Translation Procedures

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.