, adding some guidance.
c. Using
the name, adding a detailed explanation, for instance, a footnote.
ii. Replacement
of the name by another:
a. Replacing
the name by another SL name.
b. Replacing
the name by a TL name
iii. Omission
of the name:
a. Omitting
the name, but transferring the sense by other means, for instance by a common
noun.
b. Omitting
the name and the allusion together.
Moreover, there are nine strategies for the
translation of key-phrase allusions which proposed by Leppihalme (1997: 82):
i. Use
of a standard translation,
ii. Minimum
change, that is, a literal translation, without regard to connotative or
contextual meaning,
iii. Extra
allusive guidance added in the text,
iv. The
use of footnotes, endnotes, translator's notes and other explicit explanations
not supplied in the text but explicitly given as additional information,
v. Stimulated
familiarity or internal marking, that is, the addition of intra-allusive
allusion ,
vi. Replacement
by a TL item,
vii. Reduction
of the allusion to sense by rephrasing,
viii. Re-creation,
using a fusion of techniques: creative construction of a passage which hints at
the connotations of the allusion or other special effects created by it,
ix. Omission
of the allusion.
