EIC553 translation skills

PREREQUISITES OF A TRANSLATOR
PAVITHRAN RAVINTHRA NATH
 TRANSLATION

The process of translating

words/text from one language
into another…
Is the expression in another
language (target language) of
what has been expressed in one
language (source language)…
Preserving semantic and stylistic
similarities…
EUGENE NIDA (LINGUIST) GEORGE STEINER (LITERARY CRITIC)
NIDA’S THEORY/MODEL OF TRANSLATION
● Nida’s work highlighted on the functional definition of
meaning in which a word ‘acquires’ meaning through its
context and can produce varying responses according
to culture.
● Example: float.
● This means that there’s no fixed meaning to a word.
 AS WHITE AS SNOW
PUTIH SEPERTI KAPAS
NIDA’S THEORY/MODEL OF TRANSLATION
3 different categories of meaning:
o Linguistic meaning (structure – grammar, syntax,
phonetics).
o Referential meaning (denotative, ‘dictionary’ meaning –
direct meaning).
o Emotive meaning (connotative meaning – secondary
meaning/implied meaning/association).
Hierarchical structuring
● Differentiates series of words according to their level.
● Example: Tops (hypernym/superordinate/superior
order) shirt, blouse, tunic (hyponym/subcategory).
COMPONENTIAL ANALYSIS
● Purpose – To identify, discriminate, dissect specific
features of a range of related words.
● The importance of being able to distinguish between the
different relationship status (when working on translating
difficult texts).
● Plotting relationship terms like grandmother, mother,
cousin/sex (male, female)/generation (the same, one/two
generation apart).
COMPONENTIAL ANALYSIS
● Decompose the meaning of the word into its sense-
components.

FORGIVE PARDON
COMPONENTIAL ANALYSIS
● Both FORGIVE and PARDON share common components
including absence of punishment, the authority of the
sender over the receiver, display of mercy, forgiveness,
kindness, and prevention of pain.
● FORGIVE: To forgive someone without the possibility of
blaming them.
● PARDON: To forgive someone without blaming them.
SEMANTIC STRUCTURE ANALYSIS
● SEMANTICS: The study of meaning.
● Nida distinguishes the different meaning of ‘spirit’ –
demons, angels, Gods, alcohol.
● Characteristics (human vs non-human, good vs bad).
● The important thing here is that the translator is able to
realise the relationship between semantic and its context.
● In summary, semantic structure analysis techniques are
proposed as a way to reduce ambiguities, compare
different languages, and cultures.
 TASK 1
Think of a word with multiple meanings.
Identify the context and how the word is used in
a particular context.
Share your findings.
FORMAL EQUIVALENCE
● Nida disagrees with the terms ‘literal’ , ‘free’, and ‘faithful’
translation and agrees with the terms ‘two basic
orientations’ or ‘types of equivalence’.
● FORMAL EQUIVALENCE: Focuses attention on the
message itself, in both form and content.
● One is concerned that the message in the target
language should match as closely as possible the
different elements in the source language.
 ACTIVITY
KUALA LUMPUR: Berikut
adalah kronologi penularan
wabak COVID-19 di Malaysia.
23 Januari
Kementerian Kesihatan (KKM)
melalui Pusat Kesiapsiagaan
dan Tindak Cepat Krisis
Kebangsaan (CPRC)
menerima laporan tiga kes
(dua di Sabah dan satu di
Selangor) disyaki dijangkiti
coronavirus 2019 (2019-nCoV).
 ACTIVITY
KUALA LUMPUR: Berikut
adalah kronologi penularan
wabak COVID-19 di Malaysia.
23 Januari
Kementerian Kesihatan (KKM)
melalui Pusat Kesiapsiagaan
dan Tindak Cepat Krisis
Kebangsaan (CPRC)
menerima laporan tiga kes
(dua di Sabah dan satu di
Selangor) disyaki dijangkiti
coronavirus 2019 (2019-nCoV).
KUALA LUMPUR: Following is
the chronology of the spread
of COVID-19 in Malaysia.
January 23
The Ministry of Health (MOH)
through the National Crisis
Preparedness and Response
Centre (CPRC) receives three
reports (two in Sabah and one
in Selangor) suspected to be
infected with the 2019 novel
coronavirus (2019-nCov).
FORMAL & DYNAMIC EQUIVALENCE
‘With the Maybank Esteem card. A card that entitles you to
enjoy a range of benefits’ (ST).
FORMAL & DYNAMIC EQUIVALENCE
‘With the Maybank Esteem card. A card that entitles you to
enjoy a range of benefits’ (ST).

FORMAL TRANSLATION: Dengan kad Maybank Esteem. Kad

yang membolehkan anda untuk menikmati pelbagai
kemudahan yang menguntungkan.
FORMAL & DYNAMIC EQUIVALENCE
‘With the Maybank Esteem card. A card that entitles you to
enjoy a range of benefits’ (ST).

FORMAL TRANSLATION: Dengan kad Maybank Esteem. Kad

yang membolehkan anda untuk menikmati pelbagai
kemudahan yang menguntungkan.

DYNAMIC TRANSLATION: Kad Maybank Esteem

menyediakan pelbagai kemudahan yang menguntungkan
anda.
GEORGE STEINER’S HERMENEUTIC
MODEL OF TRANSLATION
The HERMENEUTIC motion consists of 4 parts:
o INITIATIVE TRUST
o AGGRESSION
o INCORPORATION
o COMPENSATION
INITIATIVE TRUST
● Firstly, the translator must have a belief that there is
something in the source text that can be understood.
● This is because we tend to shy away form difficult text/
texts that we view as difficult.
AGGRESSION
● The translator invades the text cognitively, extracts
meaning, and tries to preserve it in the target language
text.
● During this stage, what a translator does is that they go
‘into’ the source text with an open mind and with a
positive intention of trying to get information out into the
target text.
● There is no passive thinking when trying to get the
meaning ‘out’ from the source text.
INCORPORATION
● It refers to source text meaning extracted by the translator
in the second movement, being brought into the target
language with all its own words and meanings (culture
included).
● In other words, it is either the target culture ‘takes in’ and
becomes enriched by the foreign text, or it rejects it.
● Therefore, just as culture can be imbalanced by the
importation of certain translated texts, so too can the
energy of the translator where it is consumed by
translation that slows down the creativity of the translator.
● In order to strike balance, the act of compensation is
needed.
COMPENSATION
● Compensate what is missing with new words/expressions
which is of similar to the source text.
● Imbalance happens because of the outflow of ideas and
expressions that a translator have when doing the
translated work.
 TASK 2
Find a comic strip from a local or international
cartoonist (in your language/source text).
Do a simple version of the cartoon in English
(target text).
THANK YOU!