Translations Techniques

Read the article Translation Techniques, by Gabriela Bosco. Use the information given to complete the first
and second row of each chart. Research on the Internet and the paper in Spanish to fill in the other two rows
with accurate information.

Direct Translation: Borrowing

Definition:
Borrowing is the taking of words directly from one language into another without translation.

Example:
 Software in the field of technology and funk in culture.
 Café and résumé from French.
 Cigar from Spanish.

Additional definition (Vinay y Darbelnet)

It is the most simple technique and it consists in taking a borrow word or expression from other language to
adapt it and use it in other language.

Example:
 Bulldozer and Mayonnaise in french language
 Fuselage in English language
 Mailer from Canadian-French
 Whisky from Scottish Gaelic
 Ukulele from Hawaiian
 Yoghurt from Turkish
 Kangaroo from the Guugu-Yimidhirr language of Australia.

Additional example (Amparo Hurtado Albir)

According to Hurtado the tecnique involves “using a word or expression in the original text and placing it as
it is, with no modification, in the target text”.

Example:
 Guru, bandana and sugar from Sanskrit.
 Hamburger and wanderlust German.
 Direct Translation: Calque
Definition:
A calque or loan translation (itself a calque of German Lehnübersetzung) is a phrase borrowed from another
language and translated literally word-for-word. You often see them in specialized or internationalized fields
such as quality assurance (aseguramiento de calidad, assurance qualité taken from English).

Example:
 Standpoint and beer garden from German Standpunkt and Biergarten.
 Breakfast from French déjeuner.
 By heart calques French par coeur
 Blue-blood calques sangre azul
Additional definition (Vinay y Darbelnet)
It is about a borrowing with a particular technique where the translator adopts the structure or syntagm of the
source language. It exist two types of calque which are: of expression and of structure.
Example:
 The expression economiquement faible from french language.
 The German word handball is translated in Spanish as “balonmano”
 Te English term skyscraper is “gratte-ciel” in French or “rascacielos” in Spanish.
 Fin de semaine from French is week-end in English

Additional definition (Amparo Hurtado Albir)

To translate literally a word of a syntagm. It can be lexical or structural.
Example:
 In English shocked in Spanish “chocado”
 In French École formale, in English normal school.
 Direct Translation: Literal Translation
Definition:
A word-for-word translation can be used in some languages and not others dependent on the sentence
structure.

Example:

 El equipo está trabajando para terminar el informe (S) ⇒ The team is working to finish the report (E)

 My group is organizing the slides (E) ⇒ Mi grupo está organizando las diapositivas (S)

 Fredy a dancé dans le club (F) ⇒ Fredy bailó en el club (S)

Additional definition (Vinay y Darbelnet)

It is also called word-for-word translation. In this case, the translator moves from the language of origin to
the language of arrival, ending with a correct text without having to worry more than about linguistic
servitude.

Example:

 L’encre est sur la table (F) ⇒The ink is on the table (E)
 Le chat est noir (F)⇒ El gato es negro (S)
 The tree is yellow and green (E) ⇒ L’arbre est jaune et vert (F)

Additional definition (Amparo Hurtado Albir)

Translate word by word a phrase or expression.

Example:
 My family is nice (E) ⇒ Mi familia es agradable (S)
 She is reading (E) ⇒ Ella está leyendo (S)
 Marina works in my house (E) ⇒ Marina trabaja en mi casa (S)
 Oblique Translation: Transposition
Definition:
This is the process where parts of speech change their sequence when they are translated. It is in a sense a
shift of word class. Grammatical structures are often different in different languages.

Example:

 The white house (E) ⇒ La casa Blanca (S)

 Red apple (E) ⇒ Pomme rouge (F)
 Black shoes (E) ⇒ Les chaussures noirs (F)
Additional definition: (Vinay y Darbelnet)

It is a procedure that consists of replacing categories of speech by others, and that without changing the
meaning of the sentence.

Example:
 Red carpet (E) ⇒ Alfombra rojas (S)
 She likes swimming (E) ⇒ Le gusta nadar (S)
 Out of order (E) ⇒ no funciona (S)

Additional definition: (Amparo Hurtado Albir)

Change the grammatical category.

Example:

 What a beautiful day (E) ⇒ Was für ein schooner tag (G)
 After he comes back (E) ⇒ despues de su regreso (S)
 The President thinks that (E) ⇒ Selon le Président (F)
 Oblique Translation: Modulation
Definition:
Modulation consists of using a phrase that is different in the source and target languages to convey the same
idea.

Example:
 At a snail’s pace (E) ⇒ A paso de tortuga (S)
 I am no bad (E) ⇒ Je vais bien (F)
 Peace of mind (E) ⇒ Tranquilidad spiritual (S)

Additional definition: (Vinay y Darbelnet)

It is a variation on the message obtained when changing point of view. It is justified when we realize that
literal translation or transposition comes to a grammatically correct statement but that it clashes with the
'genius' of the target language.

Example:

 Get this straight (E) ⇒ No te quepa duda (S)

 Don’t delay (E) ⇒ Ne tarde pas (F)
 Peace of mind (E) ⇒ Tranquillité d’esprit (F)

Additional definition: (Amparo Hurtado Albir)

Make a change of point of view, approach or category of thought in relation to the formulation of the original
text; it may be lexical or structural.

Example:
 Up to my nose (E) ⇒ hasta las cejas
 Hand to hand combat (E) ⇒ Combat au corps à corps (F)
 Maybe you’re right.(E) ⇒ Tu n’as peut-être pas tort (F)
 Oblique Translation: Reformulation or Equivalence
Definition:
This technique is often used when translating names of institutions, interjections, idioms or proverbs,
translators used completely different expression to transfer the same meaning it is used for rendering more
elaborate structures between SL and TL.

Example:
 Chat échaudé craint l’eau froide  once burned, twice shy
 We say "aie" in French, "ush" in English or “¡Ay! in Spanish.

Additional definition: (Vinay y Darbelnet)

Equivalence is a form of translation that makes it possible to account for the same situation, and that by
establishing completely different stylistic and structural means.

Example:
 “les cordonniers sont les plus mal chaussés”  “the shoemakers are the worst shoes ”
 “too many cooks spoil the broth” which is translated into French by its equivalent “deux patrons font
chavirer la barque”.
 Comme un chien dans un jeu de quilles (F) ⇒ Like a bull in a chinashop (E).

Additional definition: (Amparo Hurtado Albir)

Inserting an information element or a stylistic effect elsewhere in the text that could not be reflected in the
same place where it is found in the original text.

Example:
 They are as like as two peas  Se parecen como dos gotas de agua.
 Like father, like son  tal palo, tal astilla.
 Oblique Translation: Adaptation
Definition:
Adaptation occurs when something specific to one language culture is expressed in a totally different way in
order to make it comprehensible.

Example:
 baseball  football
 Pincho  Kebab

Additional definition: (Vinay y Darbelnet)

It involves a procedure where the situation is misunderstanding because of the cultural differences, so it must
be recreate according to an equivalent situation.

Example:
The sound of music (Black translation) Smiles and tears.

Additional definition: (Amparo Hurtado Albir)

Consists on replacing a cultural element with another of the host culture.
Example:
 À qui les entendrait le dernier (at who-heard-it-last), this slight adaptation seems necessary in
English to underline the habitual character of their game.
 Oblique Translation: Compensation
Definition:
In general terms compensation can be used when something cannot be translated, and the meaning that is lost
is expressed somewhere else in the translated text.
Example:
 Informal “tu” – formal “usted” into English which only has “you”.
 A ticket to London (Un boleto con destino a Lonres)

Additional definition: (Vinay y Darbelnet)

It is the stylistic translation technique by which a nuance that cannot be put in the same place as in the
original is put at another point in the phrase, thereby keeping the overall tone.

Example:

 I was seeking thee, Flathead. (E)  En verité, c’est bien toique je cherche, O Tête-Plate
 Du vs Sie = » you » in English

Additional definition: (Amparo Hurtado Albir)

Is a “translation technique whereby a piece of information or stylistic device is moved to another location in
the text, because it does not have the same effect if maintained in the same place as in the original text”. This
process is intended to compensate for the losses that a text suffers when it is translated.

Example:

 “Boy, it began to rain like a bastard. In buckets, I swear to God” la cual fue traducida como “¡Jo!
¡De pronto empezó a llover a cántaros! Un diluvio, se lo juro”.