Translation and Meaning Part 9

TRANSLATION AND MEANING
PART 9
Proceedings of the Maastricht Session
of the 5th International Maastricht - Łódź Duo Colloquium
on “Translation and Meaning”,
Held in Maastricht, The Netherlands, 19– 22 September 2010
MARCEL THELEN
Zuyd University of Applied Sciences

Maastricht School of Translation and Interpreting
Maastricht, The Netherlands
and
BARBARA LEWANDOWSKA-TOMASZCZYK
Department of English Language and Applied Linguistics

University of Łódź, Poland
editors
Technical editor: Marcel Thelen

II MAASTRICHT SESSION
ISBN 978 90 801039 8-6

NUR 812
© 2013 Maastricht School of Translation and Interpreting, Zuyd University of Applied Sciences Maastricht
(The Netherlands)
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means
(including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) or other means without written permis-
sion from the publisher.
This book was printed and bound by UPM, Universitaire Pers Maastricht.
Translation and Meaning

Marcel Thelen and Barbara Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, editors.
1. Proceedings of the Maastricht Session of the 1990 Maastricht-Łódź Duo Colloquium on “Translation and
“Meaning”, Held in Maastricht, The Netherlands, 4-6 January 1990. Marcel Thelen and Barbara Lewan-
dowska-Tomaszczyk, editors. ISBN 90-726140-3-8.
2. Proceedings of the Łódź Session of the 1990 Maastricht-Łódź Duo Colloquium on “Translation and “Mean-
ing”, Held in Łódź, Poland, 20-22 September 1990. Barbara Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk and Marcel Thelen,
editors. ISBN 90-801039-1-8.
3. Proceedings of the Maastricht Session of the 2nd International Maastricht-Łódź Duo Colloquium on “Trans-
lation and “Meaning”, Held in Maastricht, The Netherlands, 19-22 April 1995. Marcel Thelen and Barbara
Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, editors. ISBN 90-801039-2-6.
4. Proceedings of the Łódź Session of the 2nd International Maastricht-Łódź Duo Colloquium on “Translation
and “Meaning”, Held in Łódź, Poland, 22-24 September 1995. Barbara Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk and
Marcel Thelen, editors. ISBN 90-801039-3-4.
5. Proceedings of the Maastricht Session of the 3rd International Maastricht-Łódź Duo Colloquium on “Trans-
lation and “Meaning”, Held in Maastricht, The Netherlands, 26-29 April 2000. Marcel Thelen and Barbara
Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, editors. ISBN 90-801039-4-2.
6. Proceedings of the Łódź Session of the 3rd International Maastricht-Łódź Duo Colloquium on “Translation
Marcel Thelen, editors. ISBN 90-801039-5-0.
7. Proceedings of the Maastricht Session of the 4th International Maastricht-Łódź Duo Colloquium on “Trans-
lation and “Meaning”, Held in Maastricht, The Netherlands, 18-21 May 2005. Marcel Thelen and Barbara
Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, editors. ISBN 978-90-801039-6-2
8. Proceedings of the Łódź Session of the 4th International Maastricht-Łódź Duo Colloquium on “Translation
Marcel Thelen, editors. ISBN 978-90-801039-7-9
9. Proceedings of the Maastricht Session of the 5th International Maastricht-Łódź Duo Colloquium on “Trans-
lation and “Meaning”, Held in Maastricht, The Netherlands, 19-22 May 2010. Marcel Thelen and Barbara
Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, editors. ISBN 978 90 801039 8-6
To appear:
Proceedings of the Łódź Session of the 5th International Maastricht-Łódź Duo Colloquium on “Translation
and “Meaning”, Held in Łódź, Poland, 16-19 September 2010. Barbara Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk and Mar-
cel Thelen, editors. ISBN 978 90 801039 9-3
Orders should be sent to:

Dr. Marcel Thelen
Maastricht School of Translation and Interpreting, Zuyd University of Applied Sciences
P.O. Box 634, NL-6200 AP Maastricht
Tel.: + 31 43 346 6471 / Fax: + 31 43 346 6649 / e-mail: marcel.thelen@zuyd.nl
TRANSLATION AND MEANING, PART 9, 2013, III - IV III
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
For the fifth time now, we had the Maastricht Session of the Maastricht-Łódź Duo Colloquium on
“Translation and Meaning” in Maastricht. The Maastricht Session took place from 19 to 22 May
2010. As before, everything appeared to have been organised perfectly well: all participants enjoyed
the Maastricht Session, both the scientific part and the social programme. This certainly is something
to be very proud of. For the success of the Maastricht Session in the first place the participants are
responsible: they contributed greatly by their plenary papers, papers, discussions, questions and re-
marks, and simply by being here. I am very grateful to them for this.
As for the organisation, I would like to thank in the first place my Polish colleague and co-organiser
of this 5th International Maastricht-Łódź Duo Colloquium, Prof. Dr. Barbara Lewandowska-
Tomaszczyk of the Institute of English of the University of Łódź. Without her such a thing as a
Maastricht-Łódź Duo Colloquium would not have been possible at all. I am proud that we form such
a good team and trust that the 6th Maastricht-Łódź Duo Colloquium in 2015 will be as successful as
the previous three ones.
The practical and logistic organisation went smoothly. For a very large part, this was the work of the
Maastricht Organising Committee. Special thanks go to Ms Deniz Gündogmus-Dürmaz. She was of
vital importance for the organisation as a secretary.
I would also like to thank the head of the Maastricht Colloquium Bureau, Ms. Irene Custers, Btr.
Thanks to her the Bureau acted very efficiently, very much to the satisfaction of the participants. She
was supported by a number of our then 4th-year students: Ms. Stéphanie Caldenhove, Ms. Nicole da
Cámara, Mr. Rik Driessen, Ms. Daina van Eijk, Ms. Marjolein Galesloot, Ms. Sharon Grouwels, Mr.
Elmer Haan, Ms. Guusje de Jong, Ms. Kelly Kirkels, Ms. Carola Kleintjes, Mr. Serge Koster, Ms.
Lente van Leeuwen, Ms. Frédérique Mulder, Ms. Dorinne Olaerts, Ms. Renate Schipper, Ms. Daphne
Stam, Ms. Dorine Stevens, Ms. Eva van der Vat, Ms. Annika Verhoeven, Ms. Amina Wachabova,
Ms. Chantal van Zant. I wish to thank them for the work they have done. Together they made all par-
ticipants feel at home.
Special thanks go to the Hotel Management School of Zuyd University. Their staff and students
made all lunches, dinners and coffee breaks events worthwhile to participate in. They created a very
pleasant atmosphere that stimulated the exchange of ideas, not only on scientific matters.
I also wish to thank the City of Maastricht for receiving, as before, all the participants in the Maas-
tricht City Hall.
It would be untrue to state that since the first time in 1990, not much has changed; after all, right
from the first time in 1990 the Maastricht Sessions have attracted many scholars and practitioners in
the field of translation from all over the world in varying numbers and from ever “new” countries.
For their great help in the preparation of these proceedings I thank my Polish colleagues Mr Mikolaj
Deckert and Mr Janusz Wroblewski. They marked all the papers for the index, both for the Maas-
tricht volume (Part 9) as well as the Łódź volume (Part 10).
I also wish to thank the director of UPM Universitaire Pers Maastricht – the official printer of all our
proceedings, Mr Ruud Lelieveld. I wish to express my gratitude for his patient guidance and practical
help. Acting as the technical editor for these proceedings not only was a difficult but pleasant job, it
also widened my horizon in the area of word processing and publishing.
IV MAASTRICHT SESSION
The present volume of proceedings of the Maastricht Session has become a scientifically but also
practically interesting collection of papers on many diverse aspects of translation. The quality of
these proceedings is the work of all the contributors (not all of whom actually participated in the
Maastricht Session). I conclude these acknowledgements with a special word of thanks to them; by
their contributions, they give the readers of these proceedings fresh and stimulating ideas on trans-
lation, both theoretically and practically.
Marcel Thelen
Chairman/Secretary of the
Maastricht Organising Committee
TRANSLATION AND MEANING, PART 9, 2013, V V
PREFACE
The first International Maastricht-Łódź Duo Colloquium on “Translation and Meaning” took place
15 years ago, i.e. in 1990, with a session in Maastricht (The Netherlands) from 4 to 6 January 1990
and one in Łódź (Poland) from 20 to 22 September in that very same year. The 2nd International
Maastricht-Łódź Duo Colloquium on “Translation and Meaning” took place 10 years ago, with the
Maastricht Session from 19 to 22 April 1995 and the Łódź Session from 22 to 24 September1995.
The 3rd International Maastricht-Łódź Duo Colloquium on “Translation and Meaning” took place 5
years ago, with the Maastricht Session from 26 to 29 April 2000 and the Łódź Session from 22 to 24
September 2000. In 2005, there was the 4th Duo Colloquium, with the Maastricht Session from 18 to
21 May 2005, and the Łódź Session from 23 to 25 September 2005. The proceedings of these 8
events were published as Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8, respectively in the Translation and Meaning
series. The present volume of proceedings, i.e. Part 9 in this series, contains the papers presented at
the Maastricht Session of the 5th International Maastricht-Łódź Duo Colloquium that took place in
Maastricht from 19 to 22 May 2010. Part 10 will contain the proceedings of the Łódź Session.
The International Maastricht-Łódź Duo Colloquium on “Translation and Meaning” is a joint con-
gress on all aspects of translation and meaning and is organised by the Maastricht School of Transla-
tion and Interpreting of Zuyd University of Applied Sciences (Maastricht, The Netherlands) and the
Institute of English Language of the University of Łódź (Łódź, Poland). It consists of two sessions,
one in Maastricht and one in Łódź in one and the same year. The focus for Maastricht is on the prac-
tice of translation and interpreting, that for Łódź on the theoretical side of both areas. The Interna-
tional Maastricht-Łódź Duo Colloquium takes place every 5 years and the proceedings of both ses-
sions are published in the series of Translation and Meaning, published by the Maastricht School of
Translation and Interpreting.
We are proud to present the proceedings of the Maastricht session. Those of the Łódź Session will
follow. The many positive reactions to the previous volumes in the Translation and Meaning series
and to the preceding Maastricht and Łódź Sessions as well as the fact that many private and univer-
sity libraries world-wide have all the volumes in their collection have shown that there is a strong
and steady international need for in-depth papers on practical and theoretical aspects of translation in
all its forms. We feel encouraged to continue our series and keep organising further Maastricht and
Łódź Sessions in the framework of the International Maastricht-Łódź Duo Colloquium on “Trans-
lation and Meaning”. We look forward to the 6th Maastricht-Łódź Duo Colloquium in 2015.
Marcel Thelen Barbara Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk

Chairman/Secretary of the Chairman of the
Maastricht Organising Committee Łódź Organising Committee
VI
TRANSLATION AND MEANING, PART 9, 2013, VII - IX VII
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction MARCEL THELEN AND BARBARA LEWANDOWSKA-TOMASZCZYK XI
SECTION I: TRANSLATION STUDIES: PROCESS, THEORY AND PRACTICE
The author’s intentional meaning is often the translator’s will-o’-wisp

BEHROOZ AZABDAFTARI, Tabriz/Iran 19
The art of conveying Relevance to the Portuguese child reader

JANE DUARTE, Lisbon/Portugal 29
“Word-for-word” or “sense-for-sense” translation: ruminating the age-long polemics

MOHAMMED FARGHAL, Kuwait 39
Approximative communication in translation

BARBARA LEWANDOWSKA-TOMASZCZYK, Łódź/Poland 45
Le traducteur, médiateur ou agent de l’impérialisme culturel: relecture de l’histoire de l’un des

plus vieux métiers du monde
MOSES NYONGWA, Winnipeg/Canada 53
Meanings in translation
SONIA VANDEPITTE, Ghent/Belgium 61
Etholinguistic approach to translation

URSZULA ZAŁIWSKA-OKRUTNA, Warsaw/Poland 91
SECTION II: AUDIOVISUAL TRANSLATION
Subtitling “Made in Hong Kong”, and missing heteroglossia

BO LI, Hong Kong/People’s Republic of China 101
Action research as a methodology for audivisual translation

ŁUKASZ BOGUKI, Łódź/Poland 111
The technology turn in subtitling (plenary)

JORGE DÍAZ-CINTAS,London/United Kingdom 119
Towards a typology of challenges in subtitling Egyptian films

MUHAMMAD Y GAMAL, Canberra/Australia 133
SECTION III: THE TRAINING OF TRANSLATORS / INTERPRETERS
Towards a critical translation pedagogy (plenary)

JOHN KEARNS, Bydgoszcz/Poland 147
Monitoring in student translators‘ translation process

MINNA KUMPULAINEN, Joensuu/Finland 155
VIII MAASTRICHT SESSION
SECTION IV: TRANSLATION AND LANGUAGE FOR SPECIAL PURPOSES
The impact of communicative competence on export performance: a relationship management

approach
JOSE BLOEMER / MARK PLUYMAEKERS / ARMAND ODEKERKEN, Maastricht/The Netherlands 167
La traduction et l’interpretation en milieu judiciaire ou la langue palais de justice

MOHAMMED BENLARBI EL’KEBICH, Tiaret/Algeria 177
Übersetzungs- und bedeutungsrelevante deutsch-polnische Unterschiede in der Geschäftskom-

munikation vor dem Hintergrund der deutschen und polnischen „Kulturstandards“
IWONA SZWED, Rzeszów/Poland 183
SECTION V: LITERARY TRANSLATION
Voice(s) in a translated literary text

ISABEL FERNANDES SILVA, Lisbon/Portugal 193
Figures de construction des textes poétiques français et hongrois

ANNAMÁRIA KABÁN, Miskolc/Hungary 203
When metaphors surface as metonymies: free translation in poetry

Łódź/Poland 211
KRZYSZTOF KOSECKI,
SECTION VI: LEXICOLOGY / TERMINOLOGY
Improving specialised translation dictionaries on the basis of a study of terminological

variation
KOEN KERREMANS, Brussels/Belgium 227
Developing technical terms in the indigenous South African languages: borrowing a fact or
fiction?
KOLISWA MOROPA, Pretoria/South Africa 241
Terms in three perspectives

PIUS TEN HACKEN, Swansea/United Kingdom 251
SECTION VII: PROBLEM SOLVING
Tracing the unfolding of metaphorical processes in translation: insights from an experimental

exploration study
ADRIANA S. PAGANO / IGOR A. LOURENÇO DA SILVA / FABIO ALVES, Belo Horizonte/Brazil 263
Methods for problem solving in translation and terminology: Componential Analysis vs.
Lexical-System-like Structures
MARCEL THELEN, Maastricht/The Netherlands 277
SECTION VIII: QUALITY MANAGEMENT
Strengths and weaknesses in literary translation: a case study approach

PAULE SALERNO-O’SHEA, Dublin/Ireland 293
TRANSLATION AND MEANING, PART 9, 2013, VII - IX IX
Interpreter training: interpreting in a health context short course – assessing interpreters’

preparedness to undertake assignments in health care. An Australian model of state-run
interpreter service
ITA SZYMANSKA, Brisbane/Australia 301
FINAL
Current translation discourses and the future
BARBARA LEWANDOWSKA-TOMASZCZYK AND MARCEL THELEN 321
Survey of papers included in Translation and Meaning, Parts 1 – 10

MARCEL THELEN AND BARBARA LEWANDOWSKA-TOMASZCZYK 325
List of contributors MARCEL THELEN 341

Index MARCEL THELEN 343
X
TRANSLATION AND MEANING, PART 9, 2013, XI - XV XI
INTRODUCTION
1. The 5th International Maastricht-Łódź Duo Colloquium

This was the fifth time that the International Maastricht-Łódź Duo Colloquium on “Translation and
Meaning” took place. It has become a tradition now over the past 10 years from the first Duo
Colloquium in 1990. With this volume of proceedings, Translation and Meaning, part 9, the
Maastricht Session of the 5th Duo Colloquium is commemorated. Now the tradition covers 20 years
already. Over these years, quite a few things have changed; what has not changed is the set-up and
organisation of the phenomenon of the Maastricht-Łódź Duo Colloquium on “Translation and
Meaning”.
The overall organisation is still in the hands of the Institute of English of the University of Łódź (Po-
land), and the Maastricht School of Translation and Interpreting of Zuyd University of Applied Sci-
ences in Maastricht (The Netherlands), though the respective names have changed a couple of times.
There is a Łódź Organising Committee for the Sessions in Łódź and a Maastricht Organising Com-
mittee for the Maastricht Sessions, and together they form the Overall Organising Committee. Right
from the beginning, the idea was to bring together scholars and practitioners in the area of translation
from as many countries as possible. In 1990, these happened to be countries from East and West, but
also then there were a number of countries outside of these areas, such as Brazil, Egypt and Singa-
pore. In 1995, there were even more countries from outside these areas. At the 2000 Maastricht Ses-
sion, there were 18 participating countries. At the 2005 Maastricht Session, there were 24 countries,
among them 4 “new” countries in comparison to previous Maastricht sessions; Algeria, Cyprus, Iran
and Romania. At the 2010 Maastricht Session there were 22 countries.
It is – and has been throughout all the previous volumes of Translation and Meaning – the editors’
intention not to interfere with the language used in the papers to a large extent, since the authors –
though not all native speakers of the respective languages English, French and German – can be re-
garded sufficiently proficient in the language that they use.
2. The Maastricht Session of the 5th International Maastricht-Łódź Duo Colloquium

The Maastricht Session of the 5th International Maastricht-Łódź Duo Colloquium on “Translation
and Meaning” took place in Maastricht from 19 to 22 May 2010 and attracted 50 participants from
22 different countries: Algeria, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Ger-
many, Hong Kong/People´s Republic of China, Hungary, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Kuwait, Luxemburg,
The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Republic of South Africa, Spain, United Arab Emirates, United
Kingdom.
The academic programme of the Maastricht Session started on Thursday 20 May. There were 3
plenary papers, and 36 “ordinary” papers in 3 parallel sessions. In addition, there was a book
exhibition by a number of internationally known publishing houses. The working languages were
English, French and German. Both the academic programme and an extensive social programme
gave participants ample opportunity to exchange ideas and network in a rather informal atmosphere.
3. The Proceedings of the Maastricht Session

This volume of proceedings contains 26 papers. Of these, 1 paper could for various reasons not be
presented at the Maastricht Session, but was deemed too important not to incorporate it here, viz. the
paper by Muhammad Y Gamal (Australia). Five papers were withdrawn.
The focus in Maastricht was on the practice of translation, though there were also papers on more
theoretical issues. The participants included both practitioners and theoreticians.
XII MAASTRICHT SESSION
The central theme for both the Maastricht Session and the Łódź Session was “Translation and Mean-
ing”. The sub-themes for Maastricht were:
A) meaning in translation/interpreting from the point of view of:

1 (a) cognitive sciences (e.g. think-aloud protocols and other modes of reflection, pro-
totypicality, etc.)
(b) computer-assisted translation training, electronic teaching/learning environments,
distance teaching/learning
(c) corpus linguistics and language corpora
(d) history of translation
(e) lexicology, lexicography
(f) local/national/international translation/interpreting programmes
(g) machine translation, machine-aided translation, other computer aids, combina-
tions of computer aids
(h) new theoretical/practical developments
(i) philosophy / the philosophy of language, etc.
(j) pragmatics, semantics, semiotics
(k) psycholinguistics, psychology
(l) sociolinguistics/sociology, ~ and minority status, institutionalised multilingual-
ism, interculturality, cultural identity
(m) software localisation
(n) subtitling, dubbing, sign language, voice-over
(o) terminology, conceptuology, expert systems (e.g. term-word distinction, auto-
mated term extraction, etc.)
(p) text linguistics (e.g. text typology, text analysis, etc.)
(q) the interplay between theory and practice
(r) translation theory, translation studies
(s) types of translating/interpreting
2 (a) the relation between translator/interpreter and client/customer
(b) the student of translation/interpreting
(c) the translation trainer/the trainer of interpreting
(d) the translator/interpreter
B) meaning in the translation/interpretation of:

1 (a) the language of economics / business
(b) the language of law / politics
(c) the language of media and the arts
(d) the language of medicine / biology
(e) the language of science / technology / IT
(f) the language of tourism/leisure
2 (a) holy scriptures
(b) literature
(c) LSP vs. general language vs. phraseology vs. terminology, etc.
(d) allusions, figurative language, jokes, metaphors, etc.
C) quality assessment of translation/interpreting and modes/modalities of training
D) The role of translation methods/strategies in:

1 the actual practice of translating/interpreting
2 the training of translation/interpreting
TRANSLATION AND MEANING, PART 9, 2013, XI - XV XIII
This list was not exhaustive. The papers in the present volume of proceedings do not cover all of
these sub-themes, and some papers deal with a combination of sub-themes. For these proceedings,
the following sections were established:
Section I: Translation Studies: Process, Theory and Practice

Section II: Audiovisual Translation
Section III: The Training of Translators/Interpreters
Section IV: Translation and language for Special Purposes
Section V: Literary Translation
Section VI: Lexicology/Terminology
Section VII: Problem Solving
Section VIII: Quality Management
The proceedings of the Maastricht Session contain, in addition to the 26 papers grouped as indicated
above, a survey paper on the volumes of Translation and Meaning published until now, a detailed
index of authors and an index of languages and subjects.
4. General description of the papers in these proceedings

Section I of these proceedings contains 7 papers on Translation Studies. The first paper, by Behrooz
Azabdaftari (Iran), discusses the very difficult issue of intended meaning by the author of literary
texts. In doing so, he gives a definition of meaning, and illustrates with source texts in English that
have been translated into Farsi how and where a translator may go wrong. The second paper (in this
section by Jane Duarte (Portugal), compares – from a Relevance Theoretic Approach – existing
Portuguese translations of English children’s texts with translations made by postgraduate students of
Translation Studies in Portugal. Mohammed Farghal (Kuwait) tackles the age-old issue of word-
for-word translation vs. sense-for-sense translation. He argues that this dichotomy is reflected in
today’s dichotomies of formal – dynamic equivalence, formal – textual equivalence, overt – covert
translation, semantic – communicative translation, direct – indirect translation, and foreignisation –
domestication, and s-mode – i-mode translation. Barbara Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk (Poland)
deals with the subject of approximation in communication and translation between a message sent
and received, and presents a typology of this phenomenon with different categories of alignment, viz.
asymmetric approximation with generalised – coarse-grained – alignment, symmetric approximation
with parallel alignment, and asymmetric approximation with particulate – fine-grained – alignment.
All types require different translation procedures. In the next paper, Moses Nyongwa (Canada),
states that in history, in a context where two cultures co-exist in the same space, the translator was
perceived as an agent of imperialism, while in a context of two cultures where one is dead, he was
perceived as a mediator. He argues that there is a third type of perception, viz. the translator as a
globalisation agent. Sonia Vandepitte (Belgium) goes into meanings in translation. She argues that
both source text writer and translator are the key persons in this relation, and that meaning depends
on their relationship with the state of affairs they describe/transfer, their assessment of the
communicative situation they are in, as well as aspects of their own identity. It is the translator who
tries to reflect the writer’s meaning as best as possible by making use of his intuition of some form of
tertium comparationis. Urszula Załiwska-Okrutna (Poland) closes this section. In her paper, she
discusses the etholinguistic approach to translation. Etholinguistics is the study of human language
behaviour and offers explanations on human communciation, culture and learning. For translation his
means that a translation is very much dependent on the identity of the translator.
Section II contains 4 papers on various aspects of the sub-theme of Audiovisual Translation. This
section opens with a paper by Bo Li (Hong Kong/People’s Republic of China) in which the author
discusses the subtitling of the movie Made in Hong Kong, focussing on the problem of heteroglossia
and what the translator does with it. The second paper in this section by Łukasz Bogucki (Poland)
elaborates on action research as a methodology for audiovisual translation. Action research, he
XIV MAASTRICHT SESSION
argues, is “.. an attempt to bridge the notorius gap between theory and practice..”. Basically, action
research on subtitling focuses on the interrelation between all the aspects involved in subtitling, from
subtitler to audience to subtitle. In his paper, presented as a keynote paper at the Maastricht Session,
Jorge Díaz-Cintas (United Kingdom) gives a very useful and detailed survey of technological
developments in audiovisual translation and discusses those in subtitling in particular. Muhammad Y
Gamal (Australia), finally, describes a number of problems and challenges in the subtitling of
Egyptian films.
The papers in Section III deal with the Training of Translators/Interpreters. This section contains 2
papers. The first paper, by John Kearns (Poland), which was presented as a keynote paper at the
Maastricht Session, discusses the very difficult and intriguing subject of translation pedagogy. He
argues for training skilled and reflective translation practitioners. Minna Kumpulainen (Finland)
concludes this section. In her paper, she tackles the subject of monitoring of the translation process
by student translators. She presents a pilot project aimed at later further investigating on how stu-
dents actually learn how to translate.
The sub-theme of Section IV is Translation and Language for Special Purposes. The section contains
3 papers. In the first of these, José Bloemer/Mark Pluymaekers & Armand Odekerken (The Neth-
erlands), discuss the relation between relation-oriented competences (i.e. communicative competence
and cultural sensitivity), entrepreneurial competences, and relationship characterstics, on the one
hand, and export performance, on the other. They show that successful export perforemance is to a
large extent dependent on communciative competence. In the next paper, Mohammed Benlarbi
El’kebich (Algeria) deals with the role of translators and interpreters as keynote mediators between
people, especially in legal contexts. Iwona Szwed (Poland), finally, discusses the differences be-
tween Polish and German business letters, I n particular as regards cultural standards.
Section V contains 3 papers on the sub-theme of the Literary Translation. This section is opened by
Isabella Fernandes Silva (Portugal). In her paper, she describes a course in literary translation at her
university where student, in the form of a project, translated a literary text for publication. Among
others the feminist approach to translation and group work – especially the issue of voices possibly
putting their stamp on the overall product – are points of discussion. Annamária Kabán (Hungary)
analyses two parallel Hungarian translations of Paul Verlaine’s poem Mon rêve familier on their lan-
guage characteristics and formulates a number of typological differences between them. This section
is concluded by Krzysztof Kosecki (Poland) who examines the role of metaphor and metonymy in
the translation of poetry. He argues that metaphor and metonymy can be used as functional equiva-
lents of each other, precisely because gradation and continuity exist between the two.
The sub-theme of Section VI is Lexicology/Terminology. It contains 3 papers. In the first paper, by

Koen Kerremans (Belgium), outlines a project on terminological variation in source texts and trans-
lations with the aim to derive from this comparison patterns or tendencies that may be used for the
compilation of specialised dictionaries. In the second paper, Koliswa Moropa (South Africa) tackles
the problem of the development of technical terms, in particular in the area of IT, in the indigenous
languages in South Africa. Pius ten Hacken (United Kingdom) concludes this section with his paper
on the notion of term, i.e. on what linguists, terminologists and translators understand by a term. He
argues that there are three different types of terms, dependent on the discipline at stake.
Section VII contains 2 papers on Problem Solving. Adriana S. Pagano, Igor A. Lourenço da Silva
& Fabio Alves (Brazil) open this section with a paper on a study into how student translators, pro-
fessional translators and “non-translators” perform translation tasks. Their performance was meas-
ured by means of keylogging, eyetracking and verbal protocols. The aim of the study is to shed more
light on the translation process. Marcel Thelen (The Netherlands) closes this section with his paper
on the application of a cognitive-linguistic system in the form of so-called “Lexical-System-like
TRANSLATION AND MEANING, PART 9, 2013, XI - XV XV
Structures” as a discovery procedure for problems of decoding and encoding in translation and ter-
minology. The system is derived from the framework of TCM (‘Two-Cycle Model of Grammar”). In
this paper he compares the applicablity of this system with Componential Analysis. In his paper for
Translation and Meaning, Part 10, the proceeding sof the Łódź Session, he continues the discussion
by comparing this system with WordNet and Frames.
The closing section, Section VIII deals with the sub-theme of Quality Management and contains 2
papers. The first paper, by Paule Salerno-O’Shea (Ireland), discusses quality in literary translations.
She analyses a number of translations from English into French and concludes that the quality deliv-
ered by professional translations is generally high, but that this may be raised even further by focus-
sing on a better understanding of the source text, a better fit between source text and target styles and
increased cultural awareness. Ita Szymanska (Australia), finally, outlines the interpreter and transla-
tor situation in Australia and presents a professional development training programme for interpret-
ers as developed by Queensland Health Australia. Still large numbers of interpreters do not comply
with the professional Code of Ethics. The outlined programme may be instrumental in this respect.
In the final paper of this volume, Barbara Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk and Marcel Thelen look back
on the papers included in the volumes of Translation and Meaning published until now and look for-
ward to the future.
Maastricht / Łódź
Marcel Thelen
Barbara Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk
16
17
Section I:
Translation Studies: Process, Theory and Practice
18
TRANSLATION AND MEANING, PART 9, 2013, 19 - 28 19
THE AUTHOR’S INTENTIONAL MEANING

IS OFTEN THE TRANSLATOR’S WILL-O’-THE-WISP
Behrooz Azabdaftari
Islamic Azad University –Tabriz Branch, Iran
“[Language] structure is a whole determined by inter-

dependences not only within the structure, but also be-
tween the structure and its relevant social outside”
(Markova, 1992: 48).
Abstract: Numerous examples can be cited from the translated versions of original texts to sub-
stantiate that often the meaning intended by the author of the original text remains beyond the
depth of the translator’s depth in the process of translation. The translator fails to grasp the in-
tened meaning of the author mainly because (a) meaning, deriving from the various sources of
information – linguistics, paralinguistics, proxemics, deictics, semiotics, kinematopoeias, body
gestures, interactional tactics, to mention a few – remains so illusive that any modifications in the
original text will result in disfiguring the intended meaning – touch the bloom, it is gone, and
(b) literary texts are often alive with utterances which will make sense only in relation to the sit-
uational and linguistic contexts in which they are used. In pragmalinguistics it is an attested
fact that contexts, underlying speech utterances, are indefinite; therefore, whatever context sen-
sitive rules are devised will fall short of accounting for meaning. To lend this paper a realistic
tone, the present author seeks to elucidate the flickering nature of meaning by first tackling the
moot question what the meaning of meaning is and then by providing, through the analysis of
some English texts – novels and stories – and their equivalent renditions in Farsi (Persian lan-
guage), examples of the translator’s failure in grasping the author’s meaning. Indeed, the cita-
tions come from the present author’s involvement in academic programs of teaching both grad-
uate and undergraduate courses in translation during the long years in the past.
1. Introduction
Semantics, the study of meaning, is a discipline which bears on many other disciplines such as lin-
guistics, philosophy, logic, psychology, sociology, aesthetics, stylistics, literary criticism, semiotics,
discourse analysis, translation, cultural/historical studies …, to mention a few. As such, it is no
wonder that we encounter various visages of meaning while observing it through the epistemological
kaleidoscope.
Indeed, semantics serves as a stepping stone between man’s internal world and his external world
which shapes up his mental processes – the directionality is, according to socioculteralists, from
interorganism to intraorganism. Given that higher mental mentation is anchored in social activities, it
does not require much ingenuity to realize the complex nature of communicative meaning.
The social activities, or in linguistic parlance, the situational contexts are so varied that linguists have
despaired of codifying rules of utterances. To put it in other words, contexts of language use are
indefinite, and linguists’ attempts at codification of utterance rules have proved a Sisyphean
unavailable effort. The pure meaning that constitutes inner speech at its most abstract level, ac-
cording to Vygotsky (1987), is composed of the generalized meanings developed by a given culture
as well as the individual’s unique representation of these meanings built up on the basis of specific
concrete experience.
Vygotsky captures the distinction between cultural meaning and personal meaning by the Russian
terms znacheniye (‘meaning’) and smysl (‘sense’) (Lantolf and Thorne, 2006). The former refers to
the conventional and relatively stable meanings established by a community and is akin to definitions
20 BEHROOZ AZABDAFTARI
found in dictionaries, while the latter reflects idiosyncratic understandings that absorb entire situ-
ations.
Today, the notion of Cartesian dualism of mind and body is no more tenable. Human psychological
processes do not preexist inside the head waiting to emerge at the right maturational period. Sure, the
biology provides a foundation for our mental capacities, say classification of objects, but the ways
the objects are classified is determined by cultural trends. In some cultures, for instance, objects may
be classified on the basis of functional role; in some others, with regard to formal schema (Lantolf
and Thorne, 2006). Because of the sociocultural underpinnings of meaning which are versatile and
indefinite, semantics has rightly fascinated so many thinkers in different domains of knowledge and
art, including translators.
The translator, committed to rendering one text into another text, needs to account for both visible
and hidden meanings, sometimes by tackling purely linguistic phenomena, sometimes by delving in-
to the intention of the original author, sometimes by poring over the cultural overtones, and some-
times by studying the social and historical bedrock of meaning.
A similar distinction is also made in linguistics and related disciplines, the polemic terms being as
competence versus performance; linguistic meaning versus communicative meaning; locutionary
meaning versus illocutionary meaning; referential meaning versus inferential meaning; denotative/
explicit meaning versus connotative/implicit meaning; decontextualised sentence meaning versus
contextualised utterance meaning, and so forth. It is worth noting that in these polemic terminologies,
the significance of the second alternative (language uses) overrides the first alternative (language
usage) despite the fact the latter constitutes the speaker’s/writer’s linguistic competence.
The above distinction is also captured by Mikhail Bakhtin by centripetal force and centrifugal force
of language, the common belief being that the latter has an upper hand over the former force of lan-
guage because it is due to the centrifugal force of language the poet and the literary writer rip open
the seams of the tight, grammar-base structure of language and create novelty in their artistic verbal
expressions. Indeed, poetry, in the same vein, literary prose, would cease to exist without the benefi-
cial force of centrifugal force of language. And translation would be a matter of routine rather than
an artistic challenge.
Long before, we have witnessed the demise of the author- versus the reader-based response, the de-
bility of the reigning set of traditional archetypes versus invigorated preferences of the individual, the
eclipse of state voice by the rising voice of otherness. With the advent of the third millennium the in-
tentional meaning of the author can take on different shapes and hues in the linguistic kaleidoscope,
and the translator in his effort to unveil the meaning intended by the writer of the text may go astray
barking up the wrong tree. With regard to the various theories heaped up by different branches of
human knowledge, semantics is now an enormous challenge for the translator in order for him to
come up with the correct interpretation of the original text in the process of translation. It requires a
great deal of ingenuity on the part of this verbal mediator to receive the meaning cherished in the lin-
guistic womb of certain ethnic group and to deliver it to the people in the target community so ten-
derly a way that the image of the meaning is not disfigured – the precept that is easily said than done.
2. What is meaning?
Semantics is a branch of human knowledge that studies meaning. The word consists of two parts
sema meaning ‘sign’ and semania meaning ‘signifying’. The answers given to the question above are
disparate – There are scholars, affiliated to structuralism in linguistics and behaviorism in psy-
chology, who consider meaning of little value, struggling how to avoid it in their approach to
linguistic facts. Those who attest to the importance of meaning in verbal communication are strug-
gling over the ways of accounting for meaning. In order to do justice to the topic, note the following
examples ( Lyons, 1986: 13):
1. John means well.

2. That red flag means danger.
3. Smoke means fire.
4. John means trouble.
Without intending to belabor the point, it is quite obvious that the word ‘means’ in the foregoing ex-
amples means four different meanings. It is the linguistic context that sheds light on the type of
meaning intended. The problem with meaning, according to Katz (1972), lies not in the concept of
meaning, but in the approaches adopted for the study of meaning. To the question ‘What is mean-
ing?’ one cannot give an answer in the same way as one answers the question “What is the capital of
England?’ The question posed above is similar to the question ‘What is light? ‘What is electricity?’
‘What is material?’ These questions cannot be answered in the same way that one answers, say, ‘Iran
is in Asia.’ ‘Einstein is born in Germany.’ and so forth. Hence, scholars having addressed the
question ‘What is meaning’, have come up with different meanings of meaning. Some thinkers have
opted for referential theory; some have equated it with the concept in the mind of the speaker/hear
(conceptual theory); some have focused on the response elicited in the behavior of the addressee
(behavioral theory); some, like Wittgenstein, have identified it with the function it entails (the use
theory); some , like Carnap, have equated it with the presuppositions of the user (verificationist
theory), and still others have sought the linguistic meaning of the utterance detached from the context
(truth conditional theory). The last position requires a brief explanation. Note, for example, the
following sentences:
1. John is unmarried.
2. John is not married.
3. John is a bachelor.
The three sentences given above are equivalent from the viewpoint of truth, but with regard to truth
condition, (3) is different from (1) and (2) in the sense that if ‘John’ in (3) is substituted by ‘Mary’,
then the subject complement in (3) should change to ‘spinster’. Having said all these, most research
workers, following in the footsteps of Katz, have posited the view that in order to account for mean-
ing one has to consider different aspects of meaning such as ambiguity, semantic inconsistency, en-
tailment, pragmatic meaning, metaphoric meaning, iconic meaning, metonym, synecdoche, litotes,
chiasmus, and so forth. Harman (cited in Steinberg and Jakobovits (eds.), 1976), having discussed
various approaches to meaning, contends that theories of meaning may attempt to do any of three dif-
ferent things. They may offer either a) an account of the use of language in thinking, b) an account of
the use of language in communication, or c) an account of the use language in certain institutions,
rituals, games, practices of a group of speakers, and so forth. The author refers to these theories of
meaning of level 1, of level 2, and of level 3, respectively, contending that a theory of level 2, i.e. a
theory of communication of thought, presupposes a theory of level 1 that would say what various
thoughts are; a theory of level 3 (speech acts) must almost always presuppose a theory of level 2. To
say it differently, Harman (1976) has distinguished three levels in the theory of meaning, correspond-
ing to the meaning of thoughts, the meaning of messages, and the meaning of speech acts (68-69).
Faced with the diversity of views on the definitions of meaning, Leech (1976) has proposed a direct
route to the explanation of meaning. Rather than resorting to contributions made by various disci-
plines involved in unraveling the puzzle of meaning, he claims the research worker would be better
off with a unified, independent theory of meaning. The author goes on arguing that “an independent
branch of science begins its search with questioning rather answering” (1976: 4). Any attempt, accor-
ding to Leech (1976), at theorizing meaning before determining the nature of meaning is doomed to
failure. Obviously, to begin the search with a particular definition will result in stereotyped answers
such as meaning is a mental concept, a behavioral response, a functional use of linguistic codes, etc.
The definition is the aftermath of exhaustive research; it follows an assumption and precedes a
finding. Reversing the order is like putting the cart before the horse.
The limitations of space preclude a detailed discussion of the views expressed by some scholars on
meaning such as Fodor (1977), Katz (1972), Elgin (1979), Leech (1976), McCawley (1976), Ogden
and Richards (1985), Quine (1953), Wittgenstein (1958), to mention only a few.
Further, bearing in mind the topic of the present paper, it would not warrant a close examination of
the views that bear little on translation. To provide a smooth transition from our discussion of
meaning to the domain of translation, the present writer would like to share his enjoyment with the
reader by calling his attention to the following examples which bear on the presumptive translator’s
worldview and English proficiency. These examples are given by McCawley (1976), who maintains
that the sentence meaning does not necessarily derive from the components of the sentence, rather
the arrangement of the components of the sentence and also punctuation marks lend the sentence a
meaning that raise the reader’s eyebrows. Those who agree with Leech in his idea regarding the con-
struction of an independent, unified theory of meaning argue that examples such as the following
will serve to wise up the researcher to certain snags lying on his way:
1. John isn’t rich, but he’s handsome.

2. John doesn’t beat his wife because he loves her.
3. This coat is warm.
4. a. The male and female employees …
b. The black and white umbrellas …
5. a. The butcher sliced the meat.
b. The waiter sliced the meat.
Explanatory notes:
The translator/reader may wonder why John isn’t rich carries the presupposition of John is rich. The
reader, having read the first sentence, expects the second sentence will have the form, but he’s poor.
Instead of the opposite adjective poor, the use of handsome lends (8) a meaning that is contrary to
the reader’s presupposition. Sentence (9) is ambiguous:
9. a. John doesn’t beat his wife because he loves her.

b. John beats his wife but not because he loves her.
Sentence (10) has two meanings:
10. a. The coat itself is warm.

b. The coat keeps one warm.
In sentence (11) both (a) and (b) have the same structure, yet only (b) is ambiguous:
11. a. All the umbrellas are black and white.

b. Some of the umbrellas are black, and some others are white.
Concerning (12), it is interesting to note that in (a) the meat is understood as raw, while in (b) the
same word, the meat, is cooked, the sense being derived from the reader’s experience coming from
the civilized world.
The way punctuation marks are used in the sentence also serves to change the meaning of the
sentence:
13. a. To hang, not possible to pardon.

b. To hang not possible, to pardon.
14. a. The teacher left his students, feeling very depressed.
b. The teacher left his students feeling very depressed.
15. a. The man painted the house red, which drove his wife crazy.
b. The man painted the house red which made his wife crazy.
16. a. I wouldn’t advise you to go there, for her sake.
b. I wouldn’t advise you to go there for her sake.
17. a. She went to the shop only to discover how expensive the dress was.
b. She went to the shop, only to discover how expensive the dress was.
The story goes that in (13) the first form (a) was a decree issued by the Russian tsar, meaning that the
convict must be hanged. The translator rescued the convict from being executed by changing the
position of the comma as in (b). In (14a) the students are very depressed; in (14b) it is the teacher
that is very depressed. In (15a) the action of the man made his wife very angry; in (15b) the red paint
made the wife very angry. The meanings in (16a) and (16b) are respectively: a) If you mind her feel-
ing, I recommend you not go there. b) Don’t go there in order to please her. In sentence (17a) the two
meanings are: a) She went to the shop because she needed this information. (17b) She went to the
shop (perhaps with the intention of buying the dress), but then she found that the dress was too ex-
pensive.
Without intending to exhaust the reader’s patience, I may give the following proverbial expressions
which, I think, remain beyond the depth of many a translator mainly because they carry some hidden
meaning imbued with cultural overtones of source speech community. Should the cultural underpin-
nings of the verbal expressions remain inaccessible, the translator will be in deep water:
18. The good is the enemy of the best.

19 The best is the enemy of the good.
20. The king can do no wrong.
21 The child is the father of the man.
22. The church is an anvil that has worn out many hammers.
23 Let the dead bury the dead.
24. Extremes meet.
25 The greater the truth, the greater the libel.
26. Every herring must hang by its own gill.
27 One nail drives out another.
The reader interested in finding out the implication of the above proverbial expressions are referred
to The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs.
3. Meaning within the sociocultural theory

In Vygotskian sociocultural theory (SCT), man’s cognition is studied within its social context; that is
to say, man’s way of looking at the world and his perception of it is determined by social factors,
notably by his ubiquitous use of tools and language. Lantolf and Thorne (2006) see communicative
activity commensurate with SCT and speak for the significance of socially constructed meaning over
the formalist position. Whilst within the Saussurian perspective, meaning resides in the signs them-
selves, in SCT meaning arises from interaction between interlocutors. To say it differently, meaning
is not situated in language per se, but in concrete human activities in the world of social interaction –
the notion which sensitizes our presumptive translator to fully understand the cultural aspects of
source text. In the early years of 20th century linguists, following in the footsteps of Bloomfield, had
sealed off language from all contacts with culture.
In ‘languaculture’ (Lantolf and Thorne, 2006), meaning is not regarded as of referential type, but of
conceptual type created by the speakers through their daily social activities. Committed to the belief
that language and culture are dialectically depended upon one another, some great thinkers in philo-
sophy, linguistics, sociocultural studies such as Boas, Malinowski, Sapir, Wittgenstein, Vygotsky,
Luria, and A.A. Leontiev, argue that language is embedded in the lives of those who speak it; lan-
guage is fundamentally cultural, mediated through language. The implication of a position as such in
translation studies is that the sentence stops short of conveying its linguistic meaning under the con-
straints of context. Hopper (1998) captures the notion very nicely where he argues that ‘grammar is
not a pre-existing close system of formal properties but emergent in dialogic activity’ (cited in
Lantolf and Thorne 2006: 9).
Notwithstanding the significance attached to communicative meaning in recent decades, I hasten to

say that linguistic meaning should not be given a short shrift, for the success in conveying context-
bound meaning is feasible under the aegis of linguistic meaning – the deviation in language behavior
is gauged against the established linguistic codes, i.e.the emergent grammar is recognized by virtue
of conventional grammar. To say it differently, rhetorical devices employed by the writer/speaker
will sound outlandish if linguistic codes are not fully mastered by the speaker of the same language.
Thus it is reasonable to claim that in determining textual meaning the question is not that of content
or form, referential or inferential meaning, reference or expression rules; rather, it is the appropriate
balancing/compromising the forces exerted by language knowledge and language behavior. The
translator needs to play attendance to the requirements of both centripetal as well as centrifugal
forces of language in his mission of conveying meaning from one language to another.
4. Translation classes
Before I avail myself of the English texts which we (my graduate students and I) have encountered in
the translation classes, and which have proved thorny problems for the Iranian translators in question
to render into Farsi (Persian language), I may briefly discuss the semantic feature of some conceptual
equivalents which rub shoulder closely with translation studies. More often than not the translator is
faced with the problem of finding appropriate equivalents when transmitting a notion from the source
text into the target text. Generally speaking, the more linguistic and cultural affinity is there between
ST (source text) and TT (target text), the less effort is needed to convey the same concept.
However, it may happen that two languages are too closely connected, and the translator may go
astray by the superficial similarities. Eugene Nida (1963) calls the misconception ‘false friends’ –
those borrowed or cognate words which seemingly are equivalent, but not always; for example, Eng-
lish demand and French demander; English ignore and Spanish ignorer; English virtue and Latin
virtus; English deacon and Greek diakonos (1963: 160). When the languages are related, e.g. Farsi
and English, but the relevant cultures are different, the translator is required to look for conceptual
equivalents in the process of translation, which may prove easy or difficult depending on the trans-
lator’s worldview and linguistic proficiency. The following examples may drive home my argument:
a) to put someone off the scent, b) to draw a red herring across the trail. These two expression have
almost the same meaning of deceiving someone, yet (a), connected to the translator’s personal ex-
perience, is easy to understand. Also the English proverb Make hay when the sun shines recalls to
mind the Persian proverb When the oven is hot, bake your bread. Similarly:
28. English: Haven protects children, sailors, and drunken men.

Persian: Haven protects the glass beside the stone.
29 English: It is too late to lock the stable after the horse is stolen.
Persian: Antidote comes after the death of Rostam.
30. English: Homer sometimes nods.
Persian: Alexander’s horse, too, sometimes stumble.
31 English: All roads lead to Rome.
Persian: There is many a road to Ka’beh.

32. English: Any port in a storm.
Persian: A worn out shoe is a blessing in a desert..
33 English: A bad workman always blames his tools.
Persian: The bride cannot dance, saying that the room is tilted.
34. English: The beggar sings before the thief.
Persian: Dervish is safe in the caravan.
The naked is not panicked by the robber.
35 English: Between two stools one falls to the ground.
Persian: One cannot hold two water melons in one hand.
36. English: A blind man may sometimes catch the hare.
Persian: It may happen that a young child hits the mark unwittingly.
37 English: Blue are the hills that are far away.
Persian: A distant drum sounds pleasant.
38. English: Burnt child dreads the fire.
Persian: The child bitten by the snake dreads a black piece of string.
39. English: Care killed the cat.
Persian: Suffering melts away the mountain.
Now it is time I addressed the topic of my paper and put it pointblank what I mean by the author’s
intentional meaning and the translator’s will-o’-the-wisp. The back story is that in a workshop class
for my graduate students majoring in translation in one of the universities here in my hometown,
Tabriz, Iran, teaching materials consisted of different Farsi versions of certain English novels and
stories. I, the instructor of the course, had collected these Farsi versions during the past years and the
students were required to peruse each of the Farsi version alongside the English co-text, discuss the
merits and demerits of each translator concerned in terms of the principles of translation which they
had learned in their undergraduate course, and submit reasons for their approval or disapproval of the
translated version. It is worth noting that I had provided the students with the Farsi versions before-
hand in order to forestall them improvising their response when engaged in the classroom discussion.
Amazingly, many an interesting viewpoint surfaced during the discussion, which usually escaped the
reader’s attention at the outset of the task. Below follows only two examples as the detailed discus-
sion of more examples would be outside the scope of this paper.
Example One:
“ … To five little stone lozenges, each about a foot and half long, which were arranged in a neat row
beside the grave, and were sacred to the memory of five brothers of mine – who gave up trying to get a
living exceedingly early in that universal struggle – I am indebted to a belief I religiously entertained
that they had all been born on their backs with their hands in their trousers-pockets, and had never
taken them out in this state of existence” (Charles Dickens: Great Expectations, Chapter 1, P. 1).
To make the English text read coherently, the reader may connect in his mind the prepositional
phrase To five little stone lozenges to the main clause I am indebted for a belief I religiously en-
tertained followed by the adjective clause that they had been born on their backs with their hands in
their trousers-pockets, and never taken them out in this state of existence. Back to the original text
given above, I may say that I have two Farsi versions of the English text, by two well-known Iranian
translators. For the sake of keeping the anonymity of the translators, I will name the Farsi texts as
‘version 1’ and version 2”. Both translators have made their names in translation in Iran, yet both
have missed the intentional meaning implied by the original author.
In version 1, the translator has rendered the above English text into Farsi in this way:
[Some lozenges …made it clear for me that they were five brothers and sisters who seemingly had not
lived long in this world and incidentally I knew as well that they have brought me up with religious
mores, and they had told all and sundry that they had come to this world with empty hands and there
had been no changes in their life patterns until their death.]
In version 2, we read
[Those little stone lozenges were truly reminiscent of my five brothers … who had made me stick to a
belief and the belief was they, i.e. my brothers had come to this world on their backs while having their
hands in the pockets of their trousers and had never taken their hands out of trousers-pockets in their
life.]
Well, the Farsi versions speak for themselves. I do not intend to discuss the translators’ misunder-
standing the author’s meaning and their penmanship in Farsi. Suffice it here to say that in order for
the translator to make sense of the above English text, he is expected to have at least some inking
about the dire circumstances under which the author had been brought up and the social conditions of
the era that had shaped Dickens’s mind and life. It would be unfair, I think, to throw the spotlight on
the English text alongside the Farsi versions without putting down my own way of understanding the
same English text. There are some blinking points in the text which serve to help me derive the au-
thor’s meaning. First, it is the undesirable social conditions of the author’s era. As such, the author
feels indebted to a religious belief and is thankful of God, who spared his five little brothers of the
agony of struggling through the miseries at their early ages by taking away their lives. His five little
brothers, being deprived of existence in their young ages, were lucky, the meaning which is
expressed metaphorically by being born on their backs and with their hands in their trousers-pockets.
In hindsight, I owe it to my worldview and native culture that have prompted me to make my
interpretation of the English text: A person who is reclining his back on a pillow, or has his hands in
his pockets carries an implicit meaning to the indication that he is well-provided and does not worry
as to how to earn his living. The crust of the argument is that the child is never born on its back with
his hands in trousers-pockets. The English expression, as I understand, has a metaphorical meaning;
namely, the five little brothers of the author were lucky enough to have died at their young ages and
the author yields to God’s act because of a religious belief he cherished.
Example Two:
One of the English texts that gave rise to a lot of discussion in my graduate translation class
was a satirical story entitled The Ransom of the Red Chief, by O. Henry.
Very briefly, the story is about a mischievous, red hair boy in a rural community, whose release by
the kidnappers would bring to the abductors a ransom of two thousand dollars. The kid was a boy of
ten with freckles and hair the color of the cover of the magazine you buy at the news-stand when you
want to catch a train (the italicized words are mine).
The translator is constantly advised that he should first make sure that he truly understand the source
text before embarking on converting it to the target text. Well, with regard to the itali-cized words in
the text, can our presumptive translator figure out what color the kid’s hair is? The text reads and
hair was of the cover of the magazine you buy at the news-stand when you want to catch a train. Here
a question crosses one’s mind: What color is the magazine on the news-stand at a railway station?
The translator coming from a different culture would be at a loss as to imagining the color of the
magazine in order to figure out the color of the boy’s hair. My students in the class came up with
various answers when tapped on their views on the color of the magazine and the color of the kid’s
hair: a) Children with freckles usually happen to have red hair; b) The covers of the magazines on the
news-stand at the railway station are usually brightly red colored presumably because to entice
people into buying them at the railway station; c) because the brightly colored magazine are always
kept on the counters of news-stand, they are generally weather bitten, faded, dirty, and dog-eared.
Unless the translator has the experience of living in the target speech community, of buying a
magazine or a newspaper at a news-stand at a railway station, his guessing the intended meaning of
the author will be a matter of hit or miss merely because in this case the meaning is culturally
mediated.
5. Epilogue
In the translation studies today conceptual meaning that mediates our thinking plays a crucial role in
our approach to interpretation of the source text. By no means do we imply that formal structures
should be given short shrift. In fact, we are living “in the age of the triumph of form” (Fauconnier
and Turner, 2002:3). However, meaning, for too long the overlooked component of formalist ap-
proach to language study, needs to be brought back to its proper place alongside form.
There is consensus among thinkers in stylistics, literary criticism, literature and other relevant
disciplines that content and form are inextricably intertwined, making up a unified whole in a way
that a change in form will entail a change in meaning and vice versa. Robertson (1967) has posited
the view that “The value of content [associated with thought] in abstraction from form is a reduction
of its total value because the content in abstraction from form is a reduction of the content. The value
of form [associated with feeling] in abstraction from content is even more tenuous” (1967:275). The
quote above underscores the gravity of the translator’ responsibility in the process of converting
source text to target text. The translator, being conversant with the cultural-historical bedrock of the
source text, should have an eye out for the subtleties of formal structures in order to tease out
complex conceptual meanings that, being hidden, may prove hard nuts for him to crack at first
reading. The translator’s knowledge of conceptual metaphor theory, lexical networks, linguistic rela-
tivism, ‘language embedded in the lives of those who speak it’ (Lantolf and Thorne, 2006:7),
meaning residing in the activity transpiring in the work site (Wittgenstein, cited in McGinn, 1997:
57), and utterances invoking constructive inferences in the process of translation will serve him as a
flashing light in threading his way amid a forest of linguistic signs making up the whole text. The
translator will be off the scent if he regards language as a matter of cracking the codes combined by
the rules of grammar; ironically, it may happen that a text implies a particular meaning merely by
violating the grammar rules as it most often happens in poetry. Meaning is forged as the writer of the
original text commits onto paper his ideas and images – an idea generates another idea, an utterance,
invoked by the preceding one, entails another utterance, the notion which is nicely captured by the
notion of ‘dialogism’, a concept generally associated with Mikhail Bakhtin (1981; 1986) and which,
I think, is conceptually equivalent with semantic coherence of the text. In a nutshell, for the translator
to be able to follow in the foot steps of the original writer in order to find out the latter’s intentional
meaning, he needs to be cognizant with the sociocultural indices of the text, be aware of the writer’s
motive, and be on his watch for overt linguistic meaning and covert communicative implicatures
affected by the arrangement of words and punctuation marks.
We began this paper with a quotation from Markova (1992:48); likewise, we would like to end it
with a quotation from Hopper (1998:156): “The grammar of theoretical linguistics is not the aprio-
ristic construct that necessarily underlies communicative performance, but is ‘a by-product’ of com-
munication, an ephiphenomenon; it is, in other words, the name for certain categories of observed
repetitions in discourse”. To say it simply, rules of language derive from rules of communicative per-
formance; the latter, being varied and complex, has always attracted great thinkers in linguistics,
philosophy, psychology, social sciences, cultural and translational studies.
References
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Azad University Press.
Elgin, Suzette H. (1979), What Is Linguistics? Englewood Cliffs, NJ.: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Fauconnier, G. and M. Turner (2002), The Way We Think. Conceptual Blending and the Mind’s Hidden
Complexities. New York: Basic Books.
Fodor, Janet D. (1977), Semantics: Theories of Meaning in Generative Grammar. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press.
Harman, G. (1976), ‘Three levels of meaning,’ in D. D. Steinberg and L. A. Jakobovits (eds.). Semantics.
Cambridge University Press.
Hopper, P. J. (1998), ‘Emergent grammar,’ in M. Tomasello (ed.). The New Psychology of Language, Cogni-
tive and Functional Approaches to Language Structure. Nehwah, NJ.: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Katz, J. J. (1972), Semantic Theory. New York: Harper and Row Publishers.
Lantolf, J. P. and S. L. Thorne (2006), Sociocultural Theory and the Genesis of Second Language Develop-
ment. Oxford University Press.
Leech, G. (1976), Semantics. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books.
Lyons, J. (1986), Language, Meaning, and Context. London: Fontana.
Markova, A. K. (1992), ‘On structure and diologocity in Prague semantics,’ in A. H. Wold (ed.). The Dialogic
Alternative. Toward a Theory of Language and Mind. Oslo: Scandinavian University Press.
McCawley, J. D. (1976), Grammar and Meaning. New York: Academic Press.
Nida, E. (1963), Toward a Science of Translating. Leiden, Netherlands: E. J. Brill.
Ogden, C. K. and I. A. Richards (1985), The Meaning of Meaning. London: Ark.
Quine, W. V. (1953), ‘The problem of meaning in linguistics,’ in From a Logical Point of View. Cambridge,
MA: MIT Press.
Rieber, R. W. and A. S. Carton (eds.) (1987), The Collected Works of L. S. Vygotsky, Volume 1. Problems of
General Psychology. Including the Volume Thinking and Speech. New York: Plenum Press.
Robertson, D. (1976), ‘The dichotomy of meaning,’ in College of Education, Vol. 28, No.4.
Steinberg, D. D. and L. A. Jakobovits (eds.) (1976), Semantics. Cambridge University Press.
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THE ART OF CONVEYING RELEVANCE

TO THE PORTUGUESE CHILD READER
Jane Duarte
Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa, Portugal
Abstract: The objective of this study is to share translator training experience and methodology
of an attempt to lead postgraduate Portuguese students of Translation Studies to a different
understanding of translation which tries not only to broaden their own personal definitions of
what the process of translation entails, but also to provide them with a greater sense of security
insofar as using their own subjectivity, personal insights and skopos towards translation is
concerned.
This was made possible by means of a Relevance-Theoretic Approach between existing Portu-
guese translations of popular English-speaking children’s texts, namely those which use nonsense
as a textual feature (texts by authors such as Lewis Carroll, Roald Dahl, Theodore Geisel “Dr.
Seuss”) and texts which have been translated by postgraduate Translation Studies students in
Portugal. This study will try to demonstrate how students have learned that translators can rely
not only on their creative capacities, but use the vast and existing number of translation theo-
ries, strategies and solutions to render the adequate effects on their audience according to the
specificities of the source text.
1. Introduction
One of the biggest challenges for translator trainers in any field of translation is that of getting
students to overcome what may be considered the “dictionary syndrome”. In other words, many
times students reveal an obsessive tendency to look up almost every other word of their texts in the
dictionary instead of resorting to their interpretative competence for conveying meaning. Given all
the progress that has been made in Translation Studies and translator training in the past decades, this
constitutes a remarkable phenomenon because in a simple ESL classroom the same students will be
able to analyse, interpret and infer from the same text.
The tendency in the Portuguese translation market is not much different: as translation theories de-
velop and provide innovative approaches to translation practice, we notice that in many of the exist-
ing translations of children’s literature, for example, there is a prevailing tendency for formal word
by word renderings of the source text and omission of all the other paralinguistic features of commu-
nication from the translation process.
The objective of this study is to share translator training experience and methodology of an attempt
to lead postgraduate Portuguese students of Translation Studies to a different understanding of trans-
lation which tries not only to broaden their own personal definitions of what the process of transla-
tion entails, but also to provide them with a greater sense of security insofar as using their own sub-
jectivity, personal insights and skopos towards translation is concerned.
This case study has been made possible for two reasons. Firstly, the study was conducted within the
scope of a Literary Translation Seminar, which not only allowed us to conduct different approaches
to translation theories and practices within children’s literature, for example, but also to deal with
texts which resort to nonsense, both as literary genre or a stylistic device used by the author.
A common impression towards the nonsense text is that it does not constitute a “valid” form of
communication nor convey a logic or serious message but instead, its only purpose is to entertain
readers with comical situations or playful language games. Within this scope, the challenge presented
to our translator trainees was that of looking beyond the chaotic or apparently illogical surface
meaning of the nonsense text and to discover and interpret the type of inferential communication es-
30 JANE DUARTE
tablished within the discursive adventure it provides for its readers. Three texts were selected for
their corpus: Lewis Carroll’s (1865), Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Road Dahl’s (1985) The
Giraffe and the Pelly and Me, and The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss (1957).
The methodology involved three distinct phases. Firstly, it consisted in presenting a theoretical-infe-
rential approach to translation and getting students to understand the underlying premises of Sperber
and Wilson’s (1986) Relevance Theory; secondly, students were asked to reflect upon and consider
that if the main objective of translation is to convey meaning from one source text, language and
culture to another, what translation strategies could possibly be used if the source text (the nonsense
text) resists semantic meaning? And thirdly, by means of a comparative analysis between source
texts and existing Portuguese translations, students were presented with examples that revealed how
resorting to the literal translations of these texts may sometimes represent an insufficient solution for
the relevance of the source text to be successfully conveyed.
2. A Relevance-Theoretic Approach to Translation

As an instance of human communication, translation cannot be confined to its definition as a cross-
linguistic and socio-cultural practice. The success and adequacy of a translation depend not only on
the relation of semantic equivalence established between source and target texts, but on its communi-
cability with the target reader:
“The translator is, of course, both a receiver and a producer. We would like to regard him or her as a
special category of communicator, one whose act of communication is conditioned by another, previous
act and whose reception of that previous act is intensive” (Hatim and Mason, 1997: 2).
Despite the many controversial reactions and debates which have arisen since Ernst Gutt first intro-
duced Relevance Theory into the realm of Translation Studies with the publication of his book,
Translation and relevance: cognition and context (1991), it is our contention that as theory of human
cognition and communication, Relevance provides the necessary theoretical background necessary to
demonstrate that “meaning” not only involves verbally encoded utterances but information that can
be inferentially enriched by speakers/readers. Thus, if the information provided by a translation does
not interact with their cognitive environments1, previously held knowledge or modify the target au-
dience’s knowledge in any way, it fails to yield any kind of cognitive effects on them and as a conse-
quence does not capture the relevance of the source text.
Within this scope, it was our intention to approach Relevance Theory not as a translation theory per
se, but instead to have future professional translators interpret its premises in order to use and take
better advantage of existing translation theories and methods for communicative effectiveness.
Sperber and Wilson’s (1986: 158) main contention in relation to the concept of “relevance” is that
human communication creates an expectation of optimal relevance: “Every act of ostensive commu-
nication communicates the presumption of its own relevance.” Hence, whenever a speaker or writer
1
According to Sperber and Wilson (1986: 39), “[a] cognitive environment of an individual is a set of facts that
are manifest to him.” In other words, it consists of concepts which derive from qualitative and quantitative
information we have about the vocabulary of our language in combination with all our stock of values, beliefs
and assumptions. This perspective is also shared by Frank Smith, who explains that individuals have their own
theory of the world which is the basis of all their perception and understanding of reality. According to Smith,
the individual has nothing else to resort to, for it is within this theory that all reasoning and creativity, hopes
and fears, and the root of all learning take place: “The sober discipline of logical reasoning and the most exu-
berant flights of creative imagination take place within its bounds.” (Smith 1997: 67).
manifests his or her intention of communicating, he or she implicitly conveys the assumption that the
utterances will be worth the hearer’s or reader’s attention and processing effort2.
Within translation studies this represents a series of obstacles. Firstly, there is the question of how to
assess the relevance of the information conveyed by the source text, namely the cognitive effects it
produces on its audience. Achieving contextual effects constitutes one of the main natural conditions
for information to be relevant:
“We want to argue that having contextual effects is a necessary condition for relevance, and that other
things being equal, the greater the contextual effects, the greater the relevance” (Sperber and Wilson,
1986: 119).
In this case, it is up to the translator to not only assess the cognitive effects produced in the source
text but also decide whether he or she should reproduce those same effects to his or her target
audience. This may be a formidable task for the translator. Besides the many linguistic obstacles
inherent to the translation process, there is the question of the mismatch between the cognitive
environments of source and target readers. For example, readers who are separated not only his-
torically but culturally will interpret things not only according to their social or ideological back-
grounds, but also in the light of personal experience which in turn, includes their specific frames of
references, beliefs and cognitive abilities. What may have been funny or a satire on the society of the
nineteenth century may not make sense to current day readers. What may have caused an impact or
shocked readers of one culture may be considered very bland or common to those of another.
These factors may require specific and individual translation solutions according to the functions
they hold within the text: “Whatever decisions the translator reaches is based on his intuitions or
beliefs about what is relevant to his audience” (Gutt, 2000: 118; author’s emphasis). As Gutt points
out, it must be assumed that translators never have direct or complete access to the cognitive en-
vironment of their audience. Instead, they are limited to making assumptions about how their
translations will affect their public, without ever having the certainty that these reactions will be
positive or not.
Time-specific and cultural factors are not the only obstacles for the translator when assessing the
relevance of a text. One must consider that the same text may represent different inferential chal-
lenges for each reader or as Relevance Theory points out, the balance between effort and effect does
not only differ from one individual to another, but may present different degrees of effort or effect
for the same individual at different times of their lives:
“Changes in alertness may well alter one’s willingness to incur a certain processing effort: at some
times the hope of achieving a given level of contextual effect will suffice, at others, not. Then, some
people are generally alert, and everything that is relevant at all will be more relevant for them than for
duller people” (Sperber and Wilson, 1986: 131).
As the comparative analysis in this study will demonstrate further on, this question of the different
levels of effort and effect is many times overlooked by Portuguese translators of children’s literature.
There is a constant tendency for simplifying texts for the child reader in cases, for example, where
the ST may present a challenge in terms of inferring the meaning of puns or more difficult wordplay.
2
Sperber and Wilson refer to communication which is achieved by producing and interpreting ostensive evi-
dence from the speaker thus differing from the code model of communication based solely on the interpreta-
tion of linguistically encoded utterances. According to the authors, any act of ostension is a manifestation of
the speaker’s intentions and it is only by identifying the latter that the audience is capable of discovering the
basic information that the speaker intended to make manifest.
32 JANE DUARTE
Portuguese child readers are presented with passages that are cognitively less challenging and,
consequently, less gratifying or pleasurable.
Finally, another question that must be considered is the translator’s role as a reader and commu-
nicator. The interpretation or processing of information is always dependent of an individual’s cog-
nitive environment which means that, on the one hand, translations reflect the translator’s own cogni-
tive, cultural experience, and understanding of the text while on the other hand, the adequacy of the
translated text is always dependent on the translator’s ability to maintain the range of possible
responses and/or underlying ambiguities of the source text:
“It seems preferable to handle the issue in terms of equivalence of intended effects, thus linking
judgements about what the translator seeks to achieve to judgements about the intended meaning of the
ST speaker/writer. In other words, we need to consider the issue in terms of the degree of motivation of
particular strategies in both ST and TT” (Hatim and Mason, 1990: 8; authors’ emphasis).
This task necessarily implies understanding the nature of the source text.
3. Nonsense: a unique form of communication

The first approach to the three texts pertaining to our corpus was to have translators experience the
nonsense text as any common reader would. They were asked to read the text without any previous
guidelines or criteria and simply reflect upon their overall impressions of the texts.
The students were then asked to proceed with a more critical reflection upon what aspects of the text
are used to convey meaning or cause an impact/cognitive effects on the child-reader. This decon-
struction of the meaning of the text included writing down reactions in notebooks and then sharing
and comparing notes with each other.The majority were able to identify characteristics of the three
texts which correspond to the existing theories3 of what features make up the nonsense genre.
One of the first impressions indicated by the students was the way the child reader is introduced to
the story. Rather than opening with the with the conventional stock phrase, “Once upon a time”, the
nonsense text chooses not to establish a definite boundary between the fantasy world and reality but
instead combine and present juxtaposed realities. Alice is sitting quietly under a tree by the river
bank when she spots a rabbit running across the field and chooses to follow it down the rabbit hole
into the topsy-turvy reality of wonderland. The Cat in the Hat opens with two children sitting at the
window on a rainy day when the silence of their home is abruptly corrupted by the Cat in the Hat’s
entrance and turns their reality into a gigantic playground where disorder and chaos reigns. In The
Giraffe and the Pelly and Me, Billy is staring into the window of an abandoned candy shop when fur-
niture and household appliances start falling down on him from the building.
As children proceed with reading or listening to the narrative they become fully immersed (even if
they do not realize it consciously) into a make-believe fantasy realm which defies them to leave
behind all usual mechanisms of reading and interpreting utterances and resort to their cognitive
abilities and inferential abilities4:
3
For further information on the analysis of features which characterize the nonsense genre see studies by Wim
Tigges (1987), Explorations in the Field of Nonsense, Amsterdam: Rodopi and Susan Stewart (1972), Non-
sense: Aspects of Intertextuality in Folklore and Literature, London: The Johns Hopkins Press.
4
Within the scope of their Theory of Relevance, Sperber and Wilson (1986: 174) explain that all linguistical-
ly-encoded semantic representations are not limited to one meaning alone but are, instead, abstract mental
structures which should be inferentially enriched before they can be taken to represent anything of interest.
Sperber and Wilson further develop this idea by defending that “[i]nterpreting an utterance involves more than
“Its (nonsense) most essential characteristic is that it presents an unresolved tension, which in my
definition I refer to as a balance between presence and absence of meaning” (Tigges 1988: 51).
Not only are there “unsolved tensions” within these texts but the plots themselves have no moral or
explicit message, characters are unstable and do not develop throughout the play and repetitive
actions exist merely for their own sake. The child senses that he or she cannot infer meaning from
these texts as he/she would from other texts and it is this new way of assessing meaning which many
times causes this sense of discomfort, uneasiness towards the text. For others, the feeling may be of
greater excitement and pleasure as they try to discover what may come next:
“In nonsense literature, the required tension between meaning and non-meaning can be held unresolved
by the arbitrariness of closure as well as by the frequently episodic nature of the text…” (Tigges 1988:
59).
What is many time overlooked or sometimes even ignored by translators are the effects that such
stylistic devices have on the reader’s and the audience’s cognitive environments. Instead, translations
many times reveal overt attempts to restore conventional aspects of children’s literature to the non-
sense text.
4. Language and Communication

The nonsense writer’s perspective of language seems to simultaneously rest on opposing reactions
towards language use: the formal and the communicative. On the one hand, meaning conveyed by
language is perceived as being the result of a set of conditions (social, historical, physiological) that
ensure that a word uttered in a specific time and place will have a different meaning from that it
would have under any other conditions. On the other hand, by foregrounding the purely linguistic na-
ture of language by means of the play on words, repetition and manipulation of referential meaning,
the nonsense writer emphasizes the communicative and inferential nature of language. In other
words, the meaning derived from the nonsense text is not a direct result of language’s purely formal
or informative functions, but of the various effects which are produced by means of the readers’
recognition of the stimuli provided. Thus, we may conclude that it is within these two aspects of lan-
guage, the formal and the communicative, that nonsense is created.
5. Comparative analysis of source texts and their translations into Portuguese

The final phase of our case study consisted of conducting a comparative analysis between the three
source texts and their translations into Portuguese. Three stylistic techniques found in all three texts
were used to demonstrate the cognitive effects produced in the source text and analyse their
interpretative equivalence in the translated versions. (1.1) the simultaneity of excessive referents,
(1.2) the simultaneity of incongruent referents and contexts (1.3) and the poetic effects of language.
5.1 Simultaneity of excessive referents

After her fall down the rabbit hole one of Alice’s first challenges is that of drinking from a bottle
marked “drink me”. Although her attitudes may be very assertive and determined, the same cannot
be said about her interpretation or definition regarding the flavour of what she drank:
“It had, in fact, a sort of mixed flavour of cherry-tart, custard, pine-apple, roast turkey, toffy and hot
buttered toast.” (Carroll, 1970: 31)
“…efectivamente, sabia um bocado a uma mistura de tarte de cerejas, leite creme, ananás, peru assado,
caramelo, e torradinhas quentes com manteiga.” (Vale de Gato, 2000: 15).
mere identifying the assumption explicitly expressed: it crucially involves working out the consequences of
adding this assumption to a set of assumptions that have themselves already been processed” (1986: 118).
34 JANE DUARTE
The words used in the source text passage are simple, concrete nouns which are easily identified and
interpreted by the youngest of readers. However, what makes this passage unique is that although the
utterance conforms to all the grammatical rules of the English language, the different referents de-
rived from the list of nouns lead readers to question how one object alone is the result of such a ple-
thora of combined flavours namely, “cherry pie”, “roast turkey” and “custard”. In this example, and
contrary to what is normally expected of the referential nature of language, the more words that are
used to describe the contents of the bottle, the less information is conveyed:
“In nonsense, a multiplicity of meaning is first created and then reduced to no meaning.” (Sewell, 1952:
25).
In the translated version of the passage, the translator recreates the same confusion for Portuguese
readers by confronting them with the same excessive amount of co-existing nouns. For the target au-
dience, attributing meaning to the utterance seems as nonsensical as it is for English readers:
“Nonsense can do only one thing: select and organize its words in such a way as to inhibit as far as
possible the dreaming mind’s tendency towards the multiplication of relations” (Stewart, 1978: 98).
Basically, it is the combination of the meanings conveyed and the incongruent sensations they trigger
in readers’ cognitive environments that turns the process of interpretation into a different experience.
From a relevance-theoretic perspective, Carroll’s text makes it impossible for readers to resort to the
natural cognitive tendency of referring back to their encyclopaedic knowledge and lexicons by confi-
ning them to the purely linguistic context of the passage.
Another example in which the excessive amount of words placed within utterances is so intense, that
the process of communication loses its linear and conventional is found in Roald Dahl’s text:
“The sweet-shop of my dreams could be loaded from top to bottom with sherbet suckers and caramel
fudge and Russian toffee and sugar snorters and butter gumballs and thousands and thousands of other
glorious things like that” (Dahl, 1985: 2).
Apart from the caramel fudge and butter gumballs, it is quite possible that contemporary English
readers or children to whom the books are read may not be able to identify or what the names of the
candies they read or hear are referred to. Yet this does not mean that the passage does not yield any
contextual effects on them. They may enjoy listening to the combination of sounds or the cognitive
challenge of trying to imagine what kind of marvellous candy is actually being depicted. There is a
defined boundary between the pleasure children may feel towards the sounds of language and adults’
reactions to the rhythm or rhyme of words:
“The child puts words together without regard to the condition that they should make sense in order to
obtain from them the pleasurable effect of rhythm or rhyme. Little by little he is forbidden this
enjoyment, till all that remains permitted to him are significant combinations of words” (Freud, 1994:
174).
The Portuguese translator on the other hand, has overlooked this communicative aspect of language
and takes greater concern in trying to make the semantic content as accessible as possible to his
reader:
“A loja de doces dos meus sonhos estaria replete de chupa-chupas de morangos, caramelos, chocolates
de leite, gomas e bolas de berlim e milhares e milhares de outras coisas” (Ferrer, 2007: 10)
“The candy shop of my dreams would be filled with strawberry flavoured lolly-pops, caramels, milk
chocolates, gummy bears and thousands and thousands of other glorious things like that” (Our
translation).
Contrary to his English counterpart, the reading and/or interpretation of the text is made in a linear
and simple manner and does not puzzle the Portuguese child readers considering that they can easily
associate an image or even a flavor to the words they read or hear.
Students agree that although the translation of this passage achieves semantic equivalence in relation
to the source text, communicative equivalence has not been rendered. On the one hand, the translator
does not recreate the similar cognitive struggle for his/her audience of having to interpret the sensa-
tions that the many flavours bring to mind. While English child readers become engaged in an unin-
terrupted sequence of ideas which pick up their own rhythm and velocity, they must also try to make
sense of words that are not normally collocated in the same sequence of ideas. Not only has the Por-
tuguese child-reader been left out of this game, the source text’s intention of contesting readers’ con-
ventional use of language has also been omitted in the Portuguese text.
5.2 Simultaneity of incongruent referents and contexts

The previous section demonstrates how the excessive amount of co-existing referents gives rise to a
referential void within an utterance. The reader’s ability of establishing a linear relation between the
signifiers and signifieds of words is never jeopardized despite the apparent nonsensical nature of the
passage. There are however, examples in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland in which readers lose this
freedom namely when two unrelated meanings are suddenly and unexpectedly brought together in a
single word, giving origin to the linguistic phenomenon known as the pun.
From a relevance-theoretic approach to language, the pun may be viewed as a special means of
communication. The relation between signifier and signified is taken to extremes and signifiers and
readers are confronted with information that is based on imposed:
“The pun is product of a context deliberately constructed to enforce an ambiguity to render impossible
the choices between meanings, to leave the reader or hearer endlessly oscillating in semantic space”
(Culler, 1988: 141).
In Carroll’s text, the pun creates this “semantic space” by having a single word refer to different
concepts that are categorised in different “compartments” of readers’ encyclopaedic knowledge or
lexicons:
“Mine is a long and sad tale” said the mouse.

“It is a long tail, certainly,” said Alice, looking down with wonder at the Mouse’s tail; but why do you
call it sad?” (Carroll, 1970: 50)
“É uma história comprida e tortuosa, como a minha cauda! – disse o Rato…

Bem, lá comprida é ela – concordou Alice, olhando muito admirada para a cauda do Rato, – mas porque
é que lhe chamas tortuosa?” (Vale de Gato, 2000: 33)
In this example, based on the homophony of the words tale/tail in English, may create a humorous
effect for its readers but it places Alice in a difficult situation. As the utterance has been orally trans-
mitted to Alice, she interprets the word “tale” as “tail” referring to “the rear end of the mouse’s
body” and not to the “brief story” he was about to tell her.
Unlike Alice, English readers have access to the written version of the words as they appear in the
characters’ dialogues. Readers are placed in a position of superiority in relation to Alice because they
are aware of the clear mismatch between the meanings derived from the two words. As a conse-
36 JANE DUARTE
quence, the source text pun leaves Alice momentarily at the crossroads of indecision, “puzzling”
between the two possible interpretations of “tail” and/or “tale”. The translated version, on the other
hand, provides a shift in the type of pun being used by breaking up the homophonic ambiguity by
placing the two referents “story” and “tail” in the form of a comparative structure, “É uma história
comprida e tortuosa, como a minha cauda.” (It is a long and tortuous story like my tail)5. The Por-
tuguese translator reveals an attempt to compensate for the loss of wordplay by adding the word “tor-
tuosa” into the passage. The word is introduced into the target text as a pun, used to either refer to a
“anguishing” story or to a “crooked” tail. Consequently, and similarly to what happens in the source
text, Alice is left to decide between possible interpretations.
Despite the communicative equivalence obtained by the new pun, the Portuguese readers’ position
has been weakened in relation to the effects of the original wordplay:
“The pun makes us backtrack. Some most probably feel a mixture of annoyance at having to retrace
their mental steps and, if the point is taken, pride in their own astuteness, trains of thought benefit from
being rerouted” (Redfern, 1984: 27).
In this sense, the effects provoked by the Portuguese pun based on the meanings of the word “tortu-
ousa” differ from the source pun based on the homophony of “tail/tale”. This difference results from
the fact that when Portuguese readers try to retrace and infer the possibilities of interpretation for the
pun, the accessibility of the contexts provided is different.
In Roald Dahl’s story the use of homophony is used exactly in a similar way:
“On the top shop-window itself somebody has painted in white words FOR SAIL. One morning I
noticed that FOR SAIL had been scraped off the shop-window and in its place somebody had painted
SOLED” (Dahl, 1985: 1).
Again, the source text reader will immediately recognise the misuse of the word SAIL instead of
SALE. The effect of the wordplay is threefold: firstly, the child will identify its awkwardness and in-
correctness in the given context which will then lead him/her to identify and bring the correct word
into the same context. The final stage consists of the child finding amusement and pleasure not only
in the wordplay itself but in recognising that he/she was able to identify the mistake.
In the Portuguese translation, equivalence of effect is not achieved:
“Na montra alguém pintou com tinta branca as palavras VENDE-SE. Uma manhã reparei que VENDE-
SE tinha sido raspado da montra e, no seu lugar, alguém pintara VENDEU-SE” (Ferrer, 2007: 9).
The translator chooses to present his reader with the common verb used on FOR SALE signs. The
transgression is presented only in the second word “Vendeu-se” is “VENDIDO”. The effect of the
transgression found in the source text is completely omitted.
5.3 Poetic Properties

Sperber and Wilson define poetic effects as being a peculiar effect of an utterance that achieves most
of its relevance through a wide array of weak implicatures:
“They do not add entirely new assumptions which are strongly manifest in this environment. Instead,
they marginally increase the manifestness of a great many weakly manifest assumptions” (Sperber and
Wilson, 1986: 224).
5
Our translation in text.
Instead of achieving relevance by means of their propositional form or the factual information they
convey, the effects of these utterances are based on the sensations or reactions they provoke on their
audience.
From a relevance-theoretic approach, texts which play upon sounds and rhythms of words may be
considered as a form of communication comprised of multifarious layers of meaning that are un-
veiled or deconstructed according to the inferential abilities of the reader.
At the surface level of language, children enjoy the excessive referents placed within utterances, the
play upon the semantic properties of words, and the repetition of the sounds of words. Basically, they
take pleasure in the playful exercise of language and in the easy association of words or melody cre-
ated by sounds rather than content. They will then identify the chaotic or illogical situation deriving
from what the text depicts and also find it amusing:
“Look at me!
Look at me!”
Look at me NOW!
It is fun to have fun
But you have to know how” (Seuss, 1985: 16).
Like all forms of poetry, The Cat in the Hat does not have its full impact unless it is read aloud. The
subtle differences in end punctuation help to establish the overall tone, rhythm and meter of the text
which goes up and down in a song-like fashion, conveying a whimsical mood and continual variation
and parallels the playful, capricious nature of the tale.
Almost every word is only a single syllable, and many short phrases such as “do not” and “should
not” which could have been contractions appear dozens of times throughout the story, giving it a
more insistent tone and a straightforward, rapid-fire beat. Another unusual use of punctuation is the
frequent capitalization of an entire word, which places greater stress on that word and sometimes
alters the established pattern of the poetic feet.
Olhem para mim! Look at me

Olhem que engraçado! Look how funny
Exclamou o gato, Exclaimed the cat
Todo entusiasmado (Terra, 2004: 20) All excitedly. (Our translation).
The Portuguese translation of The Cat in the Hat reveals that the translator had only one main ob-
jective in mind: choosing form over content. Due to natural innate linguistic differences between the
English and Portuguese languages, maintaining Dr. Seuss unique meter and rhythm would be a
formidable task and however the translator opts for a very safe ABAB rhyme scheme in which se-
mantic referents are many times sacrificed.
After having studied nonsense stylistic feature and trying to understand how all devices come to-
gether to provide a specific effect on the readers, our students become more confident and willing to
come out of their comfort zones by exploring the potentialities of language at both and phonetic and
semantic level. The following is an example of a different solution to Dr. Seuss’s text:
Olhem p`ra mim! Look at me!

Olhem p`ra mim! Look at me!
RAPARIGA E RAPAZ! Girl and Boy
brincar a brincar é giro Playing as you Play is fun
Têm é de saber como se faz. You just need to know how. (Our translation)
38 JANE DUARTE
Substituting the 3 verse alone and adding “Girl and Boy” not only maintains rhyme and speed of the
original but is able to establish the balance between form and content while achieving the same cog-
nitive effects on the reader.
6. The strive for relevance

This case study has tried to demonstrate that relevance is always context-dependent and unless the
message yields the adequate contextual effects in the cognitive environments of the target language
audience, it cannot be communicated.
At the end of the literary translation seminar, students commented on how they came to a better
understanding of how the success and adequacy of a translation does not depend on adopting only
one theory of translation or establishing one type of relation of equivalence with the source text, but
on the careful negotiation between the different use of translation methods according to the language
functions and stylistic features that are found in the source text. The strategies and solutions that aim
at a successful translation are not only the result of the translator’s his or her about readers’ expecta-
tions towards the source text alone, but also include his/her perception of what a translation should
communicate to the audience.
In terms of performance, the translations produced by these students revealed considerable differ-
ences from the texts submitted at the beginning of the semester. These translations no longer re-
vealed direct interference from the Portuguese language nor any awkward word by word renderings
which compromised the fluency of the text. Instead, many solutions gave a different touch and colour
to texts, revealing translators who weren’t afraid of giving a bit of themselves to their translations.
Translation filters everyone’s understanding of the world. It is a result of how we communicate, how
we use language, and of our insights and beliefs. Translators inevitably leave traces of their world in
the translation process and this is what makes conveying relevance to the reader possible.
References
Carroll, L. (1970), The Annotated Alice: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass.
Ed. Martin Gardner. London: Penguin.
Carroll, L. (2000), Alice no País das Maravilhas e Alice do Outro Lado do Espelho. Transl. Margarida Vale
de Gato. Lisboa: Edições Relógio d’Água.
Dahl, R. (1985), The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me. London: Penguin.
Dahl, R. (1985), A Girafa, O Pelicano e Eu. Transl. Catarina Ferrer. Lisboa, Asa Editores, S.A.
Freud, S. (1994), Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious. Transl. James Strachey. London and Toronto:
Penguin Books.
Gutt, E-A.. (2000), Translation and Relevance: Cognition and Context. Oxford: Blackwell.
Mason, I. and B. Hatim (1997), The Translator as Communicator. London, New York: Routledge.
Redfern, W. (1984), Puns. Oxford: Blackwel1.
Sewell, E. (1952), The Field of Nonsense. London: Chatto and Windus.
Sperber, D. and D. Wilson (1986), Relevance and Communication. London: Blackwell Publishers.
Stewart, S. (1972), Nonsense: Aspects of Intertextuality in Folklore and Literature. London: The Johns
Hopkins Press.
Tigges, W. (1988), An Anatomy of Literary Nonsense. Amsterdam: Rodopi.
‘WORD-FOR-WORD’ OR ‘SENSE-FOR-SENSE’ TRANSLATION:

RUMINATING THE AGE-LONG POLEMICS
Mohammed Farghal
Kuwait University
Abstract:The age-long discussion of the nature of translation activity has been mainly dwelling
since the Roman times of Cicero and Horace on whether the translator should opt for ‘word-
for-word’ or ‘sense-for-sense’ translation. A close look at this dichotomy indicates that the two
methods of translation derive from different disciplines.
On the one hand, the word-for-word approach has its roots in linguistics and philosophy, name-
ly in structural and semantic correspondences, where one-to-one correspondence among the
items in the structural and semantic systems of any pair of languages is assumed to play a key
role in translation activity.
On the other hand, the sense-for-sense approach frees itself from linguistic constraints involving
form and denotation in favor of a more functional perspective that has its roots in sociology and
psychology (mainly viewing language as psycho-social behavior).
It is argued in this paper that recent translation dichotomies including formal vs. dynamic equi-
valence, formal vs. textual equivalence, overt vs. covert translation, semantic vs. communicative
translation, direct vs. indirect translation, foreignization vs. domestication and s-mode vs. i-mode
translation are mere ramifications of the classical polemics.
1. Background
Translation activity is an age-long activity which is necessitated by the fact that groups belonging to
different language communities have been coming into contact with one another for social, econo-
mic, cultural and political reasons, among others, since the dawn of human history. Subsequently, as
man managed to establish literate civilizations and as contact between various cultures became ine-
vitable, learned men started thinking about the nature of translation activity in an attempt to evaluate
and improve the products resulting from such activity. There is ample evidence that early scholars of
the Romans (Cicero, 46 BC and Horace, 20 BC) and later scholars of the ancient Chinese and Arab
cultures seriously contemplated the work of translators and their products (for more details, see
Munday, 2001) and, consequently, realized the ever-existing tug-of-war between form and content
or, alternatively, what St Jerome early on (395 AD) called ‘word-for-word’ or ‘sense-for-sense’. This
dichotomy was most eloquently expressed in the words of the German scholar Friedrich Schleier-
macher (1813) when he saw translation activity as a matter of either bringing the reader close to the
writer or, conversely, bringing the writer close to the reader.
It is interesting to note that the early translation thinkers resolved the conflict between form and con-
tent by siding with one or the other, thus promoting the ‘sense-for-sense’ method of translation (e.g.
St Jerome, who was an adamant supporter of this method) and, simultaneously, condemning the
other method, or, alternatively, proclaiming the ‘word-for-word’ method (e.g. Schleiermacher) while
dismissing the other method as inadequate. In both cases, the focus was on the translation of
scholarly, authoritative works such as literature and the Bible. Each orientation was rooted in a
rational justification: the ‘word-for-word’ sought to capture the form of the original by introducing a
SL foreign pattern of discoursing and thinking while the ‘sense-for-sense’ sought to capture the
function of the original by devising a TL domestic pattern of discoursing and thinking.
A close examination of the ‘word-for-word’ and the ‘sense-for-sense’ indicates that they have dif-
ferent roots. The first is rooted in the assumption that languages involve structural and semantic cor-
respondences and are capable of grammaticalizing meaning interlingually. In this way, a proposition
in one language can be expressed in another language by embracing the phraseology in the original
in terms of structure and denotation. Linguistics and philosophy, therefore, constitute the foundation
stone of this approach. The second, by contrast, frees itself from linguistic constraints by opting for a
40 MOHAMMED FARGHAL
more functional understanding of interlingual communication that has its roots in sociology and psy-
chology and, consequently, views language as pscho-social behavior. Thus, a proposition in one lan-
guage can be expressed in another language while departing in drastic ways from the formal proper-
ties (e.g. structural and lexical features) of the phraseology in the original. It is the message (i.e. the
sense) rather than the form (i.e. the word) that matters in translation.
With the rise of Translation Studies as a popular discipline of enquiry in the twentieth century and
the tremendous expansion of its scope to cover all types of discourse including the fields of tech-
nology, media, culture, business, etc., the world has been transformed into a small global village in
terms of information flow and communication. The reasons for translating are no longer restricted to
rendering masterpieces of literature (e.g. the translation of Greek literature into Latin in the Roman
times) or translating epistemological works (e.g. the translation of Greek works into Arabic during
the Abbasid period (750-1250)). The proliferation of translation materials has necessitated a reconsi-
deration of the ‘word-for-word’ or ‘sense-for-sense’ dichotomy, so the relationship between them
becomes a matter of complementation rather than that of opposition. In this way, a division of labor
is created which would allow us to draw important generalizations along the lines that information-
oriented texts mainly demand ‘sense-for-sense’ translation whereas expression-oriented ones in the
main require ‘word-for-word’ translation. As a result, text types have emerged as an important
variable in translation activity. Similarly, the purpose of the translation, whether commissioned or
translator-initiated, has become a determining factor in choosing between ‘word-for-word’ and
‘sense-for-sense’ translation. However, in actual translation practice the existence of pure forms of
these two options is practically impossible because a translator may have recourse to, for example,
‘word-for-word’ while adopting ‘sense-for-sense’ as a global strategy. To put it differently, the
adoption of one translation method in the dichotomy rather than the other is basically a matter of
dominance rather than exclusion.
2. Critical Account of Translation Dichotomies

If we have a scrutinizing look at the work of main contemporary authors in Translation Studies
(Nida, 1964; Catford, 1965; House, 1977; Newmark, 1981; Gutt, 1991 and Venuti, 1995, among
others) and the buzz terms standing for the main contributions they are remembered/cited for, it will
not be too difficult to come to the conclusion that their theoretical dichotomies (e.g. formal vs. dyna-
mic equivalence or foreignization vs. domestication) are terminological reformulations of the classi-
cal polemics, ‘word-for-word’ or ‘sense-for-sense’ translation. The present paper aims to show that
terminological tricks, albeit intriguing and innovative, are not supposed to blur the raw facts of any
researched state of affairs. I will examine these recent translation orientations to see whether they
offer anything beyond the qualified legitimization of both ‘word-for-word’ and ‘sense-for-sense’ in
today’s translation practice.
To get started, let us quote Newmark (1981: 39) in his distinction between communicative and se-
mantic translation:
“Communicative translation attempts to produce on its readers an effect as close as possible to that
obtained on the readers of the original. Semantic translation attempts to render, as closely as the
semantic and syntactic structures of the second language allow, the exact contextual meaning of the
original”.
Therefore, while communicative translation is reader-oriented, semantic translation is text- and/ or

author-oriented. Both, however, adhere to the linguistic constraints within the target language. The
former translates at the readership’s level, whereas the latter translates at the text’s and/or author’s
level.
If we go back to earlier attempts made by Nida (1964) and Catford (1965) at establishing the concept
of translation equivalence, we’ll find out that they put forward similar ideas, albeit they employed
different terminologies. Influenced by Chomsky’s theory of transformational grammar, Nida sug-
gests working first with underlying propositions in kernel sentences rather than surface structures in
order to capture dynamic equivalence, which aims at producing what he calls equivalent effect princi-
ple, i.e. the translation should produce on its readers the same effects that the original produced on its
readers. This equivalent effect would be largely missed if formal equivalence is given priority in
translation. For Nida, naturalness of expression and equivalent response of a translation should go
hand in hand with conveying the spirit and manner of the original as basic requirements for produ-
cing a successful translation. One should note that the first two requirements are reader-oriented
whereas the third requirement is text-/author-oriented. In this way, they practically reflect New-
mark’s dichotomy (communicative vs. semantic translation) launched 17 years later (1981).
Roughly at the same time, Catford (1965) develops a linguistically-informed approach to translation.
Based on the linguistic aspect of Hallidayan functional linguistics, Catford’s approach draws a key
distinction between formal and textual equivalence. He (1965: 20) defines translation as “the
replacement of textual material in one language by equivalent textual material in another language”.
If we examine closely what he means by textual equivalence, one can easily conclude that it ranges
dynamically between linguistic and contextual features, i.e. between semantic and communicative
translation, in Newmark’s terminology.
Ten years later, House (1977), more influenced by the functional aspect of the Hallidayan approach,
draws a distinction between overt and covert translation. While an overt translation can be readily la-
beled a translation, a covert translation may escape this label. According to House, this distinction is
genre-driven, that is, the translation of some genres, e.g. tourist brochures, may produce covert trans-
lations, while some, e.g. literature, may yield overt translations. Clearly, the tug-of-war remains be-
tween linguistic and contextual features, thus pointing to the forthcoming dichotomy by Newmark,
who himself views House’s distinction in terms of his semantic vs. communicative translation (1981:
52).
A decade later than Newmark, Gutt (1991) views translation in terms of interpretive resemblance.
Influenced by the insights of Sperber and Wilson’s relevance theory (1986), Gutt distinguishes
between direct translation and indirect translation. While direct translation follows the contextual
constraints of the SL text, indirect translation has recourse to the contextual constraints associated
with the emerging TL text. In other words, and apart from technical jargon, Gutt reechoes the text-
/author-oriented vs. the reader-oriented dichotomy in translation activity. This resemblance is made
more explicit by Almazan Garcia’s (2002) interpretation of Gutt’s dichotomy in terms of s-mode
(stimulus-oriented mode), focusing on ‘what was said’ and i-mode (interpretation-oriented mode),
focusing on ‘what was meant’. Thus, indirect translation falls under i-mode (and may, in its extreme
cases, e.g. House’s covert translations, fall outside the domain of translation proper), while direct
translation combines s-mode and i-mode in a unique way. If indirect translation (covert translation)
is not translation proper for lack of interpretive resemblance, then we are back to the same dichotomy
(s-mode- vs. i-mode-oriented translation) within direct translation itself, which so strikingly reflects
the age-long ‘word-for-word’ vs. the ‘sense-for-sense’ translation. That is, the word can be equated
with the stimulus, while the sense can be equated with the interpretation.
Finally, let us examine Venuti’s (1995) distinction between foreignization and domestication. Apart
from power relations between the translating and the translated parties involving cultural, economic
and political factors which Venuti expounds clearly, his dichotomy closely mirrors its predecessors
in terms of actual translation activity. To foreignize is to maintain a socio-cultural gap between
reader and translation, while to domesticate is to bridge this gap. Therefore, we are back to the text-
/author-oriented vs. reader-oriented dichotomy which was contemplated by ancient scholars and re-
42 MOHAMMED FARGHAL
echoed in almost every academic endeavor in present-day Translation Studies. The diagram below
summarizes the highlights of the on-going rumination of the classical ‘Word-for-word’ or “Sense-
for-Sense’ translation discussed above.
‘Word-for-Word’ or ‘Sense-for-Sense’ Translation

(Cicero, 46 BC and Horace, 20 BC /
St Jerome, 395 AD / Schleiermacher, 1813)
Formal vs. Dynamic Equiva-

lence
Formal vs. Textual Equivalence

(Catford 1965)
Overt vs. Covert Translation

(House 1977)
Semantic vs. Communicative Transla-

tion
Direct vs. Indirect Translation

(Gutt 1991)
Foreignization vs. Domestica-

tion
s-mode vs. i-mode Translation

(AlMazan 2001)
Now, let us consider the following example taken from an excerpt translation of a passage from
Abdo Khal’s Poker Award (2009) finalist novel tarmii bi-šarar (Spewing Sparks as Big as Castles)
translated by Anthony Calderbank (Al-Jamal Publications, Baghdad/Beirut, 2009):
“It is said that he (the narrator’s grandfather) desired her (the narrator’s grandmother) constantly but in
order to treat each of his wives equally he had to pay them all a visit in order to end up with my
grandmother, Sanniya. So after he had passed through the first three doors he would go and bathe, put
on perfume and come to my grandmother Sanniya as if not one drop of his water had been spilled”.
Examining the excerpt above, and apart from the purely cultural clues (e.g. having more than one
wife), the reader can readily conclude that it is taken from a translation which is text-/author-ori-
ented. The translator has maintained or semanticized the metaphorical usage of the SL, e.g. ‘as if not
one drop of his water had been spilled’ in reference to degree of virility. The competent target reader
will have no trouble understanding the communicative import of such metaphorical expressions
although they are alien to the TL culture. This ability is contextually rather than culturally triggered.
By contrast, the following translation [my own] of the above excerpt, and again apart from the purely
cultural clues, shows more reader-oriented concerns by domesticating or communicatizing the SL
alien usages, e.g. ‘as if he had not expended one tiny thing of his sexual potency’ in reference to
virility.
“It is said that he desired her constantly. Yet, in order to be fair to the other three wives, he had
to stop by each of them before ending up with my grandmother, Sanniya. Bathed and
perfumed, he would approach her as if he had not expended one tiny thing of his sexual
potency”.
It can be argued that the excerpt above includes segments which may lend themselves to either
semanticizing or communicatizing meaning without running the risk of a breakdown in commu-
nication. In both cases, contextual elements are capable of producing cognitive effects that trigger a
relevant interpretation by the reader. In some cases, however, semanticizing a segment may blur the
intended meaning and, subsequently, bring about a breakdown in communication. Therefore, the
competent translator in such instances opts out of ‘word-for-word’ in favor of ‘sense-for-sense’
translation, as can be illustrated by the English rendition of an excerpt from Najeeb Mahfouz's
Awlaad Haaritnaa (1959) by Philip Stewart in Children of Gebelawi (1981):
“Ali said humbly:

'No one in the alley smokes this brand except for the Chief
and yours truly”.
By contrast, following the Arabic wording of the excerpt, Stewart would have produced the rendition
below:
“Ali said humbly:

'No one in the alley smokes this brand except for the Chief
and the slave of God, ma’am”.
Clearly, Stewart opted for communicatizing the meaning of the bold-faced culture-bound expression
in order to avoid a situation where the intended meaning may be too difficult to arrive at by the
reader if semanticization of that segment had been chosen.
In terms of the dichotomies in the diagram, one can argue that the translations above interactively
embrace all of them. They only differ in the focus each places on one member of a dichotomy rather
than the other. This interactive split between form and content practically carries over to all trans-
lation activity. Fortunately, more recent dichotomies, albeit practically duplicating each other, are
tolerant of this inherent split, which is correlated with contextual factors (see below).
3. Conclusion
The arguments made in this paper have clearly shown that the familiar translation dichotomies prac-
tically reflect the same construct regardless of the differing terminological formulations. The proto-
type dichotomy, say form vs. content, should be viewed in terms of complementation rather than op-
position, that is, form and content present themselves as two overriding forces in translation activity;
tilting toward one more than the other produces a focus rather than a pure form. The focus is context-
correlated and may be approximated by the diagram below (Farghal, 2010):
44 MOHAMMED FARGHAL
The reason for placing the translator in the center of the triangle is to show the dynamic role he plays
by having direct access, from equidistance, to the three contextual factors at the angles. This dynamic
role of the translator would be blurred if a square rather than a triangle were chosen to show the
interaction among the contextual factors. In this way, the type of focus opted for by the translator
depends on the weight that he assigns to each of the three contextual factors. Informed by the
authoritativeness of the SL text, for example, the several translators of the Holy Quran have all tilted
toward form more than content.
The question that poses itself here is: What is the practical alternative to the continued reformulation
of an age-long polemics? The answer, I believe, is to turn attention to individual language-pairs in an
attempt to unravel translational norms and behavior. Though this may be primitively founded on the
basics of Contrastive Analysis (CA), the true goal of such endeavor is to reveal patterns of inter-
lingual transfer in actual translation practice. It is through this kind of effort that translation practi-
tioners and theorists alike become aware of strategies and insights which would further the profes-
sionalism in interlingual communication between any two languages.
References
Almazan Garcia, E. M. (2002), Intertextuality and Translation: A Relevance-theoretic Approach. Unpublished
M. Phil. Thesis. University of Salford.
Catford, J. C. (1965), A Linguistic Theory of Translation: An Essay in Applied Linguistics. London: Oxford
University Press.
Farghal, M. (2010), Issues in Translation between Arabic and English. Forthcoming. Kuwait University Press.
House, J. (1977), A Model for Translation Quality Assessment. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag.
Gutt, E. A. (1991), Translation and Relevance: Cognition and Context. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Newmark, P. (1981), Approaches to Translation. Oxford and New York: Pergamon.
Nida, E. (1964), Toward a Science of Translating with Special Reference to Principles and Procedures in
Bible Translating. Leiden: E.J. Brill.
Munday, J. (2001), Introducing Translation Studies: Theories and Applications. London and New York:
Routledge.
Sperber, D. and D. Wilson (1986), Relevance: Communication and Cognition. Oxford: Blackwell.
Venuti, L. (1995), The Translator’s Invisibility: A History of Translation. London and New York: Routledge.
APPROXIMATIVE COMMUNICATION IN TRANSLATION

University of Lodz, Poland
Abstract: All communication is a matter of degree and involves approximation between a mes-
sage sent and received. The paper presents a typology of approximation with different catego-
ries of alignment between a SL and a TL, from loose or simplified, and Gestalt on the one hand,
to particulate and fine-grained communication on the other. Differences in this respect are ob-
served with regard to, first, spoken as opposed to written communicative modes, and secondly,
with respect to contextual parameters in the wide sense of context. Communicative activities
eventually involve a re-conceptualization of an original message as received by the addressee.
Translation, as a type of communication, involves a a cycle of re-conceptualizations of a Source
Language (SL) message, expressed eventually in the Target Language (TL) (cf. Lewandowska-
Tomaszczyk, 2010). The paper discusses a typology of approximation alignment in communica-
tion and translation and looks at examples to identify their categories in terms of classes of
reconceptualization.
1. Introduction
It is argued in the present paper that all communication, translation including, is a matter of degree
and invariably involves approximative communication. What we have on the one hand is loose or
simplified message, and particulate, fine-grained communication on the other. Differences in this re-
spect are observed with regard to, first, spoken as opposed to written communicative modes, and
secondly, with respect to contextual parameters in the wide sense of context.
Communicative activities involve a re-conceptualization of an original message as received by the

addressee. Translation, as a type of communication, involves a a cycle of re-conceptualizations of a
Source Language (SL) message, expressed eventually in the Target Language (TL) (cf. Lewan-
dowska-Tomaszczyk, 2010). The paper discusses a typology of what is proposed to be approximation
in communication and translation and looks at examples to identify their categories in terms of
classes of reconceptualization.
2. Typology of interaction, typology of translation

Translation is an activity, which is rooted in a source language and targets another language in a very
special manner. It can be, similarly to other, also monolingual, types of communication, symmetric
or asymmetric (Fig. 1). We can have a more closely aligned, or parallel, semantic/formal
correspondence as the middle ground (scientific texts and texts from restricted domains in particular
will be examples in this area), and two approximation levels of an asymmetric type at two opposing
poles. At one pole, coarse-grained approximative correspondence of generalized alignment, or loose,
type is identified, observed primarily in monolingual spontaneous conversations, and in translation –
involving screen translation of various types, paraphrases, etc. At the other pole, there can be
identified what I call a particularization relation, i.e. an asymmetric fine-grained alignment
(correspondence), in which the translator adds information, interprets the text, and expands it, as,
e.g., in culture-specific texts, also in transferring source information to non-initiated languages users
and, in the context of translation, SL specialist knowledge to TL non-specialist users. An interesting
example here may be community interpreting, where masses of metalinguistic comments are added.
However, texts are not homogenous in this respect. One part of a text can employ approximation of a
loosely aligned type, another part of the same text can be particularized for one reason or another.
46 BARBARA LEWANDOWSKA-TOMASZCZYK
Fig. (1): Translation typology from the Approximative Interactive Approach
The aligned parallel communication type allows the least variability. Two other – polar – types
permit parameter variability. Applicability of a particular model depends on the character of con-
ditions, most notably, medium (written, oral, media, etc.), linguistic and culture-specific parameters
of the system and text type, as well as the TL addressee. However, the range of variability of the
conceptual exchange model parameters is not entirely free – it is constrained by a similarity, or re-
semblance between a number of communicative-cognitive units and factors between messages sent
and received in a communicative interaction and, in the case of translation, between a source and
target language message (cf. Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, 2010). The resemblance has a variety of
forms and shapes. Also, in actual reality, rather than having to do with pure types at a given level,
what is observed are different degrees of loose, parallel and particulate alignments.
The model of translation types has in fact wider reference. All communication in fact is approxi-
mative from the point of view of the narrow content of concepts used. If we assume that the con-
ceptual content are layers of knowledge starting from the most conventionalised, i.e., shared, core,
via contextually shaped layers, down to most subjective, particular instances and events, then it is not
unexpected that only the core and conventionalised contextual parts are the ones which are shared,
while the remaining material is clearly language user-specific. In other words, the fully aligned (stat-
ic in a sense) model of a total correspondence between speaker A’s meaning and that of speaker N is
an illusion and so would be absolute equivalence between a SL and TL message. In actual reality,
what we deal with are partly aligned, dynamic configurations of meaning.
2.1 Generalized Alignment

A number of generalized alignment types can be identified in both monolingual communication and
translation. One of them is simplification, found both at one-language and cross-linguistic encounters.
Simplification has a number of causes. Its reason can be found either in varying language proficiency
levels if we take a FL classroom as a point of reference (Blum-Kulka & Levenston, 1983), or in lan-
guage-specific typological properties, when it involves translation. When one language (TL), for
example, lacks a label for a subrodinate unit in a hyper/hyponimic hierarchy of conceptual catego-
ries, present in another language (SL), the former has to resort to a more general categorization level.
A substitition of a contrast between the Polish maternal uncle (wujek) and paternal uncle (stryjek) by
a more general uncle in English, higher (superordinate) in the kinship categorization hierarchy, is the
case in point. It is also clear that a communication type between experts and nonexperts in the same
language or via a different TL will involve simplification of some kind.
Another type of generalized alignment is substitution. Both at monolingual encounters as well as in

intercultural contexts and, similarly, in translation, an interlocutor can substitite one more specific
expression for a synonymous or equivalent one as e.g. Wszyscy chłopcy parsknęli śmiechem /wy-
buchnęli śmiechem in Polish as contrasted with one of their English equivalents – All boys snig-
gered/snorted with laughter. Parsknąć śmiechem in Polish is somewhat different than wybuchnąć
śmiechem, though. The former refers to sound emission, usually as produced by an animal (horse)
and has some semantic elements close to the English splutter, or, even closer, to snort (with
laughter). Wybuchnąć (śmiechem, płaczem, złością) on the other hand, corresponds to lit. to explode
(with laughter, cry, anger) and refers to an abrupt, sudden sound, originally connected with
explosives and metaphorically attributed to a similar manner of sound production, which is
intrinsically linked with an emotional experience. One of the most essential points in my discussion
in the present paper is that an average user of a language would most frequently employ the two
possible phrases indiscriminately as approximative synonyms. Similarly, a Polish to English translator

would resort to either of the two or three English equivalents possible, none of which is identical to
either of the Polish ones in the original. What the translator is doing then is making reference to a
more general, meta-level of semantic interpretation of the Polish original and makes a transfer to and
connection with an English semantic interpretation on the same (generalized) level of
communication. The next step is a selection of a more specific semantic interpretation from among
the materials available in English and eventually, on the expression plane, the interactant/ translator
chooses to use linguistically this specific semantic option as one of the possible English
constructional variants.
An instance of generalized substitution is Gestalt substitution as when an original text contains a spe-
cific reference to a person, object or event, or else their description in terms of idiomatic, parabolic,
etc., language, while their reinterpretation or translation would provide in their place a non-idiomatic,
generalized or interpretative substitution. The cases in point are exchanges such as I know it in my
bones that he will not come interpreted it as Polish Coś mi się wydaje, że on nie przyjedzie – It seems
to me that he will not come. An operation reversed to this one will be instances of particularized Ge-
stalt substitution.
Fig. (2): Types of Generalized Alignment
2.2 Parallel alignment; normalization

Fully parallel alignment types are not frequent either in monolingual or translation contexts. The
closest cases of this type involve texts in which both form and content in a SL are structurally and
semantically parallel to those in a TL, i.e., they most often involve domain-restricted texts of various
types. Such cases are either immersed in normalized terminologies and ontologies or can invariably
lead to setting up such norms of equivalence cross-linguistically. A looser variant of this type of ap-
proximation will be some so-called comparable bi- and multi-lingual corpora which comprise texts
relating to the same topic, addressed to similar audience, and drawn from the materials from the
same period of time. Here though, parallelism is much looser than in the previously mentioned types
of text, making them closer to any of the asymmetric approximation variants.
In some cases, parallel alignment would involve a parallel substitution of one concept for another or,
on a wider plane, of one conceptual domain or frame – for another.
2.3 Particularization
Particularization, i.e., a fine-grained variant of asymmetric approximative communication, takes place
both in a monolingual as well as translation context. A conversationalist using English when addres-
sing another English speaking participant of an interaction, or a translator between any pair of lan-
guages, may feel a need, for various reasons, to define, exemplify or describe, or else give more
details about, a person, object, event, or circumstances. In other words, the language users may
choose to particularize some information addressed to the audience. This strategy certainly affects
both content and form of the forwarded message and can take different paths.
If an interactant or translator goes deeper in the original context, in order to account, for example, for
a terminological or culture-specific distinction in the terms used, and renders this explanation in
monolingual context or else uses this amplified equivalent in another (Target) language, as in trans-
lation, the outcome is an approximative type of depth particularization. In other cases, the interactant
or translator can extend a semantic range of an original thought (message, text) and aim at width par-
ticularization, which, as a consequence, can extend previous, or add new conceptual links with refe-
rence to the original message. This happens when a conversational particpant uses an expanded syno-
nymous expression (e.g. peaceful serenity in beautiful surrounding for Arcadia) or when the trans-
lator employs TL equivalents with richer layers of connotative or affective meanings as e.g., in the
case of the English I feel elated as an equivalent to the French Je suis heureuse. Other examples rele-
vant here are also cases of intertextuality interwoven into a target text. One case of particularization
can also involve an operation contrasted with generalized Gestalt substitution. We refer here, to be
more precise, to instances of particularized Gestalt substitution, in which e.g., a metaphor in one
language (utterance) will be substituted with a metaphor in another language (utterance) with a
simultaneous interpretation added in the form of an explanation or elaboration.
Fig. (3): Typology of Particulate Alignment
Interesting scenarios for extensive re-conceptualization of TL messages are instances of community

interpreting, usually exhibiting a script of extending, i.e., width particularizing, of an original SL
message (see Garcéz & Martin, 2008).
2.4 Approximation and re-conceptualization

It goes without saying that the operations described above are invariably accompanied by a system of
re-conceptualization changes (Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, 2010). Both encounters in the same lan-
guage as well as the translation contexts, bring about a changing perspective, range, or parts of the
meaning of the linguistic units present in the initiating setup of an interaction. Below examples of ap-
proximative uses in English and Polish and the resulting meaning re-conceptualization will be dis-
cussed.
3. Approximation in monolingual communication

Translation is but one case from among various types of interactional encounters. We are not always
overtly explicit in verbal communication. There are contexts in which conversational contributions
target a, more or less, similar semantic level, an ideal co-operative level in terms of Gricean
conversational maxims. Some other language users though vary their co-operative strategies and fall
into approximative generalizing or particularization classes. Approximating strategies are visible in
casual spontaneous conversation, in which more is assumed than said, more is contextualized than
expressed, or else, when a lot is said, it is usually at a fairly shallow level of semantic relatedness.
Particulate communication on the other hand, involves giving glosses and footnotes, repetitions and
paraphrases, getting deeper and deeper to the crux of the matter or else extending the verbal
cooperation area to wider regions. The prototypical contexts of particulate communication are
scientific and technical genres. This category includes also culture-specific discourse and its
translation into other languages, in which more explanation is needed than in the situation of
monolingual communication.
One very interesting aspect of this typology of communication alignment are linguistic structures
clearly diverging from what can be considered an 'objective' state of affairs. One of them are po-
liteness phenomena and their so-called minimizing strategies, which are basically face-saving ways to
communicate meanings which could be considered unpleasant, imposing, etc., by the interlocutors.
Some of these strategies have to do with indirectness as in (1).
(1) I don't suppose I could possibly ask you to bring back the book.
Sentence (1) expresses an indirect speech act and a polite request at the same time. Relevant to our
discussion here are similar strategies of minimisation as reported in many languages (see Christopher,
1982; Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, 2011). The utterance ‘I think there is a minor mistake with the
date’, a similar Turkish sentence Sanirum tarihte küçük bir hata var or the Polish Tu chyba jest mały
błędzik lit. ‘There is a small mistake+diminutive suffx here’, are not an absolute portrayal of reality.
Minimizing politeness strategies clearly involve generalizing approximation not so much as a rela-
tion between the respective translated texts (as this is evident from the typological differences be-
tween the languages invoved) but primarily between the speakers' thoughts, the languages and the
outside world.
3.1 Negotiation and meaning emergence in discourse

The same form used in a conversation can involve a number of polysemous uses. Some language
concepts are particularly prone to such variability, particularly abstract notions such as the notion of
patriotism, whose meaning can be variously negotiated by discourse participants. In the utterances
below (IntUne corpus), the speakers consider the semantic content and range of the concept as
varying to a high degree and explicate it in different terms, either in terms of an inclusive in-group
type (love of the Queen in (2), identification with the local products in (4)), or as an exclusive notion,
built on numerous out-group contrasts as in the example confronting distinct national attributes in
(3).
(2) I am a common thief but I am patriotic and love my Queen and country.
(3) He is a patriot and will hear no talk of Australian hardness and English softness.
(4) He advertised Italian wine only for patriotic reasons.
In some cases, as the ones in the sections below, we can see this dynamicity of meaning both within
a monolingual text as well as its translation.
3.2 Monolingual message – Re-conceptualization in translation

Polish-German relations have never been easy. There is a long and complex history between these
nations and WWII certainly did not make it easier, even though in the last deacades the situation has
become more normalised. Some researchers like Dieter Binger label these more contemporary times
'golden nineties', even though some other scholars still perceive these present-day relations as shal-
low and superficial (cf. Klaus Bachmann quoted in Pressje www.org.pl (article 31, issue 4, p. 230)
refers to present-day Polish-German relations in terms of Versöhnungskitsch 'kitsch of
reconciliation'). This equivocal perspective, plus the disturbing consequences of the presence of old
tireless anti-German propaganda during the communist times in Poland, explains why the Polish
perception of the German names of places and institutions, particularly those active in WWII and
before, and used with reference to the regions which are now part of Poland, may not be too positive
and activate images of the gloomy past time. It then comes as no surprise to the Polish readers of the
novel Śmierć w Breslau 'Death in Breslau' that the author uses the German name of the city of
Breslau for what is now Wrocław in the title of his Polish book, which is set in the pre-war German
city of Breslau in the thirties of the 20th century. Both for the historical reasons (the city was German
then and had the offical name Breslau) and due to the associative aspect of its meaning, this is an
undisputable decision. However, what does come as a surprise is the author's use of the city's Polish
name Wrocław thoughout the novel. To some, the usage of the Polish name of the city sounds as an
oxymoron in such contexts as (5).
(5) Wiesz, że ledwie kilkudniowy szef gestapo gorączkowo chce się zasłużyć, aby pokazać swym
mocodawcom z Berlina, że ich decyzja personalna była słuszna. Oto mamy w tej chwili w gestapo
człowieka, który jest bardziej hitlerowski niż sam Hitler. Czy chcesz, żeby wrocławski Hitler lit. 'the
Hitler of Wrocław' dowiedział się całej prawdy o twojej karierze?
(5a) Did you know that the Chief of the Gestapo of barely a few days feverishly wants to prove himself
so as to show his principals in Berlin that their decision had been correct. We have in the Gestapo now
a man who is more of a Hitlerite than Hitler himself. Do you want the Hitler of Breslau to find out the
whole truth about your career?"
A re-conceptualization of a comparable gravity, resulting in a particulate approximation of the

English version to the Polish original, is found in the title of one of Stanislaw Lem’s books (see
Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, 2010). The original title Głos Pana corresponds literally to the English
The Voice of Master and, when capitalized as in the original, it brings about religious connotations.
The translator adds the pronoun His to the English title of the book – His Master’s Voice, whose
effect is a complex concept, blended from the original sense of the God in Heaven idea, associated,
due to the phraseological identity in English, with a famous firm and trademark in music business –
HMV (His Master's Voice). This reconceptualization involves in consequence the activation of the
famous HMV logo with a dog looking and listening, which directly connotes listening (to a superior)
and obediance. It is not proposed here that this double entendre was not intentional on the part of the
author – after all, the Polish word pan lit. 'master, mister, sir' is also used with reference to animals'
(particularly dogs') masters, but the English translation makes this alternative reading much more
salient than Polish and perhaps the dominant one.
4. Methodology of approximation research

In general terms, methodology of communication and translation studies and more precisely, com-
municative approximation research, involves qualitative and quantitative investigation.
Qualitative methods focus on a number of extralinguistic parameters such as typology of culture,

situation contexts and background knowledge as well as intralinguistic properties referring to the ty-
pology of particular language systems or language varieties as well as the construal of the message in
terms of profiling, perspective, etc. (Langacker 1987, 1991; Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, 2010).
Quantitative parameters on the other hand involve a comparison of the distributional measures of the
use of particular linguistic items, their frequencies and correlation with particular systems of conven-
tional versus creative uses as well as quantitative criteria of naturalness as opposed to more idiosyn-
cratic usage (cf. Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, 2012).
5. Hybridisation
Reconceptualization and the resulting meaning approximation seem to be a consequence of the
processes of hybridisation or blending (Fauconnier and Turner, 1998) of the original information and
its added value, other-party and/or other-language system, interpretations. This is possible only be-
cause the message sent is metonymical or cubist, in which only fragmented parts are actually named
and explicitly conveyed and the parts which are not expressed – must be not so much re-created but
rather created anew. Language in fact then is not, to recall later Wittgenstein (1953), exhausted by
propositions after all, and furthermore, the speakers do not need necessarily to play the same game.
References
Blum-Kulka, Shoshana & E. A. Levenston (1983), "Universals of lexical simplification". In: Claus Faerch and
Gabriele Kasper (eds.). Strategies in Interlanguage Communication. London & NY: Longman. 119-140.
Christopher, R. C. (1982), The Japanese Mind: The Goliath Explained. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Czilwik, S., M. Frick, A. Fuchsloch, H. Heyn, B. Kluever, M. Krasnodębska, A. Klunzika, and M. Lohmeyer
(2009), "Stosunki polsko-niemieckie – nowe spojrzenia" (interviews) May 2009. Szkoła Polsko-
Niemiecka – Klub Jagielloński. Pressje 218 - 231.
Fauconnier, G. and M. Turner. (1998), “Conceptual Integration Networks” Cognitive Science 22: 2: 133-187.
Garcéz, C. Valero & A. Martin (2008), Crossing Borders in Community Interpreting: definitions and dilem-
mas. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
Langacker, R. W. (1987, 1991), Foundations of Cognitive Grammar Parts 1 and 2. Stanford: Stanford Univer-
sity Press.
Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, B. (1999), ”Conceptual Clusters: Democracy, Patriotism, Nationalism and

Citizenship in English and Polish”. In: Jerzy Tomaszczyk (ed.) Aspects of Legal Language and Legal
Translation. Łódź: Łódź University Press. 31-50.
Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, B. (2007a), ”European citizenship, national identity and social imagery.” Lewan-
dowska-Tomaszczyk, B., T. Płudowski and D. Valencia Tanno (eds) The Media and International
Communication vol. 15 Łódź Studies in Language, Frankfurt a. Main: Peter Lang. 21-43.
Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, B. (2010), “Re-conceptualization and Emergence of Discourse Meaning as a
Theory of Translation”. In: B Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk & M. Thelen (eds), Meaning in Translation.
Frankfurt a. Main: Peter Lang.
Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, B. (2011),”Transcultural Patterns in Communication”. In: Adam Bednarek &
Iwona Witczak-Plisiecka (eds.) Interdisciplinary Approaches to Communication Studies. Lodz: Wyższa
Szkoła Studiów Międzynarodowych. 7-22.
Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, B. (2012), "Explicit and tacit: An interplay of the quantitative and qualitative ap-
proaches to translation". In: Michael Oakes and Meng Ji (eds). Corpus-Based Translation Study Amster-
dam: Benjamins, 3-33.
Wittgenstein, Ludwig (1953), Philosophical Investigations. Oxford: Blackwell.
Corpora
BNC
A Corpus of English Conversation [CEC] (1980). Lund: C.W.K. Gleerup, eds. Jan Svartvik and Randolph
Quirk.
IntUne Corpus of media texts collected for the EU FP6 IntUne project available at Department of English
Language and Applied Linguistics, Lodz University, Poland.
NKJP [www.nkjp.pl] National Corpus of Polish.
Texts
Lem, Stanisław. 1973 [1968]. Głos Pana. Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie. Tr. by Michael Kandel. 1983.
His Master’s Voice. Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press.
Krajewski, Marek. 2006. Śmierć w Breslau. Wrocław: Wydawnictwo Dolnośląskie. Tr. by Danusia Stok.
2008. Death in Breslau. London: MacLehose Press. Quercus.
52
LE TRADUCTEUR, MEDIATEUR OU
AGENT DE L’IMPERIALISME CULTUREL:
RELECTURE DE L’HISTOIRE DE L’UN DES PLUS VIEUX METIERS DU
MONDE
Moses Nyongwa
Université du Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
Abstract: In this paper, I try to explain why throughout history, translators have been perceived
as creators, agents of ideological/cultural imperialim, as well as mediators between two or
several cultures. In so doing, new concepts needed to be developed, namely «dead culture», «in-
absentia culture», «hereditary culture», «latent culture», «living culture» and «in-presentia
culture». Two essential questions sustain my reasoning: Firstly, how has the translator been
perceived throughout history; secondly, in what context has such a perception been developed?
The hypothesis sustaining my reasoning is that in a context where two cultures cohabitate, the
translator is perceived as an agent of imperialism if both cultures are living (in presentia) cul-
tures in the same space (countries, regions,etc.). If one of the cultures is a dead (in absentia) cul-
ture, the translator is perceived as a mediator. The first part of the paper presents arguments sup-
porting this hypothesis. The second part describes the role of the translator in meaning building
in target texts. An analysis of the perception of the translator as a globalization agent is
presented in the last part of the paper.
1. Introduction
Avant d’aborder le sujet proprement dit, je voudrais essayer de préciser ce que j’entends par tra-
duction. La traduction est l’opération qui permet le passage d’un texte A que l’on appelle texte de dé-
part ou texte source à un texte B, appelé texte d’arrivée ou texte cible. Cette définition plus large en-
globe aussi bien la transformation d’un texte à l’intérieur d’une même langue que l’opération de
transfert entre deux langues différentes. Dans ce contexte, le traducteur se définit comme l’agent de
cette transformation. Par ailleurs, le présent exposé se limite au contexte bilingue et biculturel, le
contexte multilingue et multiculturel sera abordé dans une communication ultérieure.
Le présent article ne présente pas de résultats, des solutions aux problèmes que soulève ce sujet, mais
essaie de répondre à deux questions qui émoussent la réflexion, car ce travail n’est que très prélimi-
naire. Comment a-t-on perçu le traducteur au cours de l’histoire? Quel est le contexte dans lequel
s’est développée telle ou telle perception du traducteur? Ces deux questions forment l’ossature de la
première partie de l’article; la deuxième partie se déploie également sur deux points: le traducteur
dans la construction du sens des textes cibles et le traducteur comme agent de la mondialisation.
2. Perception et contexte
Comme signalé plus haut, cette partie comprend deux points : les perceptions du rôle du traducteur
au cours de l’histoire et les contextes dans lesquels se sont développées ces perceptions.
2.1 Perceptions du rôle du traducteur dans l’histoire

Pour répondre à la première question (Comment a-t-on perçu le traducteur au cours de l’histoire?),
nous allons recourir à trois concepts qui ont fait école au cours de l’histoire de la traduction, notam-
ment la fidélité avec son corollaire l’invisibilité, l’infidélité et la médiation.
2.1.1 La fidélité
La traduction telle que nous la connaissons aujourd’hui, surtout la traduction littéraire, doit beaucoup
aux deux grandes religions que sont le judaïsme et le christianisme. Elle a hérité de ces religions le
concept de fidélité absolue au texte original dont le caractère sacré exigeait du traducteur un efface-
54 MOSES NYONGWA
ment total, l’invisibilité en quelque sorte. Les traducteurs, surtout les traducteurs de textes sacrés (la
Tora, la Bible) comme Saint-Jérôme, affirmaient que dans les textes sacrés, l’ordre des mots était
aussi sacré que les mots eux-mêmes. Ils préconisaient donc une soumission, et une fidélité absolues
au texte original de la part du traducteur. Celui-ci devait s’effacer devant la majesté du texte original.
Saint-Jérôme affirme que «pour les textes sacrés, l’acte de traduire souffre de l’imperfection.» Il est
donc impératif de rester scrupuleusement fidèle au texte source, qui est sacré, qui émane de Dieu lui-
même, comme le laisse croire l’Église. C’est d’ailleurs le premier dogme de l’Église. Le traducteur
ici n’est qu’un instrument qui doit s’effacer devant la Parole de Dieu, Dieu lui-même. Le texte
traduit, quant à lui, est nécessairement inférieur à l’original.
Quant aux textes qu’il qualifie de profanes, Saint-Jerôme prône une certaine créativité aussi bien
chez le traducteur que dans les ressources de la langue. Ce qui ouvre la porte un certain écart par
rapport à l’original.
2.1.2 L’infidélité
Il s’agit de l’infidélité par rapport à l’original. Depuis Saint-Jérôme également, le concept d’infidéli-
té, d’écart par rapport à l’original, en un mot le concept d’adaptation du texte cible par rapport au
contexte et au public cible, n’a cessé de faire du chemin, surtout dans des textes profanes, c’est-à-dire
des textes autres que des textes sacrés. Dès lors, la réflexion sur la traduction a donné lieu à deux
écoles de pensée: les sourcistes et les ciblistes. Si les premiers vouent une adoration au texte original,
les seconds portent leur attention sur le texte cible, le public cible, le public différent de celui pour
qui le message a été initialement conçu (différences culturelles, idéologiques, intellectuelles et au-
tres). Le texte cible et le public cible sont devenus ainsi aussi importants (et parfois plus importants)
que le texte original. L’adaptation (l’infidélité) devient ici une nécessité.
Cependant, un autre concept a également émergé au fil des ans, surtout avec le développement des
contacts et échanges entre les personnes, les communautés, les pays de cultures différentes. Il s’agit
de la médiation.
2.1.3 La médiation
Il s’agit ici d’une fonction essentielle dans les échanges, dans le processus de communication. Les
différences entre les langues et les cultures en présence constituant une barrière essentielle à la com-
munication, le traducteur est donc perçu ici comme un médiateur entre deux ou plusieurs com-
munautés ou cultures différentes. Il lui faut donc bien maîtriser les langues et les cultures de ceux
dont il est l’intermédiaire pour pouvoir bien les interpréter au profit des uns et des autres dans les
éventuelles transactions.
En résumé, le traducteur est donc perçu à travers les trois prismes de la fidélité, de l’infidélité et de la
médiation selon les époques et les types de textes à traduire soit comme invisible, soit comme
créateur au même titre que l’auteur d’une œuvre originale, soit simplement comme messager, média-
teur entre deux mondes, deux cultures selon différents contextes.
2.2 Contextes de perception

Quel est le contexte dans lequel s’est développée telle ou telle perception du traducteur? Avant de
répondre à cette question, je voudrais préciser que pour l’instant, je me suis penché uniquement sur
les contextes et bilingues biculturels. Les contextes multilingues et multiculturels feront l’objet d’une
réflexion antérieure.
Par ailleurs, il est important de définir succinctement un certain nombre de termes utilisés ici: culture
morte, culture héréditaire, culture vivante, culture morte. Une culture morte (ou culture in absentia)
est une culture qui a disparu de l’espace dans lequel se déroule la confrontation dont le traducteur est
l’un des acteurs; par exemple le grec et le latin aujourd’hui. Une culture héréditaire est une culture
qui a disparu dans l’espace de confrontation, mais dont l’influence y est encore très présente. Le grec
et le latin au 16e siècle avaient ce statut en Europe. Une culture vivante (ou culture in presentia) est
une culture qui est présente dans l'espace de confrontation.
Pour revenir aux contextes, il convient donc de signaler que trois situations peuvent se présenter pour
les cultures A et B:
1) la culture A a disparu et a laissé place à la culture B;

2) la culture A s’est fondue dans la culture B et l’influence directement;
3) la culture A est présente et est en compétition avec la culture B.
2.2.1 Situation 1: La culture A a disparu et a laissé la place à la culture B

Dans ce cas de figure, le traducteur devient le rédacteur, en quelque sorte le créateur de l’œuvre.
Dans certains cas, l’œuvre originale aura disparu avec la disparition de la culture A. C’est en effet la
perception qu’a le grand public du traducteur. Des cas illustrant cette situation sont nombreux dans
l’histoire des écrits, aussi bien des textes sacrés que de la littérature: la Bible, Homère, les contes de
mille et une nuits, etc.
2.2.2 Situation 2: La culture A s’est fondue dans la culture B

Ici, le traducteur reste un acteur important dans la création, et l’enrichissement du patrimoine cul-
turel, étant donné sa connaissance de la culture disparue ou lointaine. Par rapport à la culture
grecque, les traducteurs de la période allant du Moyen-âge au17e siècle illustrent ce cas de figure. Je
pense ici à Chaucer, Caxton pour la culture et la langue anglaises, à Rabelais, Marot, Du Bellay pour
la langue et la culture françaises, à Martin Luther pour la langue et la culture allemandes. La contri-
bution de Martin Luther pour la langue et la cultures allemande a été exceptionnelle.
“Everyone read Luther's new Bible or listened to it being read. Its phrasing became the people's
phrasing, its speech patterns their speech patterns. So universal was its appeal, and so thoroughly did it
embrace the entire range of the German tongue, that it formed a linguistic rallying point for the
formation of the modern German language. It helped formally restructure German literature and the
German performing arts. Its impact, and Luther's in general, were so awesome that Frederick the Great
later called Luther the personification of the German national spirit”. (Zecher, 1993: Online doc.).
Il est évident que toutes les langues à leur début se sont enrichies par la traduction. Pour le français
par exemple,
"Dès 1509, le traducteur Claude de Seyssel avait invite le roi Louis XII à créer une «licterature en
françois» et prôné la traduction comme moyen d’«enrichir et magnifier la langue françoise»’’ (Delisle
& Woodsworth, 1995: 51).
Les textes traduits sont le plus souvent des adaptations et non des traductions au sens strict du terme.
Le grand public ne perçoit pas ces œuvres comme des traductions, n’étant pas le plus souvent au
courant de l’existence des œuvres originales. Les traducteurs sont ainsi perçus pas comme des
traducteurs, mais de véritables créateurs, des auteurs.
2.2.3 Situation 3: La culture A est présente et est en compétition avec la culture B

Trois scenarii peuvent se présenter: 1) la culture A est plus faible que la culture B; 2) la culture A a la
même force d’attraction que la culture B; 3) la culture A est plus forte que la culture B.
56 MOSES NYONGWA
2.2.3.1 Scenario 1: La culture A est plus faible que la culture B

Dans le cas où la culture A est plus faible que la culture B, les ouvres traduites s’imposent et occu-
pent l’espace. Le traducteur apparaît comme un acteur important dans la chaîne de création et de dif-
fusion de la culture. Le petit peuple n’est pas toujours au courant des œuvres originales dont la
circulation est le plus souvent très restreinte. L’introduction de la science-fiction en France dans les
années 40 et 50, les littératures émergentes dans les ex-colonies, les littératures en contexte minori-
taires sont autant d’exemples éloquents.
On observe parfois une situation paradoxale où la résistance de la culture B rejaillit sur la culture A
et apporte une certaine spécificité. C’est le cas de la culture canadienne française sur la culture anglo-
canadienne. En effet, la présence de la langue et de la culture francophone au sein de la culture
anglo-canadienne marque la différence entre la culture canadienne et la culture américaine.
2.2.3.2 Scenario 2: La culture A a la même force d’attraction que la culture B

Dans le cas où les cultures A et B ont la même force d’attraction, les œuvres originales ont la pri-
mauté. Le traducteur devient en principe un médiateur, un serviteur de l’œuvre original. C’est ce qui
se passe dès le 19è siècle lorsque des œuvres sont traduites entre les langues européennes: auteurs
russes traduits en français, auteurs français traduits en anglais, en allemand et vice versa.
2.2.3.3 Scenario 3: La culture A est plus forte que la culture B

Dans le cas où la culture A est plus forte que la culture B, les traductions de B vers A vont s’adapter,
s’ajuster au modèle culturel dominant. Les traductions de A vers B vont dominer l’espace culturel.
Le cas de la science fiction dans les années 40 et 50 en France en est une excellente illustration.
Voici ce qu’en dit Gouanvic:
«Les œuvres traduites jouissent d’un capital de légitimité supérieur du fait qu’elle sont jugées dignes
d’être diffusées dans un espace culturel étranger. Mais ce capital attaché à une œuvre ou un auteur
repose largement sur le capital de légitimité dont l’espace culturel cible investit l’espace culturel
étranger : ce qui est traduit, c’est telle œuvre de tel auteur….de tel auteur américain, et c’est l’origine
américaine qui est ici le trait déterminant». (Gouanvic, 2007: 35).
Les traductions dans la plupart des pays du Sud aujourd’hui obéissent à ce modèle. Par ailleurs, dans
les ex-colonies et les pays émergeants, les écrits, qui sont le plus souvent les traductions à partir des
langues locales vers les langues héritées de la colonisation, rejaillissent sur ces langues (français,
anglais, portugais, etc.) et les transforment. Nous avons ainsi des variétés du français et de l’anglais
tels le français africain, Nigerian, Indian English).
De plus, il faut noter que les œuvres traduites sont adaptées aux publics visés essentiellement en
Occident où se trouvent les marchés. Quel rôle le traducteur joue dans le choix des œuvres à tra-
duire? Généralement très peu. Les traducteurs ont généralement un rôle très limité dans le choix des
œuvres à traduire. La loi du marché s’impose ici. Cependant, au niveau de la construction du sens
dans les œuvres traduites, le rôle du traducteur peut-être prépondérant.
3. Le traducteur dans la construction du sens des textes cibles

Nous venons de voir plus haut combien sont importants les contextes culturels dans la marge de
manœuvre du traducteur. En effet, lorsque le traducteur se trouve dans un contexte de culture morte
ou de culture héréditaire comme nous l’avons vu plus haut, sa latitude dans la construction du sens,
dans la création du texte cible est plus large, surtout lorsqu’il s’agit des textes littéraires.
Par ailleurs, dans la construction du sens d’un texte, on peut distinguer trois niveaux de connais-
sance: les connaissances universelles, les connaissances culturelles, les connaissances techniques.
(cf. tableau 1).
Tableau (1)
Ces niveaux de connaissance sont inégalement distribués dans les textes à traduire. Lorsque le texte
source met l’accent sur les connaissances techniques, la marge de manoeuvre du traducteur est très
réduite dans la construction du sens au niveau du texte cible. Lorsque les connaissances universelles
et les connaissances culturelles constituent les axes les plus importants dans le texte original,
l’intervention du traducteur dans la construction du sens au niveau du texte cible est importante. Le
traducteur devient donc plus visible; il occupe une place importante dans le processus tel que
représenté dans le modèle matriciel proposé au tableau (2).
Tableau (2)
L’émetteur (ou l’auteur) appartient à une culture A. Il parle la langue A. Il émet ou crée un message
(un texte) dans la langue et la culture A. Le traducteur maîtrise la langue et la culture A. Il maîtrise
également la langue et la culture B. Il reçoit le message dans la langue et la culture A, le déconstruit,
l’interprète et le reformule dans la langue et la culture B. Le message est reçu par le récepteur dans la
langue et la culture B. Il peut arriver que le message A initial donne lieu à plusieurs interprétations
(MESSAGES dans la colonne B du tableau 2). Si ces interprétations sont très différentes du message
initial, il peut s’agir plus de l’adaptation que de la traduction proprement dite. Le traducteur apparaît
ici en effet comme un maillon important de la chaîne. Dans ce modèle, la présence du traducteur est
évidente. Par ailleurs, au niveau de la surface, ce modèle se présente sous la forme que l’on voit au
tableau (3).
Tableau (3)
58 MOSES NYONGWA
Pour me résumer, la participation du traducteur dans la construction du sens dans le texte d’arrivée
ramène sur le tapis l’éternel débat des sourcistes et des ciblistes. Les traducteurs des textes sacrés et
des textes trop techniques s’accrochent à l’original. La fidélité à celui-ci reste un principe sacré. Dans
le monde de la littérature, les traducteurs ont un impact important dans la construction du sens des
textes qu’ils traduisent. Cet impact peut être parfois disproportionné s’ils oeuvrent dans un contexte
culturel faible. Ils peuvent soit apparaître comme des agents de l’impérialisme culturel, soit comme
des acteurs importants dans l’émergence des cultures locales.
4. Le traducteur comme agent de la mondialisation

Dès le Moyen-âge, les traducteurs sont des gens qui voyagent beaucoup, des gens qui apprennent
également beaucoup des autres peuples et cultures. Ils sont ainsi par essence des agents de la mondia-
lisation, c’est-à-dire de l’expansion des connaissances et des cultures, étant donné le rôle de média-
teur culturel et d’interprète qu’ils jouent dans la société.
Mais la mondialisation telle qu’elle est aujourd’hui perçue par les uns comme une uniformisation
économique et culturelle de la planète et par les autres comme l’expansion économique, culturelle et
sociale dont rêve toute l’humanité place le traducteur dans une situation inconfortable. En sortir est
une tâche difficile, mais faisable.
De quelle marge de manœuvre disposent les traducteurs? Même si les maisons d’édition, les in-
stitutions (publiques ou privées), de grandes firmes multinationales sont directement responsables de
ce qui doit être traduit (œuvres littéraires, documents pragmatiques, etc.), les traducteurs peuvent
également intervenir dans le choix des œuvres à traduire.
Il faut trouver un équilibre dans la circulation des œuvres en appuyant la traduction des œuvres
émanant des cultures plus faibles. Il faut favoriser les traductions des œuvres peu connues. En d’au-
tres termes, il faut mettre moins l’accent sur les préoccupations économiques immédiates (mettre de
côté le diktat du marché) et revenir à des préoccupations plus humanistes.
5. Conclusion
L’histoire nous apprend que les traducteurs ont été inventeurs d’alphabets, bâtisseurs de langues na-
tionales, artisans de littératures nationales, diffuseurs des connaissances, acteurs sur la scène du pou-
voir, propagateurs des religions, importateurs des valeurs culturelles, rédacteurs des dictionnaires,
témoins privilégiés de l’histoire. Ils ont été créateurs, médiateurs, facilitateurs d’expansion culturelle,
et parfois simplement agents de l’impérialisme, même s’ils ont également été des grands humanistes.
Ils doivent aujourd’hui avoir la possibilité de jouer le rôle d’arbitre culturel entre les différentes
cultures de la société planétaire. Ceci ne peut se faire qu’en mettant à la disposition des communau-
tés A les œuvres de la communauté B par exemple et vice versa. Il est donc important au niveau de la
prise de décision relative aux œuvres à traduire par exemple, que l’on ne se cantonne pas uniquement
sur les œuvres émanant d’une aire culturelle donnée au détriment des autres aires culturelles. En
d’autres termes, il faut démocratiser la traduction dans le monde.
Aussi, la participation du traducteur dans la construction du sens dans le texte d’arrivée ramène sur le
tapis l’éternel débat des sourcistes et des ciblistes. Les traducteurs des textes sacrés et des textes trop
techniques s’accrochent à l’original. Leur contribution à la construction du sens reste très limitée,
étant donné le respect absolu du principe sacré de fidélité à l’original. Par contre, dans le monde de la
littérature, les traducteurs ont un impact important dans la construction du sens des textes qu’ils tra-
duisent. Cet impact peut être parfois disproportionné s’ils oeuvrent dans un contexte culturel faible.
Ils peuvent soit apparaître comme des agents de l’impérialisme culturel, soit comme des acteurs im-
portants dans l’émergence des cultures locales.
Avant de terminer mon propos, je voudrais reprendre ces mots de Delisle:
« Malgré les critiques fréquentes dont les traducteurs sont l’objet, si l’on prend du recul et que l’on em-
brasse l’ensemble de leur œuvre d’un point de vue historique on peut affirmer que les cultures réceptri-
ces ont généralement accueilli comme un enrichissement les importations des traducteurs»
(Delisle et Woodsworth, 1995: 14).
Le traducteur peut encore faire davantage malgré le poids des forces du marché pour démocratiser la
traduction des œuvres à travers le monde. Aussi, trouver un certain équilibre dans le choix des œu-
vres à traduire devient ainsi un élément fondamental si l’on veut favoriser la perception du traducteur
comme médiateur, agent de la mondialisation dans le sens positif du terme.
Bibliographie
Delisle, J. et Woodsworth, J. (1995), Les traducteurs dans l’Histoire, Les Presses de l’Université d’Ottawa,
Editions UNESCO.
Gouanvic, J.-M. (2007), « Pratique sociale de la traduction. Le roman réaliste américain dans le champ
littéraire français » (1920-1960). Arras, Artois Presses Université, coll. « Traductologie ».
Highet, G. (1949), The Classical Tradition: Greek and Roman Influences on Western Literature, Oxford
University Press.
Snell-Hornby, M., Jettmarova, Z. and Kaindl, K.(eds.) (1995), Translation as Intercultural Communication,
Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Zecker, H. (2010), «Luther's Bible introduced mass media, unified a nation, and set the standard for future
translations », Christian History 11 (No.2,1992): 35-37. Illus. Online Documentation visited on October
12, 2010.
Nyongwa, M. (2010), « Translation and Nation Building: What a Difficult Couple! », Communication at A-
TIINDIA 2010 Conference held at New Dehli, on 16-19 December 2010.
.
60
MEANINGS IN TRANSLATION
Sonia Vandepitte
University College Ghent – University of Ghent, Belgium
Abstract: A core activity of every translator and every translation scholar is to reflect on mean-
ings in texts across languages. They do this intuitively or by means of an ad hoc tertium compa-
rationis, a (partial) framework that allows uniform description in terms of meanings across lan-
guages.
This tutorial will present a framework to describe meanings in texts in a translation context. It is
based on the fact that when we read/write down a sentence, we simultaneously construe/convey
various meanings about both the communicative state of affairs (the observable situation in which
the act of reading/writing takes place) and the symbolized state of affairs (the one to which the
sentence refers to). In translation, all meanings are related to two important agents from two
communicative situations, i.e. the source text writer and the translator, and, in particular, their
a) representations of their symbolized states of affairs;
b) attitudes towards their symbolized states of affairs;
c) assessments of their communicative situations; and
d) any other features of their own assumed identities.
1. Introduction
In translation, the same questions arise time and again. How can we compare meanings of utterances
with each other: meanings of source texts with those in target texts (cf. Kosters on Mirck’s transla-
tion of Seamus Heany’s District and Circle 2006), meanings of the first published translation with
those in the second published translation, meanings of one student translation with those of another
student translation, meanings of a translation with those of a comparable text in the target language?
In what sense, for instance, does cheap differ from cheapo? We also wonder what is the best transla-
tion among various options? Sometimes, we observe that there is something in a translation that does
not correspond to the source text but we are unable to pinpoint what is it (cf. Duarte1, 2010). Or we
find that there is some dissonance in a translated utterance. So, how can we discuss the qualities of
translations in terms of meanings efficiently? How can we find the meaning-related problems other
than the lexical ones in a text (cf. Kumpulainen, 2010)? And if equivalence is not an option, which
are the meanings that are more lenient for adaptation and what is their relation to translation strate-
gies?
Translators assume that a text conveys a message with meaning and continually assess the meanings
of the source texts and those of target texts. But what exactly is meaning? And what is the meaning
of a particular text? Or do we have to formulate the question differently and ask about the meanings
of a text?
Suggestions for answers are given by philosophers of language, semanticists and pragmatics scholars
alike. Scholarly frameworks and paradigms abound: Bühler’s representational, conative and
expressive functions; Jakobson’s functions of language, being the informative, expressive, persua-
sive, literary, metalinguistic and phatic types of communication; systemic-functional linguistics with
its ideational, interpersonal and textual functions; procedural functional grammar; case grammar;
relevance theory; construction grammar; formal semantics; two-cycle model of grammar (cf. Thelen,
2010); cognitive pragmatics; scenes-and-frames semantics; and so on. We also all use words to talk
about meanings, but sometimes the words that I use mean something else for you and sometimes we
1
Names of participants at The Maastricht Session of the 5th International Maastricht-Łódź Duo Colloquium
on "Translation and Meaning", Maastricht (The Netherlands), 19 – 22 May 2010, have been placed in bold
typeface.
62 SONIA VANDEPITTE
use different words, think that we mean something else but may actually be saying similar things:
meaning vs. sense, referential vs. attitudinal meanings, logical form vs. propositional form vs.
propositional attitude, irony vs. satire, hyperonymy, hyponymy, synonymy, …, illocutions vs.
perlocutions, connotations vs. denotations, semantic vs. pragmatic meanings, figurative vs. metapho-
rical vs. metonymical meanings, centripetal vs. centrifugal forces (cf. Bakhtin’s confrontation be-
tween a man’s inner world and his social environment), contresens / faux-sens / non-sens (Dussart,
2005), and so on.
All these notions are different but they all characterize meaning. Consequently, there must be a rela-
tion and some framework must be able to combine them all. What follows is a modest attempt, an
instrument to translation studies so that TS scholars can talk about meanings in their various contexts
of study in ways that they understand each other.
The framework has developed from years of teaching translation students and it seems workable with
them. My question is whether it is also workable with experienced translators and researchers from
different countries. The framework starts from the messenger’s position. All the information given
goes through his /her mind: it is a cognitive starting-point. The meaning of a message is therefore
seen as something that is construed in a person’s mind and that we will call a set of cognitive as-
sumptions2 (Sperber and Wilson, 1986).
This differs from what Bloemer (2010) claimed about the translator providing meaning. The present
framework holds the view that it is only information that is provided by a messenger and that the
meaning needs to be construed: messengers express it and audiences process it, where processing can
be equalled to interpreting in its general sense. Various speakers at The Maastricht Session of the 5th
International Maastricht-Łódź Duo Colloquium on Translation and Meaning actually also pointed out
the individuality of interpretation and the difficulties involved. Załiwska-Okrutna (2010) stressed
that “there is no meaning of text apart from the interpreter”, so that the meanings construed are never
the same, because experiences are never the same. Duarte (2010) entertained the audience on the in-
terpretation of nonsense and Azabdaftari (2010) on how difficult it was to interpret Dickens’s They
had all been born on their backs with their hands in their trousers-pockets, and never taken them out in
this state of existence. Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk (2010) reminded us how a receiver contributes to
the interpretation of a message with the development of the story about a fish attacking a swimmer
into the story about the shark attacking the swimmer. And Salerno-O’Shea (2010) argued that lite-
rary translators should focus on a better understanding of the source text.
In a communicative situation, these assumptions or mental representations are construed by mes-

sengers and receivers alike. They relate to a number of different facts, so that it is possible to speak
of different types of meaning, each type relating to a specific type of fact. In this chapter, four facts
are considered important to distinguish: they are the messengers’ representations of a state of affairs,
their attitudes, their assessments of the communicative situation and any other remaining features of
the messenger’s own assumed identity. This chapter, therefore, takes the messenger as the central
person or the most prominent actor in the communicative situation. Messengers may perform
different roles: they may represent their own assumptions and ideas, they may represent other
people’s assumptions and ideas, they may take the role of narrator in a work of fiction, they may be a
character in a novel, and so on. My hypothesis is that each utterance produced by a messenger
contains these four types of facts, that the facts are represented as information in messages, that
messengers construe these meanings and that receivers construe these meanings from the information
they hear or see in the message. In other words, a distinction is made between the concept of
information and that of meaning: the former refers to a sign, and in our case a textual characteristic,
2
‘Scenes’ is a closely related word. For its use in translation studies, see Kussmaul (2000).
and the latter to a cognitive element, i.e. a person’s assumptions. I envisage the four types of
meaning not as levels or layers on top of each other but as intertwined and interacting with each
other, just as the four colours in the Celtic knotwork pattern from Figure (1) do. Meanings, however,
differ from this pattern in that they do NOT feature the same regularity that the figure does. In
addition, the four types constitute complex sets of subcomponents whose characteristics are present
in each utterance simultaneously, as will become clear from various examples below.
This hypothesis has grown from an attempt at reconciling many scholars’ notions and paradigms
with a view to setting up a system that is coherent, encompasses the basic meanings AND is useful
for translators as a framework of reference in their process to reconcile the meanings that they
construe from the source text with those that they produce in their target texts within a given
translation assignment or project. The main ideas derive from relevance theory (Sperber & Wilson,
1986), formal semantics (Portner, 2005) and scenes-and-frames semantics as, for instance, discussed
in translation studies by Kussmaul (2000).
In what follows, we will discuss each type of meaning beginning with the messenger’s representation
of the state of affairs. This representation contains what is generally known as representational in-
formation. It includes the meanings that are referred to by the propositions of the utterance, or its
semantic meaning. The three other components constitute the meanings that are all closely related to
the communicative situation, the speaker, and the audience, or what is usually referred to as its prag-
matic meanings.
It is possible to retrieve these types of meanings in utterances – this is what receivers usually do –
and to describe their characteristics – this is what some scholars do. All meanings can be discussed in
terms of three different aspects: 1) whether the speaker / the speaker has construed them intentionally
or not; 2) whether they are uttered truthfully or not, incl. whether they belong to a factual or fictitious
message; and 3) whether they are more or less explicitly expressed.
Fig. (1): Construing meanings in texts: a conceptual framework
Indeed, we usually think of messages as being intended by a messenger. However, much of the
meaning conveyed in utterances may actually be unintentional: not only do messengers produce un-
intended mistakes, usually messengers also have their own set of socially and culturally sets of
values that they adopted (un)knowingly. Brisset (2002) illustrated this clearly with her study of a
French nineteenth century translation of Darwin’s Origin of species. To support his claims, Darwin
64 SONIA VANDEPITTE
produces many examples from nature and often uses the phrase I see and the first person singular
with argumentative verbs such as ascertain, examine, … He points at the multitude of examples
(endless instances) and lists arguments for certain hypotheses, especially those that are on the border-
line of human knowledge. In the 19th century translation by Royer, however, the references to the
first person are fewer in number and instead readers are given generalizations. No longer are the facts
stated as facts, but as general statements (les expériences constatent) or proofs (we see is translated
as un preuve évidente). Modalities and nuances (e.g. almost) are deleted. While Darwin works in a
naturalistic way, Royer presents a positivist philosophy, stressing the formal ideas rather than reality
as Darwin observed it. Royer brings laws and essential causes, while Darwin points at the complexity
and the inevitability of the ‘struggle for life’. Much of what Royer does is probably not intentional,
but just a natural consequence of her own background knowledge, which has been applied to Dar-
win’s story. Consequently, whether translators – and authors of source texts – intentionally mean
something is a matter that is very hard to determine.
Listeners, too, may intentionally or unintentionally interpret utterances differently or even misin-
terpret them. Receivers of messages may intentionally produce interpretations of utterances that are
not really those that they think are intended by the messenger. In other words, one message may be
interpreted differently by different readers. Sometimes, intentionally so. In order to defend their
clients, for instance, lawyers try to look for loopholes in laws and give interpretations in sometimes
very particular ways. In literature, translators often choose to interpret a source text in such a way
that the source text writer could not possibly have intended. Think, for instance, of Lanoye & Per-
ceval’s translation of Shakespeare’s Richard III in 1997. In other words, these translators interpret
the source text utterances differently; in cases like this, when something like a receiver’s meaning is
construed, the work is called an interpretation or an adaptation of the source text.
Because it is hard, however, to determine whether meanings are construed intentionally or unin-
tentionally, this chapter will no longer dwell upon the difference between both processes.
Another aspect that we will leave aside is whether a message is truthful or not, or whether the mes-
senger believes that the utterance is a fact or fiction. If messengers prefer to lie in a given circum-
stance, they will consider their utterance as fictitious. For receivers, this attitude is very hard to detect
(unless they can use lie-detectors). In some instances, however, messengers are explicit about their
beliefs. The following translation pair is an example where ST and TT differ as to this attitude:
EN: She let her hand lie listlessly, as though her thoughts were elsewhere. 
NL: Haar hand lag daar lusteloos – haar gedachten waren ver weg.
In the source text, the narrator suggests a fictitious state of affairs, a possibility: the character’s
thoughts may be elsewhere. It looks as if her thoughts are elsewhere, but in reality, she may actually
be focussing her thoughts on her hands. The narrator does not know. In the Dutch version, however,
the narrator presents the character’s thoughts being elsewhere as a fact. There is no doubt about it.
The third aspect in terms of which meanings of utterances can be described, however, its degree of
explicitness, is present in many translation studies: explicitation has been recognized by quite a num-
ber of scholars as a translation universal. Whether meanings are expressed explicitly or implicitly is
also something that can described. If in the translation of the Harry Potter Series, the name ‘Grey-
back’ is translated by ‘Vaalhaar’ (gloss translation: Drabhair), we can actually identify both an expli-
citation and an implicitation in the translation. The concept of ‘grey’ in the ST is replaced by the
concept of ‘vaal’ in the TT, which is more implicit than ‘grey’. At the same time, the concept of
‘back’ is replaced by the concept of ‘haar’, a pars pro toto for ‘back’, i.e. a narrower and therefore
more explicit concept. Implicit meanings include the entailments of propositions (Portner 2005: 53),
presuppositions, inferences and implicatures.
In the following sections, examples will be given of translated texts most of which differ seman-
tically (section [2]) and/or pragmatically (sections [3]-[5]) from their source texts. Some of the
translations presented carry more explicit semantic/pragmatic meanings than their source texts. Other
translations contain less explicit semantic/pragmatic meanings than the source texts. And, finally,
some examples will show how translations can carry meanings that are different from their source
texts.
Further, all four types of meanings will be briefly identified and papers presented at the Maastricht
Session of the 5th International Maastricht-Łódź Duo Colloquium on “Translation and Meaning” will
be drawn upon to provide examples of differences between source and target texts with respect to the
type of meaning under consideration.
2. A messenger’s representation of a state of affairs

A messenger using language usually refers to a possible world or a possible situation, the former en-
compassing many instances of the latter. Such a possible situation (just ‘situation’ for short), ex-
pressed or denoted by an utterance, is often different from the message situation itself, although not
necessarily so. It is the speaker’s mental representation of this situation which is called repre-
sentational meaning in this chapter. Other terms for it are: denotation, referential meaning, truth
conditional meaning, propositional content or ideational function. Chromá (2010) claims that the
denotational or referential meaning is the most important and useful element in law dictionaries
because much ambiguity and confusion may arise in the interpretation of a legal text. An example
that she gives is the passage to narrow issues to be determined at trial taken from Canadian Manual
for Younger Jurists, in which determine is not meant to be interpreted as define, but as decide.
Representational meaning may consist of at least six different components: predication, modification,
quantification, embedding, reflexivity and coherence, as they are represented in Fig. (2). Whether
intentionally or not, each of these components is present in a message, but not always is each of them
represented explicitly.
In translation, we will say that two utterances have different semantic meanings if they represent dif-
ferent situations or states of affairs. And two states of affairs may be said to differ from one another
when they include different predicates or different arguments, when different forms of modification
are included, when their quantitative attributes are different, when embedding or reflexivity is dis-
similar, or when their features of coherence are not similar.
Fig. (2): Representation of a state of affairs

66 SONIA VANDEPITTE
2.1 Predication: talking about people, objects, actions, states, events, …

Each sentence predicates or refers to a state of affairs, which is a combination of five different ele-
ments: a referent or argument (expressed by a noun phrase), a property (expressed by a verb phrase)
in a certain way in a certain place and at a certain time. The combination of those elements in the
speaker’s mental representation is a complete assumption or proposition, i.e. the meaning of the
utterance. In formal semantics, this meaning can be rephrased as truth conditions: they are the
conditions in which the utterance can be said to be true (true possible worlds). One true possible
world for, for instance, I have declared an interest is I have declared something. Another I have done
something. A false possible world is I have not done anything.
Unless a speaker is not communicating intentionally, predication is always present in utterances. The
other representational components, however, are optional: they do not always appear in all utteran-
ces, in other words, they do not constitute essential meaning elements.
Two states of affairs may differ from each other with respect to one of the five elements mentioned
above. In Fig. (3), viewers will see a difference in time (day and night) between the left and the right
pictures. In translation, too, researchers, critics, or readers may find predicational differences be-
tween source and target texts.
Ben-Ari (2010) gave an example of machine translation where the Hebrew source text ubar was
translated as foetus in English, an argument, rather than the preposition over, which it should have
been translated into within the given context.
Fig. (3): Differences in predication
The following example illustrates how a translation may refer to a larger set of different propositions
in comparison with the source text:
EN: On 20 July Genoa was host city to the G8 annual summit, and the place to be
for the ‘veterans’ of Seattle, Melbourne and London’s City and Parliament Square
riots, for the veterans of Washington, Prague, Nice, Quebec, and Gothenburg (if
‘veterans’ is the appropriate term for a movement only a couple of years old).
They flocked there in droves: pink fairies in drag, red devils handing out Boy-
cott Bacardi leaflets, Italian anarchists in game-show padded body armor, envi-
ronmentalists with mobile phones, suburbanites with cameras snapping as if
they were on a day trip to the big city — a babel of different languages and dif-
ferent objectives gathered under the one ‘anti’ banner. 
NL: Op 26 september was Praag de stad die onderdak bood aan de jaarlijkse verga-
dering van het imf en de Wereldbank, en de plek waar de oud-strijders van de
demonstraties in Seattle, Melbourne en Londens City en Parliament Square aan-
wezig moesten zijn. Ze kwamen er in grote zwermen bijeen, in het roze geklede
travestieten, rode duivels die blaadjes uitdeelden met ‘Boycott Bacardi’, Itali-
aanse anarchisten in met stootkussens van It’s a Knock-out opgevulde kleding,
milieuactivisten met mobiele telefoons, provincialen die kiekjes schoten alsof
ze een dagtochtje naar Blackpool maakten – een waar Babel van verschillende
talen en verschillende doelstellingen dat zich had geschaard achter een en het-
zelfde ‘anti’-spandoek.
The states of affairs referred to are completely different: Genoa vs. Prague, the G8 annual summit vs.
the annual meeting of the IMF and the World Bank, the veterans of Washington, Prague, Nice,
Quebec, and Gothenburg that only appear in the source text, and so on. When a professional trans-
lates in this way, the result is usually called an adaptation rather than a translation. Adaptations are
possible when commissioners such as publishers agree with the different information. In the present
example, which was taken from the translation of Noreena Hertz’s Silent takeover, the reference to
the Prague demonstrations was only possible in the translation, because they had already taken place
before publication, which was not the case with reference to the source text, for which the most
recent event was the Genoa demonstrations.
In translations, we also regularly find examples where the argument of the source text differs from
that of the translation, as in the example below:
EN: The thing I’m on starts rolling again. A moving bed? Yes. A gurney, in other
words. 
NL: Het ding waarop ik me bevind begint terug te rijden. Een bewegend bed? Ja.
Een brancard, met andere woorden.
Here, the translation is said to be semantically different from the source text because the American
English word ‘gurney’ refers to “a long narrow table with wheels used for moving sick people in a
hospital” (LDCE), while in Dutch a ‘brancard’ refers to a bed that can be carried (VDNN). Another
example with an argument difference among the two elements of the translation pair is the following
in which the object referred to by weeds in the source text is different from the object referred to by
tabak in the target text:
EN: There were strange, rare odors abroad – a tangle of the sea smell and of weeds
and damp, new-plowed earth, mingled with the heavy perfume of a field of white
blossoms somewhere near. 
NL: De lucht was vol vreemde geuren – de geuren van zee en tabak en vochtige, pas-
geploegde aarde, vermengd met de bedwelmende geur van een veld vol witte
bloemen vlakbij.
The translation tabak for weeds is surprising in the context of the sea, especially if the writer had
intended to refer to the waterplant, the seaweeds.
Predication also includes all references to manner, place and time, incl. aspect: whether an activity or
event is in progress or not, whether it is habitual or not or whether it is referred to as a whole (Leech
2004). An example in which the translation points at a time that differs from the one in the source
text is the following:
EN: And I will help build a unified Party with a strong platform for the only legacy
that has ever mattered to me – a fourth term election victory that allows us to
keep changing Britain for the better. 
NL: En ik zal helpen bouwen aan een eengemaakte Partij met een sterk platform voor
het enige nalatenschap dat me ooit dierbaar was.
While the translation of ever can be ooit in some situations, it is clear from the context that Tony
Blair is referring to something that has always mattered to him rather than for some time in the past
(as expressed by ooit). The time reference in the above translation is difficult to comprehend and a
word like altijd is among the receiver’s expectations. Now, time is often expressed by means of time
adverbials like ever or modals like will, which may refer to the future only in many cases, but does
not do so in the following utterance. The result is that the translation’s predication differs from that
of the source text:
68 SONIA VANDEPITTE
EN: She’ll sit talking to herself for hours. 

NL: Ze zal daar uren in zichzelf zitten praten.
There are also other means to express temporal meanings. The adjective former, for instance, is an
intensive adjective – and, hence, grammatically speaking a modifier – which expresses the time of a
predication rather than modification (the usual meaning expressed by adjectives):
EN: I must declare an interest as a lawyer but also as a former competition minister
in the United Kingdom. 
NL: Als jurist voel ik mij natuurlijk aangesproken, maar ook als Brits oud-minister
bevoegd voor mededinging.
As such, we could even say that former actually evokes a new situation, nl. an older one than the one
present in the main part of the utterance. And the example below illustrates how the attitude of the
boy referred to by he towards to the action expressed in the source text is different from that ex-
pressed in the target text:
EN: “Call him!” “He won’t look up.” 

NL: ‘Roep hem!’ ‘Hij kijkt niet.’
In the English sentence, he does not look up, neither does he want to: the modal verb won’t expresses
the subject’s attitude towards looking up. In the Dutch translation, however, this refusal is not
present: its back translation is He doesn’t look up. The boy in question, however, is characterized as
having a will that no axe could break, in other words, a stubborn young person. This characterization
is something that a translator may want to use as a criterion in their selection among various possible
translation choices. A translation that would express the subject’s attitude in a way that is similar to
that in the source text would be the following utterance:
NL: “Hij wil niet opkijken!”
Remarkably, the verbal construction also adds information to the characterization of the argument
Hij, a type of meaning that is described in the next section on modification.
2.2 Modification: describing characteristics

Modification is that type of meaning that expresses characteristics of arguments and properties. In
Fig. (4) the bark of the tree on the left is of a darker colour than the one on the right. In the following
translation, the objectives are characterized differently compared to the source text. The TT objec-
tives are ambitious, while the ST objectives are strategic:
EN: This was the opening statement of Commission President, Prodi, when he
presented the strategic objectives of the European Commission for the next five
years. 
NL: Mevrouw de Voorzitter, hedenmorgen heeft de voorzitter van de Commissie, de
heer Prodi, een aantal ambitieuze doelstellingen uiteengezet die de Europese U-
nie de komende vijf jaar zou moeten verwezenlijken
Fig. (4): Differences in modification

Sometimes characteristics are described by means of nouns. An example comes from Cheng and
Yan (2010), who discussed the frequent Chinese term 君子 from the Analects that refers to “gentle-
man” within the hermeneutic tradition and its translations by five renowned translators, such as a
man of complete virtue, a superior man, a scholar, a real gentleman, a high breed, which all refer to
a person (and therefore express predicational meaning) but focus on the characteristics of the person.
Another example is taken from Kabán and Mózes’s discussion (2010) of the Hungarian translation
of Verlaine’s poem Mon rêve familier:
FR: Je fais souvent ce rêve étrange et pénétrant 

(Gloss: I have often this dream strange and penetrating)
HU: Álmodom egy nöröl, akit nem ismerek,
Forró és különos, áldott, nagy Látomás.
A key word in this poem is the adjective étrange (strange, as the opposite of the familier – familiar –
in the title), which has been rendered in the translation not only by forró but also by three other ad-
jectives különos, áldott, and nagy.
2.3 Quantification: counting

Apart from identifying and describing, people also count and use concepts such as numbers and
measurements in their utterances and translators, too, employ them. In Fig. (5), we see that the
number of people in the picture on the left differs from that on the right. If, however, a pilot trans-
lates
EN: It is 15°C outside

into Dutch by
NL: Het is buiten vijf graden,
the Dutch-speaking people on the plane will expect the weather to be much colder than it actually is
because of the wrong quantifying measure. Numbers sometimes require special attention as in van
Nunen’s (2010) example from a movie theatre:
EN: Love is a four-letter word 

NL: Liefde is een word van vier letters,
in which the translation does not make much sense. Partitive concepts may also differ among the ele-
ments of a translation pair, as in:
EN: Edna had not traversed a quarter of the distance on her way home before she
was overtaken by Robert. 
NL: Edna was nog niet eens op de helft, toen Robert haar inhaalde.
In the English version, Robert caught up with Edna before she had stepped one quarter of the way. In
the Dutch version, Robert takes a longer time to overtake her. He only reaches her when she has
covered half of the distance.
70 SONIA VANDEPITTE
Fig. (5): Differences in quantification
Messengers also count indirectly or implicitly. In the following source text passage, the argument
newspaper is definite, which means that people were looking for one and the same newspaper. But in
the target it is not clear whether that was the case:
EN: They were looking for the newspaper 

NL: Ze zochten naar een krant.
Quantification may also be expressed vaguely as a kind of degree. Take, for instance, the source text
sentence:
EN: He wanted to watch very long movies.
Deletion in a translation of ‘very’ will lead to deletion of the intensity expressed in the source text
sentence. These may perhaps not be exact measurements, but they do refer to comparative notions of
measurement. The measurement may even be qualified and simultaneously express some modi-
fication, as in the degree adjective shallow in the first example and the degree adverb ver (far) in the
second example, in which the translation hints at a longer distance between the character’s situation
and her thoughts in comparison to the source text:
NL: Ze ademt traag in en uit, ze wil het beeld bevingvrij houden. 

EN: She keeps her breathing deliberately shallow and slow; the image has to remain
stable (self-translation)
EN: … as though her thoughts were elsewhere 

NL: … haar gedachten waren ver weg.
The image in the following translation, zo trots als een pauw (as proud as a feathercock), shows
again how the translation expresses a stronger degree of intensity of a characteristic:
EN: Victor was proud of his achievement. 

NL: Victor was zo trots als een pauw.
The translation clearly conveys more pride than the simple proud in the source text. By intensifying
Victor’s feelings by means of the simile, the translator focuses on his feelings rather than on the
result of his actions, which happened to be a cake he had just baked. In the English passage, the
‘achievement’ is the item that is placed in final position; it is also repeated twice in the two following
propositions. In the translation it only occurs twice.
2.4 Embedding: quoting somebody else

Events can be embedded in someone’s thoughts or speech (Portner, 2005: 163; see Fig. [6]). How-
ever, translations may lack these embeddings as in the following pair and, hence, express different
states of affairs:
EN: It is thought that there are 10,000 such deaths a year. 

NL: Ø Er zijn 10.000 zulke sterfgevallen per jaar.
A translation that omits it is thought is one whose meaning will be different from that of the source
text utterance. A more literal translation would have been:
NL: Er zijn naar schatting 10.000 zulke sterfgevallen per jaar,
from which it becomes clear that embedding is not necessarily indicated by means of embedded sen-
tences.
Fig. (6): Embedding
2.5 Reflexivity: talking about one’s own language

Reflexivity is the type of meaning that surfaces when language is used to refer to language itself as
represented in Fig. (7). In the English source text utterance below, a ‘Third Way’ is mentioned, a
concept which has been given the name of ‘third way’. In the target text, however, this third way is
not presented in the same manner but much more directly; without the quotation marks, the concept
with its name receives
Fig. (7): Reflexivity
the status of a fact without any reflection on the use of the term:
EN: Politicians from all mainstream parties have over the past few years espoused
noble aims of reconciling capitalism with humanity, social justice with
economic success. In the US and UK, Clinton and Blair for example, talked of a
‘Third Way’, while Bush spoke of ‘Compassionate Conservatism’. 
NL: Politici die praten over een Derde Weg hebben de afgelopen paar jaar hun steun
betuigd aan edele doelstellingen als de verzoening van het kapitalisme met
menselijkheid, en van sociale rechtvaardigheid met economisch succes.
2.6 Coherence: linking

Many messages consist of the representation of more than one state of affairs. The linearity of lan-
guage, the fact that we can only say or write one thing at a time, requires this multiplicity of these
state of affairs to be linked with each other in certain, usually linear, ways. Coherence in a text refers
to the links that exist between the various propositions expressed in that text. We will distinguish be-
tween the links between states of affairs with each other (co-textual coherence), on the one hand, and
72 SONIA VANDEPITTE
the links between a state of affairs with an element from the communicative situation (contextual
coherence), on the other hand.
2.6.1 Co-textual coherence

How are states of affairs linked with each other? In Fig. (8), for instance, is it the case that three men
take a walk through the park, meet their friends on a ice-skating rink, have a cup of Glühwein to
warm up again and then sit at the table to have dinner? Or do the separate states of affairs represented
by the four pictures tell us a different story: does a group of friends first have a meal in a restaurant,
then they go ice-skating, enjoy a hot Glühwein and Christmas cake and finally walk home through
the park? It is the way in which we link these states of affairs with each other which will determine
the thread of our story.
Fig. (8): Co-textual coherence: order in linking

It is possible to link states of affairs to each other in semantic relations such as addition, alternation,
negation and contingency are expressed (causality, condition, contrast, concession, time and circum-
stance). The translation pair below illustrates how a state of affairs (the post office is in the general
store) is presented as a result of another situation in the source text (the place is so small), while the
source text refers to the same place, omits its essential characteristic (small), however, and adds the
fact that the post office is in the general store as a characteristic:
EN: Place is so small the post office is in the general store 

NL: Het is zo’n dorpje waar het postkantoor in de bazaar is
In the following example, which was presented by van Nunen (2010) from Peter Bergsma’s transla-
tion De idee Europa of George Steiner’s The idea of Europe, the translation even expresses a relation
that is the temporal opposite of its ‘corresponding’ passage in the source text: instead of expressing
that many of Europe’s stars will remain yellow until Europe confronts the venom of Jew-hatred with-
in its own bloodstream, the translation conveys the message that Europe’s stars will remain yellow
from the moment when Europe confronts the venom of Jew-hatred within its own bloodstream:
EN: Until Europe confronts the venom of Jew-hatred within its own bloodstream,
until it comes to explicit terms with the long pre-history of the gas-ovens, many
of the stars in our European firmament will continue to be yellow. 
NL: Pas wanneer (Gloss: Only when) Europa het gif van de jodenhaat in zijn eigen
bloedsomloop onderkent, pas wanneer het de lange voorgeschiedenis van de
gasovens expliciet onder ogen durft te zien, zullen vele sterren aan ons Europe-
se firmament geel blijven.
Another case of difference in linking can be observed when a complex state of affairs encompassing
several states of affairs is represented either as separate components that are placed side by side, as in
the English source text below, in which the two states of affairs are linked by and in a coordinate
structure, or as a complex state of affairs that incorporates or integrates different other states of af-
fairs within a complex sentence as in the translation below, in which one state of affairs is more
closely integrated in a temporal relationship within the other state of affairs:
EN: At school they asked if I had brothers or sisters – and I wrote `None’. 
NL: Toen ze op school vroegen of ik broers of zusjes had, schreef ik op ‘Geen’.
Vice versa, the source text may also have one state of affairs integrated within another while the
target text presents them at an equal level:
EN: [The Commission] will make its many websites more multilingual, setting up
an internal network to make sure that there is consistency in its departments’
linguistic practice 
NL: de Commissie [zal] haar vele websites meertaliger maken en een intern netwerk
opzetten om tot een coherent taalbeleid binnen haar diensten te komen.
Differences in integrating states of affairs within one another usually go hand in hand with differ-
ences in messengers’ focalizations or focussing of the state of affairs (section [2.7]). They also rely
on messengers’ assessment of audiences’ inferencing capacity (section [3.3]).
Links to preceding text may also be purely referential: when messengers refer to arguments that have
already been mentioned, they can do so by repeating a particular item, by using a term that is related
to it (cf. Kerremans 2010) or by referring to it by means of a pronoun. In the translation example
below, the self-translator’s reference to the argument tape is explicit, while the source text remains
more implicit with its use of the personal pronoun it:
NL: Het kan haar een bom duiten opbrengen. 

EN: She could make very good money off that tape.
The example presented by Ben-Ari (2010) of an online machine translation which had she said,
instead of it said to refer to a message, is indicative of how co-textual coherence is important for the
understanding of messages.
2.6.2 Contextual coherence

There are also contextual types of coherence, a term that I reserve to refer to the connection between
the representation of a state of affairs, or an element within it, with the actual communicative situa-
tion. In this type of coherence, the representational component of meaning is relevant to the same de-
gree as the messenger’s assessment of the communicative situation.
Sometimes, a messenger directly points at elements from the utterance situation. The expressions
used are the so-called deictic elements of language; they express ‘indexical meaning’. In the follow-
ing translation pair,
EN: I bought one of these for $10 [phone card] 

NL: Ik kocht een van die daar voor 10 dollar.
die daar may refer to the same thing in the same context when this utterance is interpreted immedia-
tely after it has been uttered, and so there is no meaning difference as to deixis between this source
text sentence and its interpretation at a conference. In a written translation for an audience that was
not present at the moment of speaking, however, the translation audience will have questions as to
how they need to interpret die daar. Without this information, the receiver is at a loss.
74 SONIA VANDEPITTE
Messengers further also consider the knowledge of their audience (section [3]) and reflect these con-
siderations in the manner in which they organize different parts of their messages in relation to each
other, i.e. their information distribution. Information distribution refers to the way in which the mes-
senger expressed how prominent particular elements in the message need to be conceived by the
reader3. If information distribution in the source text is different from that in the target text, it means
that the emphasis is also different: some other piece of information has been given more prominence.
Information distribution is reflected by means of sentence order (first example), specific rhetorical or
graphical features (second example), special constructions (third example) or scope words (just, only,
simply, yet, mostly – fourth example):
EN: I worked as a scaffolder in the City Road, near the Angel. 

NL: In de City Road, dichtbij de Angel, werkte ik als bouwvakker,
EN: And if these are orderlies wheeling me into an operating room, why can’t I see.
Why can’t I talk [italics in source text]? 
NL: En als dit verpleegkundigen zijn die me de operatiekamer binnenrijden, waar-
om zie ik dan niets? Waarom kan ik niet spreken?
EN: We cannot understand America’s need to retaliate unless we accept […] (Fisk
2001) 
NL: We kunnen Amerika’s behoefte om te vergelden alleen maar begrijpen als we
[…] onder ogen zien.
EN: There were two things that made Benny different from me. 
NL: Benny en ik verschilden van elkaar op maar twee vlakken.
In the first example, the place of the element scaffolder in the middle of the source text sentence does
not give it special prominence, especially not before a longer place adverbial. The final position of
the target text, however, gives bouwvakker a more prominent status in the information distribution
pattern. The translation of the second example differs from the source text as to information distri-
bution in two ways. First, the Dutch translation has no words in italics, whereas the source text stres-
ses the word talk. Secondly, the repetition of why can’t I contributes to the strength of the focal point
talk. It is the only new element in the new utterance. This attention-drawing device is missing in the
translation. In the third example, there is stronger focus on the lack of understanding in the source
text, which mentions it explicitly, than in the target text, from which it can only be inferred. In the
final example, the presence of the scope word maar yields a target text focus that is different from the
source text focus.
All these examples show how linking is also related to focussing (section [2.7.2]). Finally, it should
be noted that at a larger level of unit, too, that of the structure of a complete text or discourse, linking
takes place between its smaller passages.
2.7 Holistic representation of a state of affairs

Looking at a state of affairs and representing it can be done in more than one way, however. Like a
cameraman, we can walk around it and look at it from different perspectives. Or, with our camera,
we can zoom in on the situation and focus on various elements.
2.7.1 Focalised view: from which position does the messenger look at the state of affairs?
Messengers – or narrators – can describe a state of affairs from different perspectives (cf. Kussmaul
2000). If they look at a state of affairs from one position, they see things that they cannot see when
3
In cognitive semantics this is called the prominence view.
they look at it from another, and vice versa, the new perspective can give them new elements to
process (see Fig. [9]).
Fig. (9): Focalised view of a state of affairs
To be able to take a distance from the source text, van Nunen (2010) asks his students to stand up; if
we also ask them to walk around and view the state of affairs with the lens of a camera in front of our
eyes, we will see new things every time. In the translation example below, the source text describes
the state of affairs from the point of view of the subject of the sentence ze (she), a woman who feels
hurt in the places where young men grabbed her rudely. The target text departs from the same point
of view, but then suddenly changes to the point of view of an observer who describes the action of
rough fingers groping her:
NL: Haar handen trillen, haar lijf doet pijn waar ze met ruwe fikken werd vastge-
grepen. 
EN: Her hands are shaking, her body aches where rough fingers have groped her.
(self-translation)
EN: They were in the shadow. 
NL: Het was vrij donker.
And in the example above, the source text sentence focalises the state of affairs from an outside ob-
server who describes a characteristic of the place they were in (shadow). The target text sentence, in
contrast, focalises the same state of affairs from they and what the shadow meant to their eyesight.
If one discourse contains different focalizations, it is said to be diglossic or heteroglossic. Bo Li

(2010) discussed how two generations in conflict presented different views (or focalizations) using
two languages, Mandarin and Cantonese. Sometimes, it is the translators themselves that surface
through the translation with their own focalizations: according to Nyongwa (2010), the role of the
translator as an agent of mediation (in the case of a dead culture) or as an agent of imperialism (in the
case of two living cultures that meet) is sometimes transparent.
2.7.2 A focused view: which elements does the messenger see in the state of affairs?
Messages also communicate which parts of propositional states of affairs messengers find relevant,
and, implicitly, which they do not find relevant or which do not want attention to be paid to. So, an-
other type of information that is present in a message is the messenger’s focus on a state of affairs. In
the first place, the messenger may choose some elements to be expressed explicitly, while others re-
main absent whether or not they are easily inferable from the context. Each utterance can indeed be
seen as a synecdoche (or a “pars pro toto”) of the state of affairs it represents (Lederer 1994). It is up
to the translator then to decide whether the same elements from the state of affairs will be represent-
ed in the translation or not. Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk (2010), too, argued how we cannot see eve-
rything at the same time and how elements may remain vague. She showed how this may lead to two
types of communication: approximative (vague) and particulate (detailed) communication.
In contrast with his earlier version in the source text, the self-translator in the first example no longer
finds it relevant to add how the character’s heart is thumping uncontrollably (or Figure 3.10 left). On
the other hand, the self-translator takes the opposite view in the second example and adds another
item – that of the undrinkable lager – to the plastic bags that he is describing (or Fig. [10] right):
76 SONIA VANDEPITTE
NL: Daar gaat ze, haar benen dragen haar. Haar hart bonkt, oncontroleerbaar.
EN: There she goes; her legs obey her mind's commands. Ø (self-translation)
Gloss: There she goes, her legs are carrying her. Her heart is thumping, un-
controllably.
EN: de reizigers met glimmend gesleten plasticzakken op zoek naar betaalbare ver-
sies van de Duitse Droom – Ø, bananen en blikken zalm, spuitbussen met
Schlagsahne, goedkope naaktbladen. 
(Gloss: the travellers with their shiny, worn-out plastic bags in search of afford-
able versions of the German Dream – bananas and cans of salmon, cans of
whipped cream, cheap porno mags)
NL: their passengers are out in the streets, filling their plastic shopping bags with
discount versions of the German dream – six-packs of undrinkable lager, tins
of salmon that tastes of nothing but salt, aerosol cans of rancid whipped cream,
[…] and maybe a bunch of spotted bananas that will turn into a mushy black
nightmare before the bus hits Warsaw. (self-translation).
Fig. (10): Focused versus detailed representation
The example below (an expansion of the example in section [2.6.1]) shows a difference with respect
to this assessment: the ST provides the information in such a way that it says what the Commission
(as the source text writer) does (better job). The translator, however, provides it in such a way that
the readers will know what the consequences of those actions will be for them (gemakkelijker kunnen
raadplegen):
EN: To do a better job of providing citizens with access to information about the
European Union in their own languages, especially about legislation, proce-
dures and policies, the Commission says:
 It will make its many websites more multilingual, setting up an internal net-
work to make sure that there is consistency in its departments’ linguistic
practice, and
 It will establish a pro-active multilingual communication policy, to comple-
ment the Commission’s wider initiative to improve communication with
European citizens and specific groups such as journalists, the language in-
dustry, schools and universities. 
NL: Om ervoor te zorgen dat de burgers informatie over de Europese Unie (vooral
over wetgeving, procedures en beleidsmaatregelen) gemakkelijker in hun ei-
gen taal kunnen raadplegen zal de Commissie:
 haar vele websites meertaliger maken en een intern netwerk opzetten om tot
een coherent taalbeleid binnen haar diensten te komen; en
 een proactief meertalig communicatiebeleid ontwikkelen dat het ruimere
initiatief van de Commissie, namelijk een betere communicatie met de Eu-
ropese burgers en specifieke groepen zoals journalisten, de taalindustrie,
scholen en universiteiten, aanvult.
In this example we also see that a cause-result relationship has been expressed from a different point
of view (practice in the ST, beleid in the TT; section [2.7.1]).
2.8 Summary
The summarizing figure below (Fig. [11]) groups together the types of representational meanings. It
also shows how they are especially involved in the translation (T) of particular problems. The trans-
lation of cultural and technical references and names mainly involves reference to things, peoples,
institutions, etc., i.e. arguments as parts of predication. Translating descriptive and evaluative texts
requires many considerations of modificational meanings. The translation of measurements is a
quantificational issue, while the translation of direct or indirect speech is related to the repre-
sentational meaning of embedding. Coherence is involved in the translation of deixis, tenses, com-
plex sentences and discourse structure. And, finally, reflexivity is relevant to translators and transla-
tion studies when metalinguistic items are translated, an important case being that of puns.
Fig. (11): Representational information and translation problems
3. A messenger’s attitudes
Messengers’ attitudes refer to two related concepts. They are both involved with some or other form
of modality, going from certainty via possibility to desirability. Messengers can, indeed, mainly
adopt two types of attitude: one of belief and one of desire. The former is related to what extent a
proposition is considered to be factual or possible, while the latter shows to what extent the messen-
ger desires a state of affairs or an element from it.
3.1 Attitude of belief
Fig. (12): A messenger’s attitude of belief to a state of affairs
Messengers’ attitudes of belief denote the messengers’ consideration to what extent they present the
state of affairs as a certainty or a possibility, as is illustrated schematically in Fig. (12). This informa-
tion is not only expressed by means of adverbials such as possibly or probably, or the modal verb
may, but also by means of so-called intensive adjectives, such as fake or possible (Portner 2005:65),
and all disjuncts. The following example is a translation pair whose ST utterance expresses some de-
78 SONIA VANDEPITTE
gree of disbelief towards the state of affairs we will all be drowned in gin, while the subtitled TT ver-
sion expresses no disbelief at all:
EN: Oo! We’ll all be drowned! – Perhaps in gin!

NL: We zullen allen verdrinken! – In de gin!
And in the following example
EN: It comes to me that I’m in a hospital, that something bad has happened to me,
something like the explosion that almost neutered me twenty-three years before,
and that I’m going to be operated on. There are a lot of answers in that idea,
sensible ones, for the most part, but I don’t hurt anywhere.
NL: Het dringt tot me door dat ik in een ziekenhuis ben, dat er iets ergs met me ge-
beurd is, iets zoals de explosie die me 23 jaar geleden bijna castreerde, en waar-
voor ik geopereerd zal worden. Er zijn vele verklaringen mogelijk in dat op-
zicht, de meeste zijn aanvaardbaar, maar ik voel nergens pijn.
the translation is explicit as to the narrator’s propositional attitude of belief: he believes that most
ideas actually are acceptable, there’s certainty about that. The source text, however, is more tenta-
tive: the answers are sensible for the most part, but they are not completely sensible, there’s some
hesitation about that.
Messengers’ attitudes of belief with respect to their receivers can also be construed from messages.
They have been dealt with in section (3).
3.2 Attitude of desire

The term attitude of desire to a state of affairs may refer to the messengers’ wishes with respect to a
state of affairs and with respect to the audience.
3.2.1 Attitude of desire with respect to a state of affairs

If messengers express that they consider a particular state of affairs or part of it as wishful, they
express their attitude of desire with respect to that state of affairs (Fig. 13). The example below,
illustrates how the translation does not reflect the same propositional attitude:
NL: de reizigers met glimmend gesleten plasticzakken op zoek naar betaalbare

versies van de Duitse Droom – bananen en blikken zalm, spuitbussen met Schlag-
sahne, goedkope naaktbladen
(Gloss: the travellers with their shiny, worn-out plastic bags in search of af-
fordable versions of the German Dream – bananas and cans of salmon, cans of
whipped cream, cheap porno mags)
EN: their passengers are out in the streets, filling their plastic shopping bags with
discount versions of the German dream – […], tins of salmon that tastes of
nothing but salt, aerosol cans of rancid whipped cream, […] and maybe a
bunch of spotted bananas that will turn into a mushy black nightmare before
the bus hits Warsaw. (self-translation).
In the source text, the messenger expresses his own dissatisfaction with – or absence of desire of –
the shiny, worn-out plastic bags. In the self-translation, however, the messenger does not express any
absence of desire with respect to the plastic bags. Instead, there is a clear expression of disgust at the
salmon, cream and bananas, which is absent in the source text.
Fig. (13): A messenger’s attitude of desire with regard to the state of affairs represented
3.2.2 Attitude of desire with respect to the receiver: illocutionary / perlocutionary force and
skopos
Messengers also entertain thoughts about what they would like or expect their audience to do after
the utterance and these intentions with their audience can also be retrieved in their messages (Fig.
14). In this way, the notion includes the traditional notions of mood and illocutionary force.
Sometimes they want to build a good relationship with them (this is the phatic function of language),
sometimes they want to quarrel with them and sometimes they want their audience to perform
specific acts, and in particular, they sometimes want their audience to make specific inferences (by
using specific discourse markers, specific constructions or
Fig. (14): A messenger’s attitude of desire with regard to the receiver
specific style figures). In the following translation pair, the members show different assessments in
terms of the audience’s reaction. While the source text speaker requires a reply, the target text
speaker does not:
EN: Does he go to the theatre tonight?

NL: Hij gaat naar het toneel vanavond.
Sometimes, the intentions which messengers have with respect to their audiences are wrapped up in
larger texts. The texts are then said to have specific functions or different types of skopos (Vermeer,
2000: 221). Elkebich (2010), for instance, stressed how important the language of the law was with
his words le droit dicte la norme. Different types of text further have forms and structures that are
language-specific (Nord, 1997). In this type of meaning, there is close interrelation between mes-
sengers’ assessments of audiences’ reactions and their assessment of audiences’ knowledge of lan-
guage conventions.
80 SONIA VANDEPITTE
3.3 A messenger’s assessment of the communicative situation4

In section (2.6.2) we already saw that messengers may represent information from the communi-
cative situation deictically. Equally related to information from the communicative situation is the
messengers’ attitude of desire (section [3.2]), a type of information that receivers are usually able to
retrieve. Yet another type of information can be detected in a message, the messenger’s assessment
of the audience’s inferencing capacity. Messengers, indeed, also judge their receivers’ ability to infer
intended meanings. This ability plays a large role in communication and is determined by what a
receiver already knows about the information in the message, which may partly be reflected in the in-
formation distribution pattern of their utterance (section [2.6.2]), and what a receiver already knows
about the language conventions that govern the communicative situation, which will be reflected in
their register choice . The latter knowledge will lead a receiver to entertain certain expectations about
the message in terms of language and expressions.
…..
Fig. (15): A messenger’s and a translator’s assessment of their respective communicative situations
In translation, however, there are two communicative situations: one context is the writing situation
of the source text messenger, and the other context is the translation situation, as is illustrated in Fig.
(15).
The following translation pairs show how source text messengers assess their audiences differently
compared to target text messengers with respect to what they judge their receivers to know. The first
two utterances illustrate how co-textually redundant representational information is present in the
source texts, whereas it is absent in the target texts. The latter become less explicit:
EN: Native Americans were immigrants too.

NL: De autochtonen waren eveneens immigranten.
EN: Mid-April, off the coast of Angola, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. In this
zone propitious to bigeye tuna1 fishing, a few tuna vessels – their holds full –
navigate towards cargo vessels. The tuna vessels, flying the flags of Cambodia,
Belize or Guinea, prepare to transfer the product of their illegal fishing activity
to Panamanian cargo boats.
NL: Het is half april en we bevinden ons vóór Angola, in de Atlantische Oceaan. In
deze zone die uitstekend geschikt is voor de vangst van patudo1, varen enkele
tonijnvissers onder Cambodjaanse, Belizische of Guinese vlag met volle lading
naar grote tankers met Panamese vlag toe. De eersten maken zich klaar om de
producten van hun illegale vangst over te laden op de tankers.
EN: I’ve got places to go and people to meet…

NL: Ik heb meer te doen…
4
This is Halliday’s interpersonal level.
In the third example, the target text audience consists of children and since the information about the
fairy having to go to places and meet people is missing in the target text, they are supposed to infer
that for themselves. It is not present in the preceding text, but it may be assumed to be general
knowledge among child readers of fairy-tales. The translator used a hyperonymic phrase or broader
term (cf. ‘generalisatie’ Langeveld 1986, translation by a more general / neutral word; Baker 1992:
26ff). Such a technique leads to loss of precision: when one generalizes, the translation becomes
vaguer, less explicit and includes more arguments or properties.
In contrast with the preceding examples, the target text may also be more explicit than the source text
and contain more information:
EN: Unusual, however, is the frequency with which Steen used his own laughing
face […]
NL: Ongebruikelijk echter is de frequentie waarmee Steen zijn eigen lachende ge-
zicht in zijn schilderijen gebruikte […]
EN: I worked as a scaffolder in the City Road, near the Angel.

NL: Ik werkte als bouwvakker in de City Road, dichtbij de wijk the Angel.
Addition of information will help the reader whose background may be different from that of the
source text reader. Explicitations usually result from adding elements as in the preceding examples
introducing hyponyms, i.e. terms which convey more specific information (e.g. sister is a hyponym
of relative), sometimes also referred to as specifications:
EN: He is going to visit a relative.

NL: Hij gaat een zus bezoeken.
Assumptions inferred from the translation may sometimes also be different from the assumptions
inferred from the source text. Not only does a messenger estimate what the receiver already knows or
does not know. Often, the messenger also judges some (denotational) information to be inappropriate
to the receiver and to replace it by other information. An example is presented by the following
passage from Ph. Roth’s American Pastoral and its translation by Else Hoog:
EN: This is the speech I didn’t give at my forty-fifth high school reunion, a speech
to myself masked as a speech to them.
NL: Dit is de toespraak die ik niet heb gehouden op het feest ter gelegenheid van het
negende lustrum van mijn eindexamenklas van de middelbare school, een
toespraak tot mezelf, vermomd als toespraak tot hen.
The reader of the Dutch translation will make inferences that are different from the source text
reader’s: the latter will infer that there is an annual reunion of the class people, whereas in the Dutch
translation only every five year, this celebration takes place.
Finally, receivers may also infer from texts which textual conventions the messenger judges to be
appropriate for them in a given circumstance. For example, a translator may decide that the reader
will accept an utterance better if it conforms to the normal textual conventions, even if the source text
deviates from them. An example is the Dutch translation in De Morgen of Robert Fisk’s comment on
9/11 in 2001:
EN: Not cruise missiles and ‘precision’ bombs and Muslim lives lost in revenge for
Western lives.
NL: Dat betekent niet: raketten en ‘precisie’bommen en moslim-doden als wraak
voor westerse doden.
82 SONIA VANDEPITTE
The Dutch clause dat betekent niet (BT: that does not mean) renders the sentence into a finite one,
finite sentences being more conventional than finite ones as main clauses. At the same time, the fi-
nite form places the state of affairs in the present time, while the source text is not explicit about that.
Such explicitations are typical of translation: many translators make their target texts more explicit
than the source texts. It does not change the semantic meaning of a text: it only makes the audience’s
inferencing processes easier. It is not a surprise then that explicitation is one of the translation
universals: it is employed very often and implies lengthening of the source text, except for the
following types of explicitation:
EN: The glass is on the table.

NL: Het glas staat op tafel.
EN: To the left a clump of trees made a shady spot where dark things seemed to stir
feebly.
NL: Links van het pad zorgde een groep bomen voor een plek schaduw, waar flauw-
tjes gedaantes schenen te bewegen. (Conrad, p. 508/21 in Langeveld 1986)
In these examples, the Dutch target sentences express an aspect of the state of affairs explicitly which
remains implicit in English. If the English expresses it explicitly, the sentence becomes a marked
one, like The glass is standing on the table. If the translation is literal, Het glas is op de tafel, an un-
conventional or marked Dutch sentence is the result.
Systematic explicitation (of subjects, linking words, etc.), however, will lead to simpler texts deman-
ding less interpretation effort from readers and whether this is acceptable will depend on the trans-
lation strategy.
In addition, a text will also convey the information to which text type, register, genre or language
variety it belongs to (and the messenger’s judgement that this is appropriate for their audiences). In
the first example, for instance, the self-translator’s rendering differs from the original version in that
the image of the cat does not occur in the latter. In the second example, the self-translator (or com-
missioner) judges his target text audience not to appreciate the use of the German language items and
drops them:
NL: En dus wordt er eentje opgehaald, die dan enigszins amateuristisch in elkaar ge-
timmerd wordt. Ø
(Gloss: So one on his own is hauled back, who is subsequently rather amateur-
ishly done over.)
EN: They beat him up in a surprisingly amateurish fashion, in much the same way
a cat – so elegant and precise when hunting – becomes rude and vulgar
when playing with her prey. (self-translation)
NL: Ze doen wat iedereen daar doet, um die Gedächtniskirche rum

(Gloss: They're doing what everybody does, um die Gedächtniskirche rum)
EN: They're just doing what everybody else does around the Gedächtniskirche
(self-translation)
In his discussion of the metaphorical translation by Calderbank of Abdo Khal’s tarmii bi-šarar
(Spewing Sparks as big as castles), Farghal (2010) contrasted it with a more modern translation of
his own:
Translation by Calderbank: he would … come to my grandmother Sanniya as if not one drop of his
water had been spilled
Translation by Farghal: he would approach her as if he had not expended one tiny thing of his sexual
potency.
Metaphors in the translation of terms such as krukwang (NL), bras de manivelle (FR), crank arm
(EN) were discussed by Temmerman (2010). How register plays a role in the translation of German
business correspondence was shown by Szwed (2010), when she pointed out the irreconcilability of
informal and formal style within one utterance, such as Wir bitten Sie höflich uns unbedingt mitzu-
teilen, which she compared to Wir bitten Sie höflich uns mitzuteilen. The importance of repetition
and its meaning in a text was not only stressed by Duarte (2010) in her example Do cats eat bats
from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, but also by Kabán and Mózes (2010), who pointed out the
loss of the high degree of intensification in the translation that was produced by the triple repetition
of the phrase elle seule in the original version of the poem Mon rêve familier by Verlaine.
Another kind of example was given by de Graef (2010), who pointed at the code-switching that took
place in al-gharib by Yūsuf Idrīs (translated as De Vreemdeling by Richard van Leeuwen en Djûke
Poppinga and as The stranger by Catherine Cobham). In the passage below, de first time that the
question Who are you? is asked, it is formulated in standard Arabic; the second time, however, collo-
quial Arabic is used. In the Dutch source text, one would therefore expect something like wie zijde
gij, but the Dutch translation does not employ any intralingual code-switching. The English trans-
lation, in contrast, does have the formal and informal version, however, the order in which both ap-
pear differs from the order in the Arabic text:
AR: ‫ــ من أنت؟‬

:‫( أعقبتھا‬...) ‫( وبسرعة‬...) ‫شخطة خرجت منى وال شخطة المأمور‬
‫ــ انت مين؟‬
NL: ‘Wie bent u?’ Ik snauwde, zoals de commandant kon snauwen (…)
Haastig (…) herhaalde ik:
‘Wie bent u?’
EN: who’s that? (…)
who are you?
Finally, messengers also have judgements about the power relation between them and their audiences
and how the notion of ‘face’ sometimes plays a role in how a message is formulated. Power also
plays a role in modal forms of permission, a subject that was discussed by Salkie (2010), when he
showed how some verbs, like permettre, were translated in large translation corpora.
3.4 Remaining features about the messengers’ own (assumed) identities

Besides the three preceding types of information about messengers – their representation of a state of
affairs, attitude to a state of affairs and their assessment of the communicative situation – messages
convey other features of their messengers (Fig. 16).
Fig. (16): Remaining messenger’s features
This may be information about the messenger’s identity itself, whether this is an assumed identity (of
a narrator or liar or actor or person imitated) or whether it is is messenger’s true identity. It could be
related to his or her past, social and economic background, temporary emotions or more lasting
values, such as religious beliefs and political convictions. By using a particular variety of language
instead of another – such as a particular kind of register, dialect, sociolect, idiolect, lyrical or
narrative genre, or any other text type – messengers express (or betray) some typical characteristics
84 SONIA VANDEPITTE
of their own. This type of information is reminiscent of literary critic Booth’s notion of ‘implied
author’ (1961: 74-75): the image that is construed by the listener of the author by means of implicit
information that is inferred from the text:
EN: “If youse don’t come now you’ll get no adjectival dinner”
NL: “Als je nou niet komt kan je je eten wel vergeten”
If Kelly’s mother in Carey’s The True History of the Kelly Gang produces the source text utterance,
she also tells us something about her social class and values. In other words, the listener knows more
about her own background, her education and her system of beliefs. The target text, in contrast, does
not convey this information. The source text below reflects the stuttering or hesitant speech of the
messenger, while the target text does not:
EN: “Demographers now set the figure as high as 10-12 million.”

NL: “Demografen schatten het aantal thans heel hoog.”
In the example below, the speaker in the translation betrays a closer and more impolite – perhaps
also more authoritarian – relationship between him-/herself and the interlocutor:
EN: Shut the door, will you!

NL: De deur!
A messenger may also be inhibited by taboos. In the following example,
NL: Meteen begreep Max, dat het de eerste keer was voor haar. Hij moest haar dus
ontmaagden
EN: Max realized at once that it was her first time. Ø He would have to deflower her
it is not clear why the English translation has not been introduced by so (e.g. so he would have to de-
flower her). Did the translator hesitate to express a causal relation in utterances that convey a more
delicate subject like sex? Is the translator’s own subjectivity too much involved here to allow for
expressing a logical inference or a necessary causal relation between it being the first time and a man
needing to deflower a woman?
Source text writers that insert expletives in their text may express their (narrator’s) indignation,
outrage, rebellion or an environment in which expletives are acceptable. If a Dutch translator does
not use an expletive that is similar to damn in the passage below, those connotations will not be
conveyed to the target text readership:
EN: Footpaths are being opened and people are returning to countryside haunts de-
nied them by months of foot and mouth restrictions. I am not optimistic that the
fundamental chickens that the disease brought home to roost will precipitate
major changes to the way society structures agriculture and values the environ-
ment, but they damn well should.
Similar examples of omissions of expletives have been pointed out in subtitling by Diaz-Cintas
(2010) and by Isabel Fernandes Silva (2010), who suggested a possible link with the identity of the
translators: middle-aged women translated Sinéad Moriarty’s sons of bitches in the novel In my
sister’s shoes into Portuguese as Filhos da P... (Gloss: Sons of b....), while younger women did not
hesitate to produce the phrase fully Filhos da puta.
Some features of language even reveal the origin of the author or publisher: American English and
British English spellings will locate the writers / commissioners in their respective environments.
3.5 Summary of non-representational meanings

The various non-representational or pragmatic meanings presented in sections (3.3)-(3.5) and their
relevance for translation can be summarized as in the following scheme (Fig. 17):
Fig. (17): Pragmatic meanings and translation problems
These pragmatic meanings are all three present in all utterances but some components may be more
relevant in some translation situations than in others. Messengers’ attitudes to states of affairs will
surface as important in the translation of modality, lies, speech acts and text purpose. Their consi-
deration of the audiences’ knowledge of non-standard language, other language codes and registers,
styles, literary figures, imagery, humour and will be relevant if these features need to be translated.
Finally, information about the messenger as a person will play a special role in the translation of
taboos and of language varieties that are determined by personal features such as a messenger’s place
of origin, age and sex.
Differences in one subcomponent of pragmatic meaning may also be related to differences in another
subcomponent. Consider again the example below, repeated from section (2.6.2):
EN: There were two things that made Benny different from me.
NL: Benny en ik verschilden van elkaar op maar twee vlakken.
While this translation pair is an example of different focalization – as part of the messengers’ assess-
ment of their audience meaning component – it is also an example where the source text messengers’
attitude towards the proposition differs from that of the target text messenger. The latter expresses
the view that the differences with Benny were few in number, while the former does not.
Or if translation pair members differ from one another in terms of the messengers’ assessment of the
state of affairs, they will also often differ with respect to the assessment of the audiences’ knowl-
edge, as the Commission example illustrates (section [2.7.2]).
86 SONIA VANDEPITTE
4. Discussion
This chapter has shown how complex the set of different types of meanings is that is communicated
in a message. The fact that the meaning types are there at all times for all utterances complicates in-
terpretation and meaning analysis. Both cognitive processes are, in fact, steered by the physical
written or auditory features of the message and the types of meanings that those express explicitly
come to the foreground, while the rest retreats to the background. But this does not mean that the im-
plicit background meanings are not conveyed, neither that the receiver cannot construe them. Neither
does it mean that each utterance is equally explicit about certain types of meanings: in reality, the
opposite case is probably more likely and each utterance has its own specific distribution of
explicitation across its set of meanings.
Another complication is the interrelation of different types of meanings with each other. Representa-
tional meanings such as modification and focalization may mutually affect each other. If the transla-
tor uses a stronger expression to modify an argument (Victor was zo trots als een pauw, section
[2.3]), that part of the utterance will also get more focus than the rest of the utterance and draw the
audience’s attention more than it does in the ST.
Representational meanings may intertwine with non-representational ones: as soon as they are
construed by means of inferences that imply audiences’ processing, messengers’ judgements or be-
liefs about their audiences come into the picture, too. Take, for instance, the lustrum example from
section (3.3). The reader’s inferential process using appropriate background knowledge (a lustrum
takes place every 5 years and that needs to be multiplied by 9 to arrive at 45, the number mentioned
in the ST) is a necessary requirement for the denotational meaning to come about.
Or, consider a final example, that of the European Commission, presented in sections (2.4) and
(2.7.2), where the semantic components of coherence and the pragmatic component of the assess-
ment of the audience’s knowledge are all affected, when a second integrated state of affairs in the ST
(formulated as setting …) is represented in the TT (starting with en) as a separate independent one.
A final consideration needs to be heeded. Although two utterances may appear to represent two dif-
ferent sets of meanings, they need not necessarily lead to those different interpretations. Indeed, the
receiver’s interpretation process also plays a significant role, to such an extent even that differences
in formulations do not matter. Messengers may, for instance, employ different arguments, such as the
EU and Europe, as in:
EN: EU economy
NL: Europese economie
and still achieve similar interpretations among both source and target audiences. This is the case, if
audiences have gone through different inferential processes, that is, if, for instance, the source text
audience has only decoded the argument EU, while the target audience has also inferred that Europe
has to be interpreted in its narrow sense (EU). It is this processing activity which the translator ex-
pected his/her audience to be able to carry out.
To conclude, the conceptual framework may be said to help the interpretation of utterances to a
higher degree of completeness: it can be used as an instrument that covers basic meaning aspects and
enables the translator and the analyst to look at a state of affairs from various points of view quickly.
However, the framework is not exhaustive and previous scholarly work carried out within various
paradigms is far from superfluous. I am especially interested in hearing from colleagues whether cer-
tain aspects of meaning did not and could not possibly find their place within the conceptual
framework as it is presented here.
References
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en Ring. Amsterdam: Meulenhoff.)
Hertz, Noreena (2001), The Silent Takeover. Global Capitalism and the Death of Democracy. Edition used 2002.
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90
ETHOLINGUISTIC APPROACH TO TRANSLATION

Urszula Zaliwska-Okrutna
Institute of Applied Linguistics, University of Warsaw, Poland
Abstract: The etholinguistic approach to translation is about combining, to the extent this is
possible, the analyses of texts, processes, and translators in translation studies. Following the
individual-oriented tradition in linguistics, initiated in this part of the world by Baudouin de
Courtenay and promoted in the writings of neurocognitivists and integrationists, it is postulated
that text-oriented procedures in translation analysis, enriched recently by process-oriented
methods, be extended to the human aspect of translation, the translator’s cognitive system itself.
Some additional support for this approach is lent by investigations in cultural anthropology,
following the way paved by Bronisław Malinowski, as well as by studies within the area of
language acquisition and bilingualism, with ‘geography of thought’ exposing the spatial aspect
of cognitive development. Justification of practical nature is provided by the re-examination of
some sociolinguistic data and reference to comparisons of translated texts: their modality,
degree of domestication, treatment of specialized vocabulary, etc. Interviews conducted with
translators themselves are treated here as one of the possible ways of getting insight into how
translations are dependent on who translates them. The aspects of translator’s identity revealed
this way as important in translation include hemispheric dominance in information processing
and other cognitive abilities.
1. Etholinguistics and etholinguistic approach to translation introduced

As ethology is the study of animal behaviour, both genetically- and environmentally-based, etholin-
guistics is the study of human language behaviour, of analogically dual configuration. As ethology
aims to study animal communication, animal culture and learning, etholinguistics attempts to offer
explanations on human language communication, culture, and learning. Finally, as ethology com-
bines theory with laboratory and field research, etholinguistics relies on its researchers’ knowledge
and introspection as well as input of practical nature. The etholinguistic approach to translation is
about combining, to the extent it is possible, the analyses of texts, processes and translators in trans-
lation studies.
2. Etholinguistic approach to translation explained and exemplified

2.1 Theoretical input
2.1.1 Neurocognitivism
The analyses of texts is a long practiced procedure in translation; research on processes has already
been established as a rather appreciated trend in the field of translation studies; translators have been
the most recent arrivals as the objects of study here, contributing to ‘translator-centred’ treatment of
analysed texts and promoting the idea of ‘translator’s visibility’ in translation. The tendency to exa-
mine text producers alongside text productions appears to remain in line with the neurocognitive
treatment of language and language use. Neurocognitivists reject the belief that there are such things
as languages as units, relatively uniform across different individuals, which have some kind of exist-
ence of their own, apart from people’s minds (Lamb, 1999: 42). Neurocognitivists take the mental
system of the person as the object of investigation and recognize that every person’s mental system is
unique. Neurocognitivists do recognize similarities among human cortices and similarities at very ba-
sic levels of human experience, but insist that since different people have different experiences, they
must have somewhat different locations for their functionally similar subsystems; there are also some
people who in their mental activity favour one portion of the brain over the other, i.e. left or right
hemisphere (cf. Lamb, 2004). Language within neurocognitive paradigm is treated as a set of subsys-
tems interconnected with other cognitive subsystems, the process of learning is viewed as a processes
of integrating information from perceptual and other conceptual locations, and the cognitive systems
of two individuals are recognized as never the same (Lamb, 1999). The obvious inference is that not
only contextual, or cocedant, features, the reinforcement coming from other participants, are impor-
92 URSZULA ZAŁIWSKA-OKRUTNA
tant but also antecedent features and the individual profile, one’s personality, and ultimately – one’s
identity.
2.1.2 Integrationism
Identity is a fashionable term these days, especially in Europe, due to arguments raised for and a-
gainst integration and globalization, fostered by computer-mediated communication, and much dis-
cussed within linguistics in the form of discourse oriented research. Among various types of identi-
ties there appears, in the writings by Roy Harris, the main proponent of integrationalism, the concept
of ‘glottic identity’, deemed to be constructed by individuals for themselves in terms of language, but
also in terms of other ‘metalinguistic components’ and ‘other important criteria which are recognized
in the community, but are not reflected in any specific metalinguistic terminology’ (Harris, 1998a:
55). These account for the ‘misleading isomorphism’ between the language of different people and
between their experience. The idea of integrationism includes recognizing that: experience is not
neatly compartmentalized into the linguistic and the non-linguistic. The two are integrated. Words
are not separate from situations: they are part of the situations, both socially and psychologically.
Furthermore, without that essential integration, we could neither learn a language, nor function
efficiently as language-users (Harris, 1998b: 44). Some of the main points of this approach to lan-
guage are: language is not an object of study in its own right; linguistic signs are not components of
an independent abstract system; the linguistic is integrated with the non-linguistic; linguistic expe-
rience is individual. In order to properly understand one’s language production it is necessary to
know the person, be able to define this person’s glottic identity and to locate this person’s produc-
tions in the context of this identity. Within the integrational approach to translation it is assumed
necessary to provide contextualized identities of signs – the identities of the set of signs in the source
language and the set of signs in the target language – within some ‘communicational infrastructure’.
Integrationists criticize non-integrational theories of translation, both transference or replicational in
character (oriented towards the message or the text, respectively), for assuming invariance of signs in
the language, and trace the problems in translation to ‘a lack of match between the invariant signs’
(Harris in conversation with Morris, 1992/1998: 316).
2.1.3 Modern anthropology

The idea of Harris’ ‘communicational infrastructure’, treated as the combination of factors of bio-
mechanical, macrosocial, and circumstantial character, relating, respectively, to human neuro-physi-
ological capacities, social practices and situational details (Harris, 1996) was to a considerable extent
intuitively obvious to Bronisław Malinowski, investigating between 1914 and 1917 the Mailu com-
munity on the south coast of the New Guinea and the inhabitants of the Triobriand Islands. Malinow-
ski not only lived among the native people, learned the vernacular, which he used to both question
people in set interviews and record texts on the scene of action, but he also kept field diaries in which
he exposed his achievements in parallel with problems and categories so subjective as his health
(1967/2002). Malinowski then should be credited not only with appreciating the functional
significance of customs, ideas and beliefs, but with drawing attention to the individual.
In other parts of the world, the influential scholars postulating individual as the important focus of
anthropological study include Franz Boas, who emphasized the importance of collecting people’s life
histories, and Marcel Mauss, who ‘tried to twin culture and personality – that is, cultural anthro-
pology and psychology’ (Encyclopaedia Britannica 1981: 971). In some way, also Ruth Benedict
may be credited with recognizing the importance of taking into account in anthropological research
the way of thinking and reasoning of the studied subjects. Benedict found out that the mode of think-
ing of some Pueblo Indians differed strikingly from the way of thinking of their immediate neigh-
bours, thus representing different and unique ‘psychological sets’ (Encyclopaedia Britannica 1981:
972).
2.1.4 De Courtenayism
As no theories emerge in a vacuum, but reflect the developments of thought in a particular area at a
particular time, as well as the intellectual environment in which their authors were raised, neurocog-
nitivism, integrationism and Malinowskian type of anthropological investigation may be traced back
to tradition initiated in modern linguistics by Jan Niecisław Baudouin de Courtenay (1845 – 1929) as
opposed to the one ascribed to his contemporary, Ferdinand de Saussure (1857 – 1913). De Saussure
sanctioned and emphasized the social and abstract character of language, imposed on, or recon-
structed by individual minds and realized in individual speech acts (de Saussure, 1916/1966).
Baudouin de Courtenay’s linguistics postulates psychological-social character of language, which
means that language is socially induced but, like speech, individual and formed by an individual in
the course of his/her development. Individuals develop their language in the course of social interac-
tions and create their own language models on the basis of fragments available to them. Within this
approach, contrary to de Saussure, not only thinking influences language, but also language influen-
ces the way people think and each subsequent language they acquire influences the ontological
development of their language, i. e. ‘lingualisation’ (Pol. ujęzykowienie). Moreover, the whole world
is a projection of an individual (Baudouin de Courtenay 1915/1984), i.e. each individual filters the
reality around him/her through his/her own identity.
2.1.5 Language acquisition and bilingualism

Individual differentiation of language is realized at many levels. It starts with factors of biological
and psychological nature (like age, sex, temperament, personality, perception mode, sensitivity),
accompanied by those of social and cultural character (social status, group affiliation, social roles,
place in the family, mode of communication within the family) and flavoured by both the more spe-
cific and the more global cognitive conditionings (cf. Zaliwska-Okrutna, 2004, 2008). The relatively
global factors include spatial and temporal, i.e. where the person is from and when he/she lives. Spa-
tial factors drew the attention of Richard E. Nisbett, who, describing differences in the way of think-
ing between, as he calls them, Asians, or Easterners, and Westerners, labelled his research ‘the geo-
graphy of thought’ (Nisbett, 2003). Nisbett starts with the assumption that the basic human cognitive
processes are the same; what is different is the exposure to varied aspects of the world and/or the
way of promoting the acquisition of those aspects. In the investigated domains, i.e. science and
mathematics, attention and perception, causal inference, organization of knowledge and reasoning,
he noticed the variations too big not to be taken into account. Some of the findings are listed below:
− Easterners see the world as composed of substances and Westerners – of objects;

− the fact that Westerners attend more to objects and Easterners to environment results in different abili-
ties to perceive relations among events and in Easterners emphasizing the value of relationships;
− the above is reflected linguistically in Eastern languages being rich in verbs with Western languages
being rich in nouns;
− Westerners believe more than Easterners in stability and controllability of the environment and, even-
tually, apply to a greater extent than Easterners, rules of formal logic to explain events;
− consequently, the Western style of communication is to state things clearly and directly so that no mis-
understanding is possible, while the Asian communication style is less direct (and so less clear to
Westerners).
Individuals are conditioned to differentiate their language from outside, by ‘nurture’ and from inside,
by ‘nature’. It has now been confirmed by a number of studies of language acquisition by children,
the longitudinal studies on large samples (e.g. the one by Bates, Dale, Thal, 1995), and individual or
individualized case studies (cf. Halliday, 2003; Porayski-Pomsta, 1994), that ‘to recognize an ave-
rage child is to entertain a fiction’ (Bates, Dale, Thal 1995). The study by Bates, Dale and Thal (op.
cit.) is particularly important here, as the authors supplement the discussion on individual differences
with a list of alternative explanations of different character: social (exogenous and endogenous), lin-
guistic (within language proper and between language and cognition), neurological (interhemispheric
and intrahemispheric) and cognitive (uni- and multidimensional). Bilingual individuals appear to be
additionally influenced in their language competence by the organization of experiential data that is
particular to each language and peculiar to individual language experience (cf. Fabbro, 1999; Para-
dis, 2004). Among the possibilities, or types, of this bilingual experience recognized so far we find:
early and late bilingualism; natural and formal; ascendant and recessive; additive and subtractive;
productive and receptive (cf. Hoffman, 1991), each optionally combining with such extralinguistic
factors as motivation or language identification.
2.2 Practical input

2.2.1 Sociolinguistics
To introduce the input sociolinguistic in nature it may be appropriate to refer to the frequently quoted
passage from the 1990 book by Deborah Tannen You Just Don’t Understand (Tannen, 1990: 48 –
49). In this passage, Eve, who had a lump removed from her breast, complains about how her breast
looks after the surgery to her sister, her female friend and her husband. The responses she gets are as
follows:
Her sister: I know, when I had my operation I felt the same way.
Her female friend: I know. It’s like your body has been violated.
Her husband: You can have plastic surgery to cover up the scar and restore the shape of your breast.
Eve was comforted by the responses of her sister and friend, but she was upset by the response of her
husband, who offered advice of action. This description was to illustrate gender asymmetries in com-
munication: ‘women and men talking at cross-purposes’. For several years now I have been
presenting Eve’s problem to my students and asking them to respond. Some would follow the pattern
presented in the book, but some, a number too big to be ignored, offered different responses: male
students would provide comfort and female students would offer advice. When I extended my
investigation to people of different walks of life I occasionally met, the variations became even
bigger, ranging from: We don’t talk about them feelings – elicited from an elderly female farmer to: I
would just say how much I love her and hug her, elicited from a young male economist. Also, when I
questioned my students about the original responses quoted by Tannen, they said that the husband’s
response, treated in the book as a typically male response, could also come from a female and be
accepted by Eve: a female doctor, for example. They also said that there are some people, both male
and female members of their family or friends, to whom they would rather turn for comfort and some
others to whom they rather would turn for advice. The other thing that was pointed out was that the
response of the type I know how you feel could be offered by many different people and only
knowing the person well would help in identifying the true meaning of it: offering comfort or
expressing reluctance to hear about the other’s problems.
The conclusion that can be drawn from the above is that the meaning of what one says is determined
in many different ways: not only gender, but also age, social status and culture (Tannen referred
mainly to middle-class Americans with traditional assignment of roles), and some other characteris-
tics inferred only through being well-acquainted with that person. The story is reminiscent of criti-
cism of Lawrence Kohlberg’s stages of moral development exercised by Carol Gilligan, who, in re-
sponse to questions about individual justification of actions if placed in situations evoking some
moral dilemmas, offered the solution in the form of: It depends…
2.2.2 Experience with translated versions of literary works

Similarly, what a particular translator produces depends on who he/she is. Even if the scope of study
is limited to translations considered correct, the individual mark of the translators may be visible in
translated text modalities or target language change, text ‘maleness’ or ‘femaleness’, or other such
biases. Individuality of choices may be evidenced by the history of translators selecting specific
authors or works or genres to translate, as if identifying with the particular author or type of literary
texts, alongside the history of literary works being translated and retranslated by the same or differ-
ent individuals, as if trying to convey the message that a particular text may be interpreted and ren-
dered in an alternative way. There is a list of Polish translators who specialized in Shakespeare,
Joseph Conrad or Ernest Hemingway, and the list of books which have enjoyed a number of trans-
lations ranges from Shakespearian dramas to Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland and A. A. Milne’s
Winnie the Pooh. Each specific example, in fact, brings new evidence to light, like a few cases re-
ferred to below.
George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four has been translated into Polish twice: first in 1953 by Juliusz
Mieroszewski and then in 1988 by Tomasz Mirkowicz. The more recent version is more successful
in the rendition of Orwell’s ‘newspeak’, mainly because of longer exposure of Polish people, the
potential translators among them, to this type of speech introduced in Poland in post-war period
(Sidorowicz 1996).
Bridget Jones, the main character of Bridget Jones’ Diary by Helen Fielding, in the translation by
Zuzanna Naczyńska is much less sophisticated and less affluent that the original Bridget – in an at-
tempt to domesticate the character, the translator lowered the status of what Bridget eats and drinks,
and of the places she frequents (Kowalczyk, 2003).
The translation of Doris Lessing’s “One off the short list” by Jan Zieliński (Lessing, 2008) is at
places marked for ‘maleness’, introducing expressions more colloquial in Polish than in English (‘in-
vite for a drink’ rendered as ‘zaprosić na kielicha’) or using diminutives when referring to actions
performed in female company (‘We’ll have a comfortable supper’ translated as ‘zjemy kolacyjkę’).
However, in translating Winston Groom’s Forrest Gump into Polish the female translator, Julita
Wroniak, used the typically male strategies and the male translator, Jerzy Leliwa, resorted more
frequently to forms marked for femaleness. Considering the fact that both the author and the main
character of the novel are males, it can be concluded that the female translator showed bigger
empathy towards the character. And on the whole Julita Wroniak’s translation has been judged su-
perior to that by Jerzy Leliwa in terms of correctness (Zaliwska-Okrutna, 2002).
Other aspects that influence translator’s decisions may be of axiological in nature, i.e. reflecting the
translator’s world view, transmitted consciously or not, serving to create a vision of reality that is de-
sirable or consistent with the vision of the world of the translator (or the publisher) (Gruszczyńska,
2007).
2.2.3 Text analyses and interviews with translators

Concluding from the above that mere translation text analysis is not sufficient to provide a complete
picture of what is involved in the translator’s decision making process, an attempt was made to com-
plement the analysis with interviews conducted with translators. The role of a pilot study is ascribed
here to my own experience with the novel Arthur and George by Julian Barnes published in 2005
and its translation into Polish by Joanna Puchalska two years later (cf. Zaliwska-Okrutna, 2009). A
sample of a hundred instances, in which the translator of the published version took a different route
from the one I would have taken, served as a material for discussion. It should be added at this point
that there was no question of right or wrong decisions, but the question of different decisions. The
results appeared quite revealing. There were differences in judgement of what was time- and place-
appropriate in the days in the days in which the novel took place, in the attitude toward the amount of
specialized vocabulary that the target language reader should be exposed to, in the interpretation of
certain events or situations, and the degree to which the text should be domesticated. It was also quite
significant that one of us justified her decisions by providing the ultimate argument in the form: This
is what the author says, while the other one usually contradicted the alternative version by saying: It
doesn’t sound right in Polish. One of us clearly visualized the situation presented in the text,
interpreted them holistically, in the context of the whole novel, and was in favour of adopting target-
culture-specific scripts. The other one concentrated on the text and its exact rendition into Polish,
opting for retaining the specialized vocabulary and source-culture-specific scripts. One read portions
of the translated text aloud to verify that they sound good in Polish, while the other one emphasized
preserving the source langue flavour sacrificing the oddities in Polish. What clearly emerges here is
the difference in orientation: toward a prospective target-language reader versus a foreign-culture
slant. The difference in orientation, however, is not ascribed to some consciously chosen strategy,
but to the type of translator’s bilingualism and information processing style: formally acquired
bilingualism and right hemispheric dominance in information processing in the first case, and
formally acquired bilingualism combined with extended exposure to a foreign language in its natural
environment and left hemispheric dominance in information processing in the second case. The type
of university education of the two of us adds validity to these conclusions: one of us majored in the
history of art, the other one – in applied linguistics.
The challenge of supplementing translation text analysis by interviewing translators was undertaken
this year by two of my M. A. students: Anna Chwedczuk consulted Michał Kłobukowski and Alfons
Winkelmann, the translators into Polish and German of Martin Amis’ Time’s Arrow, and Marzena
Winiarska succeeded in securing cooperation of Janusz Głowacki, the author and translator in one of
Antigone in New York.
In the first case, the strategies adopted by the translators (e.g. more or less formal rendering of
English ‘you’; preserving or not word-plays), the degree of text domestication, and the general qual-
ity of the translated versions of the text were much dependent on the translators’ exposure to the
source language, the secondary literature read on main theme of the novel, i.e. the Holocaust, and on
the type of novel writing strategy adopted by Amis. Alfons Winkelmann admitted no prior knowl-
edge of Martin Amis’ novels or the particular type of novel writing, and no personal/ family involve-
ment with the Holocaust; the choice of the text to be translated was purely accidental. Michał Kłobu-
kowski, on the other hand, read extensively about the Holocaust and declared deep emotional in-
volvement in the subject, augmented by his family experience with the Holocaust. He had been ac-
quainted with novels by Amis, but not with the introverted narration applied by Amis in Time’s
Arrow. Winkelmann has no formal education in English and no experience of staying in an English-
speaking country. Kłobukowski has started, but not completed his English language studies and spent
a year and a half in an English-speaking country. In the interview he emphasized the role that music
plays in his life in general and how important it is for him as a translator (Chwedczuk, 2010).
The case of Antigone in New York provided yet an unexpected input to the discussion. Apparently,
the drama, by a Polish author, was originally written in English, with the assistance of an American
native speaker, and then translated into Polish. The two texts differ in a number of ways (e.g. the use
of proper names or culture references), sometimes clear and justified, at times difficult to explain,
even for the author-translator. The most revealing finding, however, was that both the original play
and its translated version were produced with specific staging requirements in mind. The author-
translator acted, in fact, as a pre-director of the play (Winiarska, 2010).
3. Etholinguistic approach to translation appraised and advanced

As was stated at the beginning of this article, etholinguistics extends the scope of linguistic research
to the study of genetically- and environmentally-based aspects of human language behaviour and
attempts to offer explanations on human language communication, culture, and learning, relying both
on its researchers’ knowledge and introspection as well as input of practical nature. Persuant to this
definition, the etholinguistic approach to translation involves combining the analyses of texts,
processes and translators themselves.
Theoretical basis for this approach is provided by the tradition of individual-oriented language theo-
ries traced back to Baudouin de Courtenay. The psychological and the cognitive aspect received
prominent emphasis within neurocognitive language theory, and the postulate of including the social
factors in researching human language functioning is the focal point of integrationism. Works in this
tradition are not limited to pure linguistics, but extend to other areas of study, like cultural
anthropology and studies of language acquisition and bilingualism. Sociolinguistic research, when
probed from an individual angle, lends support to including identity of speakers in the analysis of
texts they produce. Similarly, the individual-oriented analysis of literary translations confirms the
expectation that referring to translators’ identity may offer new insight in this area.
The line of reasoning leading to etholinguistic type of translation analysis involves the following
steps:
− individuals create their own language models;

− they do it on the basis of language fragments available to them in interactions;
− language abilities are genetically based and socially induced;
− language abilities are integrated with other cognitive abilities;
− thinking influences language and language influences thinking;
− one’s identity influences one’s worldview;
− each newly acquired language influences one’s ‘lingualisation’;
− one’s worldview is a projection of one’s identity;
− one’s identity is revealed in the texts one produces;
− translator’s identity may be revealed in translation.
Adopting this procedure has confirmed the findings duly recognized by translation studies as impor-
tant in translators’ functioning and labelled here as: temporal (the time in which translators are
active), linguistic (the mode of becoming bilingual), ideological (his/her attitude to translation, train-
ing and experience in the area), and epistemological (what the translators knows and assumes the
prospective readers know). The new aspects revealed as a result of the adopted procedure and not yet
included in regular translation analysis include: those of spatial, social, and cultural nature (where the
translator is from, geographically, and in terms of his/her cultural-social background), axiological
(what his/her beliefs are), and biological-cognitive (like age, sex, interests, personality, information-
processing style). The outside, or exogenous, influences (publication requirements, editors’ interven-
tion or, in case of dramas, staging requirements) should also be taken into consideration, since they
may appear quite significant for the final version of the text. It is recognized here that etholinguistic
type of translation research, not yet methodologically specified, especially in part referring to trans-
lators’ identity, may offer interesting insight in what is involved in the area, especially when indirect
means of observation of the working of the human brain become more advanced and accessible.
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.
99
Section II:
Audiovisual Translation
100
SUBTITLING MADE IN HONG KONG,

AND MISSING HETEROGLOSSIA1
Bo Li
Department of Translation, Lingnan University, Hong Kong
People’s Republic of China
Abstract: In 1997, the People’s Republic of China resumed sovereignty over Hong Kong after
one century of colonization by the British government. In the same year, the movie “Made in
Hong Kong” was released in Hong Kong. The film is specifically designated for this special
historical event, and the anxiety and uncertainty of Hong Kong people is represented by the
heteroglossic construction of their dialogues and inner monologue.
This article will dwell upon the heteroglossic features of this movie and the role of such features
in the representation of a character’s mind state and its relationship to the social environment.
Then, the article will elaborate on the issue of subtitling in movies made in Hong Kong. The is-
sue is complicated by the bi-literacy and tri-lingualism policy in Hong Kong. In subtitling Hong
Kong movies, it becomes very complex because the dialogues in the local movies are conducted
mostly in Cantonese (one of the major regional dialects in China), while the bilingual subtitles
are in Mandarin Chinese and English, respectively. This paper will look at the strategies
adopted by the translators in producing the two types of subtitle with special focus on how the
heteroglossic features, embedded with textual and social meaning, are dealt with. Will the
translation miss the heteroglossia in the original? The article will try to cover these questions
with ample examples from the movie “Made in Hong Kong”.
1. Heteroglossia and Translation Studies

Heteroglossia is proposed by Mikhail Bakhtin, the former Soviet Union literary theorist. In From the
Prehistory of Novelistic Discourse, Bakhtin notes that “heteroglossia within a language, that is, the
problem of internal differentiation, is the stratification characteristic of any national language” (1981:
67). The keywords here are “internal differentiation” and “stratification”, and they immediately re-
mind us of social linguistics. They exist in any society or linguistic community, which usually appear
in the form of linguistic varieties, especially when there are power relationships and ideological con-
flicts inherent in these societies or communities. In Discourse in the Novel, Bakhtin expounds on
how the author can artistically incorporate the social heteroglossia into novels, and he proposes four
basic modes: hybrid construction, posited author or teller, language used by characters, and finally
incorporated genres (Bakhtin, 1981). He supports his categories with ample examples from literary
works like Fielding, Smollett, Sterne, Dickens, etc2.
Bakhtin is characterized by his reluctance to offer any definition, and he of course didn’t provide a
clear summation of heteroglossia. Therefore, scholars and scholarships are talking about his concept
in varied ways (Zbinden 2006; Robert 1994; etc.). Karine Zbinden offers a very succinct and clear
explanation of what heteroglossia means for Bahktin.
1
This research has benefited from the financial support (AC10034) from the Research and Postgraduate Stud-
ies Committee of Lingnan University of Hong Kong. Besides, I would like to express my gratitude to Mr. Luo
Qing, David for grabbing the images from the film for my conference presentation and transcribing the Canton-
ese dialogues both in Chinese characters and in Cantonese Pinyin for this current paper.
2
Interestingly, Bakhtin’s discussion of these English writers should be based on the Russian translation of
their literary works, and this translation phenomenon itself is worth of further enquiry. While Bakhtin’s Rus-
sian writing is widely translated into English, French, Chinese, and other languages, it is also worth noting
whether this kind of linguistic feature is retained in their respective translations. But constrained by the length
of this paper and also by my linguistic incompetence, I will leave this question for other qualified researchers.
102 BO LI
He [Bakhtin] goes on to explain that centripetal and centrifugal forces are at work within a single natu-
ral language as well. In fact the situation within one natural language is comparable to and can be repre-
sented by the fight between various ‘dialects’ or languages in a polylingual society. Thus as single natu-
ral language is not only stratified into dialects proper but into ‘social-ideological languages. This hete-
rogeneity of natural language is heteroglossia”. (Zbinden, 1999).
Graham Robert offers the following glossary for Bakhtin’s heteroglossia:
“Heteroglossia” (the Russian ‘raznorechie’ literally means ‘different-speech-ness’), refers to the conflict
between ‘centripetal’ and ‘centrifugal’, ‘official’ and ‘unofficial’ discourses within the same national lan-
guage. (1994: 248)3
Actually, Bakhtin is talking about the difference between these linguistic varieties with cultural and
ideological connotations embedded. Any summation of Bakhtin’s heteroglossia shares the same ob-
servation of the centripetal and centrifugal forces at work, while they differ in whether it covers only
the mere one natural language or to go beyond that to cover polylingual societies. The two forces
work for different purposes, but the reality is that they come always hand in hand. Meanwhile, Emer-
son blurs the boundaries between natural language and polylingual community by pointing out that:
In fact he [Bakhtin] viewed the boundaries between national languages as only one extreme on a con-
tinuum, at those other end translation processes were required for one social group to understand anoth-
er in the same city, for children to understand parents in the same family, for one day to understand the
next. (Emerson 1983: 23)
When discussing the incorporation of social stratifications of language into the novel, Bakhtin makes
references to Fielding, Smollett, and Dickens, whose works appear in the form of one natural lan-
guage. However, he also mentions works characteristic of code-switching and code-mixing, like War
and Peace by Leo Tolstoy4. The two words repeatedly mentioned here are centripetal and centrifugal
forces, and the two forces are at work at the same time within a given social community. One is to
unify or to consolidate the control of the mainstream ideology, while the other one is a kind of di-
gressing forces which will lead to the split of the unifying forces.
Recent scholarships talk about the coexistence of different national languages, either code-switching
or code-mixing, and the ensuing question is whether Bakhtinian heteroglossia apply to these linguis-
tic scenarios. From the literary review, it can be easily discerned that the recent scholarship has ex-
panded Bakhtinian heteroglossia to cover various modes of juxtaposition of linguistic varieties.
Heteroglossia/heterolingualism in/and translation has been subject to a great deal of attention by

scholars in general (Sumillera 2006; Bandia 2007; Barbaresi 2002; Boase-Beier 2007; Meylaerts
2006; Suominen 2001; Tabakowska 1990; Li 2010; etc.) The prevalent conceptualization of transla-
tion as the transference of one linguistic code into another does not fit the literary scenarios in many
contexts: diaspora writing, immigrant literature, post-colonial writing, bilingual/ multilingual writing,
and writing in this globalized world, etc. The abovementioned case studies cover different modes of
juxtaposition of linguistic varieties, dialect, idiolect, eye-dialect, diglossia, bilingualsm/multilingual-
ism, code-switching, code-mixing, pidgin language, creole, etc. The list is of course inexhaustible
notwithstanding the complicated and complex linguistic realities in different parts of the world. Does
3
The glossary is included in The Bakthin Reader: selected writings of Bakhtin, Medvedev and Voloshinov,
edited by Pam Morris (1994).
4
Again, it is worth noting that Bakhtin probably bases his exposition on the Russian original. But what about
the English, French, and Chinese versions of Bakhtin’s works? Do these linguistic features retain in the trans-
lated versions? And do the translators of Bakhtinian work render these linguistic features differently from
those literary translators?
it mean that linguistic varieties work all the time in all the social contexts? Todorov points out that
“not the multi matters, but the difference between or among these variations” (Todorov, 1984). One
of my recent publication, drawing on a Taiwanese case-study (Wang Chen-ho in English translation),
suggested that the erasure/erosion of the heteroglossic feature in the source text embedded with polit-
ical overtones will subvert subtly the source-culture by downplaying the symbolic value of the origi-
nal heteroglossia (Li, 2010).
The term heteroglossia has been widely applied to literary studies, especially on realistic novels.
However, Clifford, in his opening chapter of his anthropology book, makes extensive use of Bakh-
tin’s idea of heteroglossia, and he also remarks that in Bakhtin the idea of polyphonic discourse is
“too narrowly identified with the novel” (Clifford, 1988). Extensive researches have revealed that
Bakhtinian heteroglossia also applies to poetry and drama. By means of detailed investigation of the
various heteroglossia in the poetry by Bertolt Brecht and Tony Harrison, Helga Geyer-Ryan points to
the central role played by this device and its function in laying bare the power structure upon which
the social uses of language are based (Geyer-Ryan, 1991: 193). Carlson argues against Bakhtin by
pointing out that “one of the strongest statements concerning the proclivity of theatre toward this
totalized and monolithic communication model was developed by Mikhail Bakhtin, who argued that
the drama, in contrast to the novel, was an essentially monologic form” (Carlson, 2006: 4). He takes
issue with Bakhtin’s view with ample examples from Calderón, Shakespeare, Ibsen, and Shaw.
The problematic relationship between heteroglossia and translation is basically twofold in nature.
First, how is the rhetoric device of heteroglossia employed by the author in the source text and what
purpose does it serve? Then, how is it dealt with in the process of translation? Is it remained, trans-
ferred, erased, or compensated? To a large extent, it will contribute to revealing the symbolic value
of the source heteroglossia, and of course, the difficulty, even sometimes the untranslatability, poses
great challenge to translators concerned. On the other hand, the target text itself should be studied
with respect to its heteroglossic construction, and, this point is, unfortunately, intentionally or not
neglected or ignored by the scholarship.
What about the scenario in films? For the sake of communication and marketing, linguistic solid-
ification has been employed generally. But when it comes to an indie film made for the specific his-
torical moment of sovereignty handover, linguistic variety plays an important role in highlighting the
centrifugal forces ushered in by the uncertainty of the subjects involved in this process. Although, to
some extent, the issue of communication is not of much concern in the case of the coexistence of
Cantonese and Mandarin/Putonghua in the same movie, how it is handled in Chinese and English
subtitles is still worth further observation and investigation.
The abovementioned literary studies with reference to heteroglossia and my literary review of the
relationship between heteroglossia and translation shows the feasibility of applying Bakhtinian het-
eroglossia into the study of film subtitling. One the one hand, the analysis mode provided literary
studies (including Geyer-Ryan and Carlson) offers a useful tool in digging out the ideological con-
flicts embedded in the movie, and on the other hand, subtitling as a kind of intersemiotic translation
deserves further investigation with reference to the heteroglossic features in the audible dialogues
and the visible subtitles. Therefore, to offer something new to this scholarship, I explore the intricate
relation between subtitling and heteroglossia by observing the translation strategies adopted for the
film Made in Hong Kong by Fruit Chan.
2. The language policy and its impact on subtitling in Hong Kong

Made in Hong Kong was released in Hong Kong in the year 1997 when the historical transition took
place. Before talking about the movie itself, I will brief on the language policy and its impact on sub-
titling made in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is a community which can be defined more than bilingual.
Out of its over a century and a half (1842-1997) history under the British colony, Hong Kong is tra-
104 BO LI
ditionally defined as a bilingual society with both English and Chinese (Cantonese) as the working
languages. After the handover in 1997, the Special Administrative Region Government adopted a
new language policy, i.e. bi-literacy and tri-lingualism. Bi-literacy means the existence of English
and Chinese in written form, while tri-lingualism vividly depicts the coexistence of English, Canto-
nese and Mandarin in the spoken form in the city.
The film subtitling in Hong Kong has experienced different stages. Before 1997, most of Hong Kong
movies were subtitled with both Chinese and English. By Chinese here, it refers to both Mandarin
and Cantonese in written form. Cantonese is a quite unique semiotic system compared with
Mandarin. It has its own grammar, syntax, vocabulary, and most important of all different pronun-
ciation and intonation. In the written subtitles, Cantonese were applied to many comedies, like many
movies by Stephen Chow. After 1997, the Hong Kong SAR government attaches great importance to
Mandarin, and this can be seen from the government public service announcement, in which the
Hong Kong citizens are encouraged to learn Mandarin and English respectively. The close contact
between the central government and the Hong Kong SAR government and the closer economic coo-
peration across the borders make it even urgent for Hong Kong people to pick up Mandarin as soon
as possible. So, nowadays in Hong Kong, most of the films and TV programs are subtitled in
Mandarin Chinese instead of Cantonese in the written form.
From the translation point of view, subtitles are means of intersemiotic translation from audible dia-
logues into visible subtitles on the first level, and it is to a large extent from stage to page. On the
other hand, subtitling in Hong Kong is both interlingual and intralingual. The former refers to the
English subtitles of the Chinese (Cantonese) dialogues, while the latter refers to the Chinese (Manda-
rin) subtitles of the Cantonese dialogues.
Then, what is the relationship between Mandarin and Cantonese in the Hong Kong context? Which
one is language and which one is dialect? Let me first quote Crystal’s definition of dialect:
The distinction between “dialect” and “language” seems obvious: dialects are subdivisions of language.
What linguistics (and especially sociolinguistics) has done is to point to the complexity of the relation-
ship between these notions. It is usually said the people speak different languages when they do not un-
derstand each other. But many of the so-called dialects of Chinese (Mandarin, Cantonese, Pekinese) are
mutually unintelligible in their spoken form. (They do, however, share the same written language,
which is the main reason why one speaks of them as “dialects of Chinese.”)
Crystal’s definition can to a large extent explain the ambiguous relationship between Mandarin and
Cantonese in the Hong Kong context. Cantonese is spoken in Hong Kong and part of the neighboring
Guangdong Province of P.R.C., and it is intangible to most of the people in the rest part of China.
Crystal mentions that Chinese people “share the same written language”, and that is partially true. To
be exact, Cantonese in written form can appear also unintelligible to most Chinese readers. As
mentioned above, it has its own grammar and syntax, which takes some time for acquisition.
3. Made in Hong Kong and its subtitling

The linguistic scenarios in Hong Kong with reference to the local language policy is a very exciting
reality, while at the same time it poses great challenges to the translators. Hong Kong, usually de-
scribed as a bilingual society, is quite different from other bilingual communities like Singapore or
Canada in terms of the linguistic population involved. The bi-literacy and Tri-lingualism policy here
constitutes an interesting phenomenon especially when it comes to translation issues. The difference
between Chinese and English has been highlighted by many researches in translation studies, and of
course, the differences between spoken Cantonese and written Chinese should be duly recognized.
Gibbons points out:
The result of the historical divergence, in conjunction with the influence of Spoken Mandarin, is that
written Chinese is different in many respects from Cantonese: differences include vocabulary, grammar
and forms of expression. (Gibbons, 1987: 4)
The three different linguistic forms play different roles in Hong Kong society5, and hence their usage
and co-existence incurs ideological conflicts in many contexts. Hong Kong, China, and Britain, the
Tri-party relationship is highlighted in terms of linguistic choice and features characterized by Bakh-
tin’s social stratification, i.e. heteroglossia. Therefore, the translation process from audible conversa-
tions into visible bilingual subtitles in Hong Kong context at the period of intriguing political transi-
tion is worth further attention and investigation.
3.1 Made in Hong Kong

Made in Hong Kong was released in Hong Kong in 1997, and its director, Fruit Chan, is considered
to be one of the most independent film-makers in post-handover Hong Kong. This specific movie his
hand-over trilogy, followed by The Longest Summer in 1998 and Little Cheung in 1999. The film is
exclusively designated for this political transition as Fruit Chan states in an interview:
Initially, I didn’t have a sense of mission. The five of us (the crew) just wanted to make a film, since
1997 was approaching, but no one single film in the mainstream was about this issue. (Cheung, 2009:
131)
The film is a typical story of four disaffected youngsters from the lower sector of Hong Kong and
their morbid trips. They live in the public housing estates, where the living condition is of course not
desirable. Moon (Zhongqiu/Chung-chau), a triad society member, gets acquaintance with Ping (Ping/
Ping) when collecting debts from her mother. The two are both from broken families, and the fathers
disserted their families for different reasons. It is symbolic to the no-father situation of Hong Kong as
a British colony. When Moon gets to know that Ping is suffering a fatal disease and is dying away,
he tries to borrow money from the loan shark to save her life. Sylvester is a mental retarded young
man, who is also abandoned by his family and by the society as well. He is often bullied by young
people around, and so he seeks shelter from Moon. Susan is school girl who commits suicide after
her teacher denies their relationship. Sylvester picks up the dead letters from Susan and gives them to
Moon, who is later haunted and erotically aroused by Susan’s ghost. Finally, Sylvester is killed by
triad society members after he fails a drug trafficking project. Ping dies of the disease, while Moon
ends up committing suicide after Ping’s death, which is embedded with the pessimistic view of the
future among the young generation.
The film is depicting the young people’s attitudes towards the handover in Hong Kong, where it
seems no future can be expected6. The anxiety and uncertainty is symbolized in the death of the
youngsters. That is the whole plot of the story, and it tells the audience the general attitude of local
citizen’s attitudes toward the reunion with the Mainland. And their anxiety and uncertainty are re-
vealed in their dialogues throughout the film.
3.2 Subtitling Made in Hong Kong

Then, how is the film related to heteroglossia? The following part will expound on this issue from
three different aspects: namely code-mixing, code-switching, and (re)accent(uation). Code-mixing
and code-switching are prevalent linguistic features in postcolonial Hong Kong. The difference
5
For the roles of these different linguistic forms in Hong Kong society, see Gibbons (1987).
6
For detailed discussion, see Susanna T.’s interview with Fruit Chan. T., Susanna, “No Future! No Future! Fruit
Chan Speaks about Made in Hong Kong.” In Hong Kong Panorama 97-98, edited by Provisional Urban Council,
54-57. Hong Kong: Provisional Urban Council, 1998.
106 BO LI
between spoken and written forms even makes it more complicated when it comes to translation
issues. The scholarship has provided substantial discussion on the relationship between code-mixing
and code-switching7. Taking the linguistic reality in Hong Kong, I will dwell upon code-mixing and
code-switching respectively.
3.2.1 Code-mixing between Cantonese and English

In the bilingual community like Hong Kong, the linguistic scenario is characterized by code-mixing
and code-switching, and the film is not exempt from it. As abovementioned, the code-mixing and
code-switching can take different forms: Cantonese+English or Cantonese+ Mandarin. The different
juxtaposition modes serves different purposes in revealing the cultural connotation or ideological
conflicts embedded in the language-pair respectively.
In most of the cases, the code-mixing in the original dialogues are standardized in both the Chinese
and English subtitles with only two exceptions in the Chinese subtitles. To a large extent, the erasure
of the code-mixing practice in the English subtitles can be understood as means to wipe out the
colonial history on the one hand and to facilitate understanding on the other. This perspective has
been repeatedly verified by scholars in postcolonial studies8. And this is typically applicable to the
former British colonies like Hong Kong. Although the eradication of code-mixing of Cantonese and
English serves to wipe out the colonial history, it sometimes fails to facilitate understanding and may
incur misunderstanding. The code-mixing between spoken Cantonese and English in Hong Kong
context incurs to some extent communication breakdown between two generations, between peers,
and even between family members. Here goes one example. When Moon and Ping bring Susan’s
dead letter to her former teacher, Ping notices that this is a girl’s school. Ping speculates that Susan is
probably a lesbian and develops relationship with a peer girl student.
1a. 屏: 咦？呢間女校嚟架？唔通……距喺 lesbian?

秋: 咩“賴屎餅”啊?
1b. Ping: But this is a girl’s school. D’you think she’s a lesbian?
Moon: What’s that?
In (1a), Ping applies code-mixing between Cantonese and English to speculate Susan’s sexual o-
rientation. However, the English word “lesbian” is intangible to Moon, and he mimicries the pro-
nunciation and expresses his incompetence to follow Ping by posing a question: What’s “賴屎餅”
(the nearest Cantonese equivalent of lesbian in acoustic terms)? Instead, in the English subtitle, the
original heteroglossic construction between Cantonese and English is replaced by a standard English
expression, while Moon’s question sounds illogical in this context. Actually, the problem can be
solved by replacing Moon’s question with only one “What?” It serves to express Moon’s surprise,
but the misunderstanding and the breakdown of communication can be avoided.
Now, let’s take a look at one of the two exemptions in the Chinese subtitles where the code-mixing
juxtaposition remains. When Moon takes the money to Ping’s house, Ping’s mother refuses to take
the “dirty money”:
2a. 屏媽: 我唔要你啲臭錢。

秋: 喂，好了喔，咩臭錢啊？我同阿屏啊，有feel噶！
屏媽: 咩feel啊？
秋: FELL，fell，感覺啊！
7
For further reading, see Tay (1989); Bhatia (1989); Clyne (1987); Baetens Beardsmore (1986); Apple and
Muysken (1987); Gibbons (1987); etc.
8
For further reading, see Sumillera (2008) and Bandia (2007).
2b. 屏媽: 我不要你的臭錢。

秋: 够了吧，你说什么臭钱呀？我跟阿屏是有feel的！
屏媽: 你说什么？
秋: F.E.L.L. (feel)，感覺啊！
2c. Ping’s Mother: I don’t want your dirty money.
Moon: what do you mean by dirty money? Can’t you see that we feel for each
other?
Ping’s Mother: What’s that?
Moon: F.E.L.L (Feel). Feeling.
(2c) Provides a literal translation for the captioned (2a) Cantonese dialogue. In the original dialogue,
Moon applies code-mixing between Cantonese and English, i.e. the English word “feel”. But unfor-
tunately, his spelling of the word reveals his poor English and his poor education as well, as he mis-
spells it as F.E.L.L. In the Chinese subtitles (2b), the code-mixing is retained, and the reason is two-
folded. First, it helps to keep the dialogue going on, and secondly, it serves to criticize the colonial
education system. This is actually highlighted at the beginning of the film. In Moon’s voice-over
narration, he says, “I was no good in my study. But the education system was no better”. That is why
he drops out of school after Form 3. The heteroglossic construction in this specific case is applied to
reiterate the criticism on the colonial education system. In the Chinese subtitles, this is kept to reveal
the identification among Chinese origins.
3.2.2 Code-switching between Cantonese and Mandarin

In the wake of the handover, language policy becomes an issue of great controversy. In the film
itself, Hong Kong people’s ambivalent attitudes towards the reunion are highlighted by the juxtapo-
sition between two linguistic systems: Cantonese and/versus Mandarin. On the one hand, they will
have more contact with the Mainland and their future is even tied with the Mainland side – admit it
or not. On the other hand, they express their anxiety and uncertainty out of their lack of under-
standing or out of their misunderstanding of the Mainland scenario. One thing is clear: Mandarin is
becoming more and more important in their daily life. In one scene, Big Brother Wing from the triad
society makes a phone call to his partner on the Mainland, and his shift from Mandarin into
Cantonese can be easily spotted in the original dialogue:
3a. Big Brother Wing: 到时候一定有专车接送你的…对…好…谢谢，再见，再见。

(in Mandarin) (放下电话）操你妈的!（转向中秋）阿秋，让我们了解下先。
(转粤语）死了, 講嘢成個大陸佬，咁上得大陸多。
3b. Big Brother Wing: 到时候一定有专车接送你的…对…好…谢谢，再见，再见。
(放下电话）操你妈的！（转向中秋）阿秋，先让我们了解一
下。（转粤语）糟了，多去大陆，说起话来也像个大陆人。
3c. Big Brother Wing: I’ll make sure that there’ll be a car waiting for you. Thank you very
(in Mandarin): much! See you. (putting down the phone) Fuck him! (To Moon)
Moon, let’s communicate with each other… (change into Canto-
nese) Shit! I’ve been traveling to China so often that I’m beginning
to sound like a mainlander.
The parts in the parenthesis are added to the dialogue in 3a and the two subtitle versions, (3b) and (3c),
respectively. Big Brother Wing is gentle in his Mandarin communication with his partner on the
Mainland, and he immediately curses him after putting down the phone. When he turns to Moon, he
doesn’t shift from Mandarin into Cantonese, and he keeps speaking Mandarin. Then, he realizes this and
shifts into Cantonese with Cantonese swear words. His Mandarin with Cantonese accent can be easily
discerned. In Cantonese, the adverb “first” comes at the end of the sentence, “阿秋，让我们了解下先”
(Moon, let’s communicate with each other first.) But, Big Brother Wing is actually speaking Mandarin
108 BO LI
with Cantonese sentence structure. This linguistic hybridity reveals the local people’s dilemma in the
transition period.
We now turn back to the code-switching feature in the audible dialogue. For local Cantonese speak-
ers, they can quickly pick up the shift from Mandarin into Cantonese in Big Brother Wing’s voice,
and they can easily infer the ambivalent attitudes embedded in this heteroglossic construction in
linguistic form. However, in the Chinese subtitles, even what Big Brother says in Mandarin is
adjusted into standard Mandarin sentence structure, i.e. “阿秋，先让我们了解一下” (literally, it
means let’s first communicate with each other.). The code-switching feature is fully substituted by
standardized target language version, and this subtle shift derives the audience of the chance to
experience what is on the local people’s mind: the dilemma and the anxiety.
3.2.3 (Re-)accent(uation)
Language is assumed always to be ideological, depending on circumstances of the reader or reading.
In Discourse of the Novel, Bakhtin describes the process of re-accentuation. The life of writing conti-
nues as readers make available a new valuation with each encounter with a text. For Bakhtin, the re-
accentuation is neither good nor bad. It is not a violation of the authorial intent; it is merely a re-ac-
centuation of meaning. As context, chronological, and spatial loci change, meaning reshapes itself.
This is typically applicable to the quotation of Chairman’s Mao speech at the end of the film:
4a. 世界是你们的，也是我们的。但是，归根结底也是你们的。
你们年轻人…好像早晨八九点钟的太阳。希望寄托在你们身上。
4b. 世界是你们的，也是我们的。但是，归根结底也是你们的。
你们年轻人…好像早晨八九点钟的太阳。希望寄托在你们身上。
4c. This is your world, so is ours. By the end of the day, it’s still yours. You’re just like the
morning sun. We have placed all our hope on you.
(4a) is the original quotation of Chairman Mao Zedong’s speech, which is delivered in Cantonese
dialect by a radio announcer. (4b) is the Mandarin subtitles, which is the same wording with the Can-
tonese presentation in (4a). In 1954, Chairman Mao Zedong delivered this speech when he was visit-
ing the former Soviet Union. He addressed the Chinese students studying there with his strong
Hu’nan accent, which was actually intangible to the majority of the audience. When Chairman Mao
noticed the students’ puzzlement, he immediately explained this way: Shi-jie (in Hu’nan accent, it
sounds like “hsi-gai”), the world. With these words, he put his two hands together, like holding a ball
in his palms. The speech is very encouraging and it quickly spread across the country, popular with
most Chinese on the Mainland. And this is reinforced and reinterpreted for the central government’s
emphasis on the younger generation. However, when this speech is quoted at the end of the movie, it
was sarcastically delivered in Cantonese on air by a hypothetic “People’s Radio in Hong Kong”. It is
easily discerned that the context, chronological, and spatial loci has changed, and in this process,
meaning reshapes itself. Esther Cheung points out, that “Politically, the voice of the radio announ-
cer’s from “People’s Radio Hong Kong” speaks metaphorically about the linguistic and political
differences between Hong Kong and China”. (Cheung, 2009: 111) Her point of view is echoed by
Yau Ka-Fei in that “[t]his addresses the tension between Cantonese-speaking Hong Kong people and
their suspicion towards the government of the People’s Republic of China, whose official language is
Putonghua.”(Yau, 2001: 552).
Ironically, all the four young people in the film end up in death after their morbid adventurous trips.
So, this quotation, an overt mode of heteroglossic construction, is thickly embedded with the social
criticism, which should not be neglected, for it plays an important role in bringing out the theme of
the movie, which is defined as “no future” for the younger generation. Unfortunately, this quotation
as a process of re-accentuating the meaning gets lost in the visible subtitles both in Chinese and
English. Comparatively speaking, the Mandarin speakers can infer more from the Cantonese quota-
tion, though Cantonese is intangible to them; while the English speakers can only catch the point
when they realize that this is a quotation from Chairman Mao later with the help of the radio
announcer.
4. Conclusion
Made in Hong Kong was released in 1997, when the Handover took place. It was well-acclaimed by
the audience and won quite a few international awards. The theme on the paradoxical political transi-
tion is embodied in the heteroglossic construction of the film dialogues, which covers the salient
linguistic features of code-mixing, code-switching, and (re)accent(uation). The centrifugal forces of
such heteroglossic construction play an important role in bringing out the ideological conflicts. How-
ever, these linguistic features in the audible conversations pose great challenges to translators in pro-
ducing the bilingual subtitles. To facilitate understanding among non-Cantonese speakers, the trans-
lator applies standardization in most of the cases by erasing the traces of these features, which ac-
cordingly leads to the loss of the original ideological connotations. It is worth pointing out that dif-
ferent translation strategies applied in producing the two subtitle versions suggest different iden-
tifications on the translator’s part. While the English subtitles wipe out all code-mixing and code-
switching traces, the Mandarin subtitles keep some of these heteroglossic constructions to serve
different purposes: either to remain the criticism on the colonial government’s poor education system
or to highlight the communication breakdown incurred.
It is unfair to criticize the bilingual subtitle versions for not bringing out the salient linguistic features
in the original dialogues, for the formidable difficulty seems to be great challenge to the translators.
And this research is aimed to be descriptive instead of being prescriptive to come up with practical
translation strategies. To a large extent, we have to admit that, for this kind of heteroglossic construc-
tions, it is necessary produce paratexts in the form of film review or research papers like this current
one to supplement the lost meaning through translation.
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Bakhtin Studies 2(1999), pp.41-59.
ACTION RESEARCH AS A METHODOLOGY

FOR AUDIOVISUAL TRANSLATION
Łukasz Bogucki
Lodz University, Poland
Abstract: Audiovisual translation has only recently gained the status of an academic discipline,
but research into it is growing exponentially. The first monographs on subtitling came out bare-
ly some twenty years ago. The two decades have witnessed a proliferation of monographs, con-
ference proceedings, papers and dissertations devoted to subtitling, dubbing, voice-over and,
more recently, to SDHH, audiodescription and surtitling. What are the methodologies behind this
already substantial body of research?
This paper will outline well-known approaches to Translation Studies (comparative, process and
causal models) and discuss their applicability to AVT research. Special attention is given to a
methodology which has already been applied to AVT, namely Action Research. The paper aims
to answer the question whether a universal methodological approach is feasible in the case of a
discipline as complex and non-homogeneous as AVT. Can similar tools be used in studying
intra- and interlingual translation, catering for the needs of regular and handicapped users, subject
to a variety of technical and linguistic constraints and using different modes?
1. Introduction
If there is one adjective that researchers particularly like to use together with the notion of trans-
lation, that adjective must be „interdisciplinary“. Mary Snell-Hornby’s frequently reprinted diagram
of text types and crucial aspects of translation (Snell-Hornby, 1995: 32) aptly shows the complexity
of the notion. Moreover, the number of factors interfacing with translation studies is constantly on
the increase. Computer software, cultural barriers, wordplay, feature films, video games, electronic
and traditional dictionaries, ethics, gender, agents of power, termbases, corpora, hermeneutics, neolo-
gisms, incompatibility of legal systems – all of these, and many more, have found their way into
discussions on translation. Especially recently, with the introduction of new technologies, the
meaning of translation has broadened to such an extent that a synonym – localisation – is being used
more and more frequently (see e.g. Hatim and Munday, 2004:113). It is the interdisciplinary nature
of translation that has led to a profusion of theoretical approaches. From linguistic theories rooted in
structuralism and later transformational-generative grammar, through functionalist models, textual
approaches, hermeneutics, the cultural turn, psycholinguistics, pragmatics, gender studies, to
cognitive sciences, corpus linguistics, computational linguistics – over the last six or so decades
translation studies, a young academic discipline, has had many faces.
Williams and Chesterman (2002) list three main models of research within translation studies. Com-
parative models (see e.g. Catford 1965 or Vinay and Darbelnet 1958) are essentially static, contrast-
ive analyses of source and target languages and / or texts, which tend to be limited to particular pairs
of languages. They have evolved from decontextualised contrastive analyses of small translation
units to more detailed and universal studies, like Kitty van Leuven-Zwart’s approach (van Leuven-
Zwart, 1989 and 1990). Dynamic process models investigate the relationships between the sender
(producer) of the source text, the translator and the recipient (addressee) in the process of translation;
Think-Aloud Protocols (e.g. Jääskeläinen,1998) are a typical example. Thirdly, causal models strive
to answer the question “why”, a key dilemma in translation. The skopos theory, Nida’s (1964) dyna-
mic equivalence or Toury’s (1995) normative approach are paragons of this type.
It appears that causal models are the most successful in explaining the complex nature of translation.
Chesterman (2000:25) argues that only a causal model is capable of forming all the four kinds of hy-
potheses necessary in research (viz. interpretive, descriptive, explanatory and predictive); the other
112 ŁUKASZ BOGUCKI
models cannot progress beyond the first two, possibly including predictions in certain cases, but
never allowing for explanations.
2. Audiovisual translation – still under-researched?

Many accounts of audiovisual transfer tend to present the genre as new, dynamically developing, ina-
dequately described and non-homogeneous. Szarkowska (2009) points out that the first edition of the
influential Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies (Baker 1998) had no entry for audiovisual
translation as such (though there were separate entries for subtitling and dubbing). Les operations
linguistiques qui sous-tendent le processus de sous-titrage des films, a monograph published in 1993
by Teresa Tomaszkiewicz of Poznań, is considered to be one of the first books to systematize lin-
guistic issues in the process of subtitling and to open avenues for AVT research. This is not to say
that no mention was made concerning film translation before the 1990s (cf. Dollerup, 1974; Mayoral,
1984); Jan Ivarsson’s book appeared one year before Tomaszkiewicz’s (Ivarsson,1992); Diaz-Cintas
(2004) points to the existence of an unpublished manuscript on subtitling by Simon Laks dated as
early as 1957. However, early publications did not offer any systematic approach to screen transla-
tion, often merely listing catalogues of errors in subtitles or at best discussing professional or econo-
mic aspects of translating films. Even later publications either concentrated on technical guidelines
of subtitling and dubbing as a trade (Dries,1995) or emphasized the novelty behind these translation
types from an academic perspective (Gottlieb,1997).
Currently, the online bibliography of translation and interpreting managed by the University of Ali-
cante1 lists 1837 publications devoted to AVT. The number of dissertations on the subject is beyond
calculation. Hardly a year passed in the 21st century without at least one international conference on
audiovisual translation (Hong Kong 2001, Berlin 2002, London 2004, Barcelona 2005, Copenhagen
2006, Lodz 2007 – organised by the author, Leiria 2007, Montpellier 2008, Antwerp 2009, Barcelona
2009, Bologna (Forli) 2010, London 2011, Krakow 2011). However, there are still many unexplored
avenues of research, while what has been discussed occasionally suffers from inadequate or superfi-
cial treatment. There is a paucity of publications pertaining to opera surtitling, though it has been a-
round for over twenty years (Burton 2010). Newer techniques, like audiodescription and in particular
live subtitling, are pending academic appraisal. Even voice-over appears to be in need of a thorough
description.
In the words of Jorge Diaz-Cintas: “On a research level, the term audiovisual is sometimes added
with certain flippancy to pieces of work to make them more attractive, when in reality what is pre-
sented is very limited in its audiovisual specificity and could well be applied to other areas of trans-
lation”. (Diaz-Cintas,2004). Without a doubt, audiovisual translation research is attractive. For a
beginner researcher, it is tempting to list mistakes in a subtitled movie, illustrating it with screen-
shots, and even more tempting to suggest own improvements. The author has supervised and re-
viewed over twenty theses devoted to problems in AVT on various levels of advancement in several
Polish higher education institutions and double-marked research papers on film translation in univer-
sities in the UK, Turkey, Sweden and Portugal; a great number of students needed meticulous gui-
dance so as to go beyond mere error-hunting in a foreign version of another Disney/Pixar production.
An experienced supervisor will normally find this a fairly easy task, but less so when faced with a
scarcity of research tools. To quote from Diaz-Cintas‘ insightful paper again, “Many of the trans-
lation concepts and theories that have been historically articulated cease to be functional when schol-
ars try and apply them to AVT.” (Diaz-Cintas,2004). Having said that, one has to mention successful
attempts at applying translation theories to audiovisual translation research. The next section will
indicate which models of translation have been used to explain screen translation phenomena.
1
BITRA at https://aplicacionesua.cpd.ua.es/tra_int/usu/buscar.asp?idioma=en, consulted on April 19th, 2010.
3. Methodologies of audiovisual translation research

In his doctoral dissertation, Karamitroglou (2000) positions audiovisual translation (on the example
of Greek subtitles) within the framework of norms and polysystem theory. In line with those re-
searchers who take the concept of equivalence for granted and prefer instead to speak of norms (cf.
the debate in Schäffner 1999: 32), Karamitroglou discusses the target normative system as made up
of four categories, viz. human agents, products, recipients and audiovisual mode. The final product is
conditioned by the specificity of the genre, the target audience expectations as well as the people
partaking in the translation process, not infrequently technicians. The application of norms to screen
translation appears justified, as professional practice is governed by in-house regulations (e.g. the
standards observed by film studios in Poland that limit the number of characters in a line of subtitle
to between 32 and 40, as well as similar truncations operating in studios across the globe2). However,
there is much more to norms in AVT than merely technical limitations. Karamitroglou’s conclusion
is that audiovisual translation can be researched within the general realm of translation studies (Kara-
mitroglou, 2000:249).
A similar approach is advocated by Bogucki (2004), who presents a model for analysing cinema sub-
titles within the framework of Relevance Theory (Sperber and Wilson 1995). The underlying as-
sumption of the model is that the constraints influencing the subtitler’s choice are threefold. Firstly,
there are technical curtailments. Secondly, there are norms that operate in any kind of translation, as
proposed by e.g. Toury (1995) and Chesterman (1997); in this respect, the model is related to that of
Karamitroglou (see above). However, thirdly and perhaps most importantly, there is the concept of
relevance, which guides all the subtitler’s actions. The filmic message being typically composed of
four semiotic channels (cf. Gottlieb, 1997 and elsewhere, cf. also Delabastita 1989), viz. the picture,
music and sound effects, signs and captions and finally the dialogue, its comprehension and appreci-
ation by the audience is a function of the effect that the information conveyed through each of these
channels has on the viewers. In plain English, while in certain audiovisual productions one or more
of these channels may take precedence over the others (e.g. music being regarded as no less impor-
tant in Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey than picture or dialogue, the movie being described by the
director himself as a “non-verbal experience”3), a film is to be appreciated as a complex whole. Dis-
abled viewers, deprived of the possibility of experiencing stimuli coming through either the audio or
the video channel, can benefit from certain forms of audiovisual translation that make up for this loss
(for instance, the blind can have the moving picture described to them by means of audiodescription,
as focusing solely on the dialogue, music and sound effects, they would not be able to appreciate the
artistic value of the entire semiotic composition). With regard to this peculiarity of audiovisual trans-
fer, choices made by film translators are inevitably filtered by what is relevant, i. e. any redundant
elements of film dialogue (information conveyed also by the picture, signs or captions) may well be
omitted from the translation. A scene showing the picture of a railway station building, with the let-
ters “Union Station” on the roof, hardly requires a subtitle explaining that it is a railway station
called “Union Station” (Belczyk, 2007). Curtailed by the technical limitations of subtitles and stri-
ving for maximum clarity and minimum complexity of message, translators have to restrict them-
selves to what is pertinent. The Principle of Relevance, arguably applicable to all translation (cf.
Gutt, 2000), is thus the more applicable to audiovisual transfer.4
In her doctoral dissertation, Szarkowska (2007) applied multimodal transcription (see Baldry and
Thimbault 2006) to an analysis of Polish soap operas subtitled into English. Multimodality goes be-
2
According to Diaz-Cintas (personal communication), the technical constraints on subtitling are becoming a
thing of the past.
3
Kubrick’s comment made in 1968, as reported in Castle A. (ed.) 2005 The Stanley Kubrick Archives. Köln:
Taschen.
4
The point was first made by Irena Kovačič (1994).
114 ŁUKASZ BOGUCKI
yond language to demonstrate that communication is also possible through sound, music, image and
gestures. The application of multimodal transcription to audiovisual translation seems methodologic-
ally appropriate in the light of the semiotic composition of film (see above). The visual frames of the
audiovisual material are juxtaposed with a meticulous description of each, including time frame, in-
formation on camera position, perspective, visual focus, distance, visually salient items, colours, co-
ding orientation as well as kinesic action of participants, soundtrack and a metafunctional interpreta-
tion of meaning. This approach was first placed in the audiovisual context by Taylor (2004).
The following is an example of multimodal analysis, a simplified form of multimodal transcription,

limited to a screenshot of the given frame under scrutiny together with a description of the action, the
line(s) of dialogue spoken at that time together with a literal translation, as well as the corresponding
subtitle(s). The scene comes from the Coen brothers’ movie Big Lebowski. Two main characters, the
Dude (Jeff Bridges) and Walter Sobchak (John Goodman) are out bowling and have just heard an
outburst of verbal abuse from a competing player, Jesus Quintana (John Turturro). The line is spoken
sardonically by Walther, referring to Jesus and his bowling partner. The subtitle differs from the lite-
ral translation in that it seems to be referring only to Quintana; also, the Dude’s nickname is
translated:
Frame Action Soundtrack Translation Subtitle

Dude and Eight-year- Ośmiolatki, Ośmiolatek,
Walther re- olds, Dude Dude Koleś
act to Jesus‘
outburst
Research into audiovisual translation poses a challenge in that the domain under scrutiny is semiotic-
ally and technically complex. Translation per se is an interdisciplinary activity, while film translation
carries the added factor of merging the visual with the verbal. As Munday notes, "the construction of
an interdisciplinary methodology is not straightforward, since few researchers possess the necessary
expertise in a wide range of subject areas" (Munday, 2001:189). Furthermore, though all kinds of
translations are made with the target recipient in mind and quality assessment models often take into
account what the audience make of the foreign language versions, it seems that in screen translation
the audience’s opinion is of prime importance. Many surveys (e.g. Inst. SMG KRC Poland (Bogucki,
2004:12), European Barometer (Gambier, 2006) or TGI Latina5) indicate viewers’ preferences as
regards particular types of audiovisual transfer. It seems necessary, therefore, to consider a
methodology that is versatile, flexible and recipient-centred. Action Research seems a viable
candidate.
4. Action Research – characteristics and applications

Action Research (henceforth AR) is a multifaceted concept. It may be seen as a generic term for a
number of forms of research geared at action (cf. Coghlan and Brannick, 2001). The two nouns that
make up the name indicate that it focuses on acting (and thus changing the present state of affairs)
and researching (and thus understanding the problems involved).
The concept of action has already been brought up in translation studies, notably by Justa Holz-
Mänttäri (1984), whose model of translatorial action was based on action theory, an approach not un-
5
http://www.zonalatina.com/Zldata163.htm.
related to Action Research (for a discussion, see Mayhew 1968). The two main characteristics of AR
are that it is participative and cyclic (Cravo and Neves, 2007). Firstly, it involves active participation
on the part of members of the system under scrutiny (see also Wadsworth 1998); secondly, problem-
solving is not linear, but repetitive. The typical cycle of planning the research, data collection and an-
alysis does not stop at drawing conclusions, but leads on to planning more research based on the re-
sults obtained thus far.
As far as translation studies is concerned, AR is essentially an attempt to bridge the notorious gap
between theory and practice that plagues the discipline. When applied to translational research, the
methodology would not concern abstract issues like equivalence, but practical problems affecting
translators. In Basil Hatim’s words, „translation studies is seeking to promote the stance that research
is not only something to be done to or on practitioners, but is also something done by practitioners”
(Hatim, 2001:7). This is a very valid point, as the routes of theoreticians and practitioners exploring
the nature of translation tend to fork only too often, or indeed, run parallel from the very start. It
seems that in audiovisual translation in particular, combining the expertise of practising translators
with the broad knowledge of translation theoreticians would bear fruit.
One characteristic of AR that makes it particularly suitable for audiovisual translation is its cyclic
nature combined with reflections upon each ensuing cycle of research. Action Research seems to be
an ongoing process, as while trying to solve a particular problem, the researcher frequently comes
across new ones. This spiral of revisions and constant development appears necessary in an area as
dynamic and varied as AVT. Technological development brings about new, previously unimaginable
types of audiovisual transfer such as live subtitling that makes use of speech recognition software.
The internet has dramatically impacted amateur subtitling known as fansubbing. Cinema subtitles are
no longer chemically produced. Audience preferences are changing over longer periods of time;
voice-over as we know it may eventually disappear from Polish television (Bogucki 2010). Special-
ised software enables alterations to the font, colour and positioning of subtitles easily. Sophisticated
computer graphics make it possible to render animated characters so realistically that lip-synchro-
nisation in dubbing becomes an issue. In the foreseeable future, inventions like the Tele Scouter6
may make subtitling as we know it obsolete. All that rapid development necessitates hands-on re-
search, where AR may well turn out to be a perfect tool.
However, AR appears to have limited relevance. Cohen and Manion (1980: 216) point out that the
findings of AR are usually applicable only to a specific situation. Thus far, applications of AR to the
area of audiovisual transfer have largely concentrated on particular subtypes rather than the entire
subdiscipline. Szarkowska (2009) discusses the use of AR in subtitling for the D/deaf and hard of
hearing. She describes how the research involving three groups: the hearing-impaired, AVT profes-
sionals and researchers can lead to improving the quality of intralingual subtitles. The conclusion is
that the Deaf (so-called „culturally deaf“ viewers) appear to prefer sign language translation, while
the hearing-impaired opt for SDHH.
The gap between theory and practice is not only seen in translation itself, but also in translator train-
ing. The author has some experience in teaching translation in universities across Europe, from Swe-
den to Portugal. While many institutions do realise the practical potential of translation, offering
hands-on training for trainee translators and freelancers taught by experienced practitioners with the
help of sophisticated tools, others focus on the theory behind, often limiting the practice to getting
students to translate texts and marking their assignments. The problem may largely be due to the fact
that translation is often part of language studies curriculum; in Poland and elsewhere, philology grad-
uates teach translation classes, too frequently without clear guidelines as to whether they are sup-
6
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/6493869/NEC-unveils-Tele-Scouter-translation-glasses. html.
116 ŁUKASZ BOGUCKI
posed to merely assist their students in improving their language skills through translation-related
activities or whether their role is to train freelancers, possibly even future in-house translators. How-
ever, to a certain extent the nature of the situation is financial; translators are reluctant to lend their
expertise to higher education institutions as they seem to be able to make more money translating
than teaching. Moreover, the cost of translation software and modern computer equipment may in-
hibit universities in poorer countries.
Certain European universities have been offering degrees in AVT for a while now, to name Univer-
sitat Autònoma de Barcelona and Roehampton University in London. Adam Mickiewicz University
in Poznań has a postgraduate programme in AVT. However, in this respect the map of Europe is
largely filled with blank spots. Despite the interest in audiovisual translation in Poland, teaching
AVT is in its infancy, if not only in its conceptual phase (the institution mentioned above being a
notable exception). The two main characteristics of Action Research, active participation and cyclic
nature, make it a potential candidate for inclusion in syllabuses. Institutions contemplating the incep-
tion of AVT courses and degrees should probably consider this approach. A similar view is ex-
pressed in Cravo and Neves (2007).
As we have been trying to demonstrate throughout this section, AR might be a viable tool to attempt
to answer a number of questions in audiovisual translation. The issue of translating film titles may be
one area where participative and cyclic research would help to establish if not principles, then at least
trends. Currently film titles in Polish translations do not seem to follow any guidelines other than the
local producer’s ideas7. They may be retained (Big Lebowski), retained together with an added
subtitle (Speed: niebezpieczna prędkość, lit: “Speed: dangerous velocity“), literally translated (The
Godfather as Ojciec chrzestny), freely translated (Whatever works rendered as Co nas kręci, co nas
podnieca, lit. “What tickles us, what turns us on“) or adapted (Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind
rendered as Zakochany bez pamięci, a play on words that can be interpreted either as „Head over
heels in love“ or “Lover without memory“, the latter corresponding with the story told in the movie).
A notorious example is the adaptation of Die hard as Szklana pułapka (lit. “Glass trap“), reference to
the plot of the first part of what has now become a quadrilogy. Of course, there is no „glass trap“ of
any kind in the sequels, unless we mean an occasional window pane smashed into shards, but the
Polish title has survived the test of time through the other three parts, for promotional reasons. A re-
cent Leonardo di Caprio hit Inception has quite ominously been rendered as Incepcja, though no
such word exists in the Polish language. A longitudinal, cyclic study involving the audience, film
translators and producers would certainly shed more light on the thorny issue.
Another issue worth researching is the editing that occurs in the case of movies with vulgar language.
In Big Lebowski there is a scene where an outraged Walter Sobchak thrashes a car, yelling „This is
what happens when you f**k a stranger in the ass!“ As the film was broadcast on television, the line
was changed into the ominous “This is what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps”8. It is not
uncommon for taboo language in films to be softened in translation for television broadcasting,
somewhat less so in the case of DVD/BluRay releases, as these are clearly labelled as suitable for
persons over a certain age; besides, a viewer may be exposed to a film containing explicit language
by accident when it is broadcast on television, even late at night, while playing back a recorded copy
is usually a matter of conscious choice. How much editing, if any, is deemed acceptable or
appropriate by viewers and under what circumstances is a research question that could be answered
using the methodology under scrutiny here.
7
For a discussion of film titles in Polish translation, see Belczyk (2007) and Dynel (2010).
8
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118715/trivia?tr1362051.
5. Conclusion
A universal methodological approach to audiovisual translation as a genre has yet to be delineated.
Differences between subtitling and revoicing are quite striking, for example the change in mode from
speech to writing in the case of subtitling, the additive nature of this type of translation, the appli-
cable constraints and target audience preferences. The divisive nature of audiovisual transfer means
that the audiovisual world seems to be split into proponents of subtitling and revoicing and the boun-
daries are here to stay. The less common kinds of AVT cater for limited audiences and are technical-
ly quite diverse. They may be intralingual aids for disabled viewers, like audiodescription and
SDHH; their scope may be heavily restricted in terms of both audience and content type, like surti-
tling; like live subtitling, they may rely on advanced technology and skills beyond the realm of trans-
lation competence. Technological development may eventually render audiovisual translation even
less homogeneous than it is today. Having said that, any research within AVT should probably be
based on causal models involving the audience. The versatility of AR makes it a viable platform to
guide research into audiovisual translation.
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THE TECHNOLOGY TURN IN SUBTITLING1

Jorge Díaz-Cintas
Imperial College London
Abstract: Of the several modes available for translating audiovisual programmes, subtitling is
arguably the most commonly used and the driving force behind all the recent changes. Audio-
visual Translation (AVT) in general but subtitling in particular has a very close relationship
with technology, which to a large degree determines its nature. The technical advances taking
place in this area can have an immediate and considerable impact both on the subtitling prac-
tice from the practitioner’s perspective, and also on the perception that viewers and consumers
have of subtitling. This talk investigates some of the most significant technological changes that
have recently taken place in this field.
1. Audiovisualisation of media and communication

The ever increasing reality of mass communication in virtual environments has brought about radical
changes in the way we communicate with each other. The exchange of written texts, visual images
and oral content through media that combine both visual and auditory channels is an everyday prac-
tice for millions of people around the globe, both socially and commercially. From the point of view
of the people producing the audiovisual output, this type of format is appealing not only for its allu-
ring semiotic complexity, but also because thanks to today’s technology these messages can travel
fast, nearly instantly, and have the potential to reach large audiences anywhere in the world, tradi-
tionally mainly through the television but nowadays increasingly so through the world wide web.
From the point of view of the people receiving these messages, audiovisual exchanges are appealing
because they communicate complex messages in a ludic and entertaining way. It is the composite, se-
miotic, audio and visual nature of the material that gives it the edge over simply written communi-
cation. In this sense, we could talk of the audiovisualisation of our communicative environment,
where sounds and visuals coalesce in a winning combination over other formats, particularly among
younger generations.
Since a large quantity of this material will need to be translated in order to cross language barriers, it
follows that the audiovisualisation trend must also be felt in the translation profession and academia,
to the extent that we could also talk of a process of audiovisualisation in translation. Indeed, evidence
of these developments can be seen, among others, in the plentiful publications and conferences solely
dedicated to the topic, in the development of graduate and postgraduate courses focused on the
different audiovisual modes, and in the astounding increase of subtitling output, particularly on the
internet (Díaz Cintas, 2008).
The trigger for this moulding of our habits towards the audiovisual dimension can be traced back to
the cinema in the first instance and the television some decades later, though the real impact came
with the start of the digital revolution in the 1980s. Boosted by vast improvements in computing
technology, it marked the beginning of the information age and the globalisation trends.
In the field of audiovisual translation (AVT), the most significant development to have radically af-
fected the essence of this professional practice has been the possibility of digitising the image; which
in turn has profoundly altered our perception of the audiovisual world and our relationship to it.
Without a doubt, the advent of the DVD back in 1995 can be hailed as one of the major devel-
1
This article is part of the project "Linguistic and sensorial accessibility: technologies for voiceover and audio
description", funded by the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (FFI2012-31023).
120 JORGE DÍAZ-CINTAS
opments in our field, with huge repercussions not only in the way audiovisual programmes started to
be packaged, marketed and consumed, but also from a quantitative perspective. Indeed, in the second
half of the 1990s vast amounts of archival films and television series originally distributed on VHS
needed to be digitised so that they could be commercialised again. This, in turn, brought along an
exponential growth in subtitling, particularly in dubbing countries where most of the programmes
had been originally dubbed but needed now to be subtitled too.
In addition, the DVD saw the promotion and commercialisation of a new audiovisual genre that has
come to be known in the industry as VAM (Value Added Material), bonus material or DVD extras.
This material is usually subtitled and, on occasions, lasts longer than the actual film, hence con-
tributing substantially to the increase in the volume of translations being carried out. The DVD also
favoured the commercial distribution of old and new genres that had not received the same interest
from the distributors during the analogue period, and that now would also need to be translated into
numerous languages: music programmes, television series and sitcoms, edutainment and infotain-
ment productions, corporate videos, cartoons, and all sorts of documentaries to name but a few. All
these new additions meant a big boost to the audiovisualisation of translation, that was taken to new
highs some years later thanks to the potential offered by the omnipresent and omnipowerful world
wide web.
As far as the linguistic dimension is concerned, the most significant advantage is the coexistence of
several languages and translations on the very same digital versatile disc. Having the original, the
dubbed and the subtitled versions of the same film on just one disc has provided consumers with a
different viewing experience altogether. From a lineal presentation of contents, characteristic of
traditional television and the defunct VHS tape, the industry has moved on to allow a greater degree
of interactivity on the part of the viewers, who now have more control over the linguistic combi-
nation they want to follow, and can choose, if they so wish, to have the dubbed version in one lan-
guage, with subtitles in one (primary) or two (secondary) other language(s). The Blu-ray Disc (BD),
the newest distribution medium embraced by the movie production companies, will no doubt in-
fluence the subtitling industry its own way and in due time.
However, the biggest catalyst of changes in audiovisual communication (and translation) has been,
and continuous to be, the internet. Since its launch in the early 1990s, it has known a phenomenal
growth and has had an enormous impact on culture, commerce and education, including the rise of
near instant communication, social networking, online teaching and shopping among other key de-
velopments. The potential of the technology has meant that increasingly larger amounts of data, like
video clips, can be transmitted at higher and higher speeds. This, together with the consolidation of
Web 2.0 – associated with applications that facilitate participatory and collaborative activities among
netizens of virtual communities as well as the production of user-generated content – have made
possible that the watching, exchange and circulation of audiovisual materials is just a keystroke away
for nearly everybody. Passive viewers of the first initial websites have now become active users and
bloggers of the cyberspace, with the power of creating and distributing their own material.
Some of the figures highlighting the enormous development of the internet can be mind boggling.
According to Hilbert and López (2011), in 1993, it is estimated that the internet carried only 1% of
the information flowing through two-way telecommunication; by 2000 this figure had grown to 51%,
and by 2007 more than 97% of all telecommunicated information was carried over the internet. As
for the number of users, in 1990 just over 3 million people had access to it worldwide (Web 1),
around 0.05% of the world’s population, whilst by the end of 2000, the number had increased to
nearly 361 million (6% of the world’s population) and in March 2001 it was estimated to be over 2
billion people (Web 2), around 29% of the world’s population.
Given the importance of the internet in our daily lives, and its prominence in entertainment and
commerce spheres, it is not surprising that companies, institutions and individuals want to have an
(audiovisual) presence on it. In view of all these developments, I would like to argue that we are in a
process of internetisation of the communication which, I believe, entails the internetisation of
translation and, in particular, subtitling. The internet is increasingly becoming our global commons
and one of the most immediate and pervasive media in order to reach commercial success and global
visibility.
From the perspective of the users, this sheer wealth of audiovisual material raises two main issues:
one linguistic and the other about accessibility. On the one hand, unless this material comes with
translations into other languages, it risks capping its potential exposure and its reach across countries
and cultures. On the other hand, without the appropriate support many videos will be inaccessible to
audiences with either visual or hearing impairments.
Despite the increasing strengthening of English as the world’s lingua franca, the reality is that trans-
lation is still widely needed to make audiovisual messages understood by people who speak a differ-
ent language. In this sense, although audiovisual translation took its first steps soon after the inven-
tion of cinema over a century ago, the fast development and spreading of mass communication in
new media formats has brought along substantial changes to the translation profession, and particu-
larly to subtitling, in very little time, making it difficult for many to keep abreast of changes. In
addition to the emergence of new types of translation, generally grouped under the umbrella term
‘audiovisual translation’ – of which the most widely known are subtitling, dubbing, voiceover,
subtitling for the deaf and the hard-of-hearing, and audio description for the blind – we have also
witnessed changes in the working flows of companies, the technology being used, the role of the
translator, the formal conventions being applied in the subtitles,2 and the audiovisual genres that get
subtitled these days. In the following sections, I concentrate mainly on the professional and technical
dimensions.
2. Commoditisation of subtitling
Of the several existing modes for translating audiovisual programmes, subtitling is arguably the most
widely used in the industry. Although this statement is difficult to probe, as no reliable statistics exist
in this respect, subtitling is very popular in the audiovisual world for two main reasons: it is cheap
and it can be done reasonably fast.
One of the most symbolic ways in which (intralingual) subtitles have received an enormous boost in
our society has been through their inclusion as a prominent feature on most remote controls. A far
cry from the traditional analogue signal, where subtitles were hidden and encoded in the teletext, the
switch to digital television has meant that most TV remote controls have now a subtitle button that
allows viewers to access subtitles in a much easier and more straightforward manner. Legislation in
many countries is also having a great impact in the total amount of subtitled hours that TV stations
must broadcast to satisfy the needs of deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers, with some of them like the
BBC subtitling 100% of their output in most of their channels.
The greater memory capacity offered by the DVD was soon maximised by the entertainment industry
with the inclusion on the same disk of several subtitled and dubbed tracks in different languages of
the same film and programme. The naturalness with which subtitling entered the DVD industry was
felt in the exponential growth of work in this field, particularly in the late 1990s. On the internet, the
visibility of subtitles has been boosted, among others, by the development and distribution of
2
See Díaz Cintas (2010) for further details on how these changes are affecting the formal conventions applied
to subtitling.
devoted subtitling freeware, the frenetic and prolific activity of fansubbers and amateur subtitlers,
and the emergence of websites that act as repositories of subtitles both ripped from commercial
DVDs and produced by amateur subtitlers: open subtitles (www.opensubtitles.org/en), free-subtitles
(www.free-subtitles.org), and allsubs (www.allsubs.org), to name but a few.
This increase in volume and greater availability of subtitles has contributed to a large extent to a
change in the habits of some viewers, particularly those from traditional dubbing countries such as
Austria, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Turkey or Spain, where subtitling has been historic-
ally marginal. Most importantly, perhaps, is the seemingly ubiquitous nature of subtitling these days,
which has led to what I would like to call the commoditisation of subtitling. If a few years back the
productions being subtitled were not numerous, nowadays many programmes on TV and DVD are
subtitled, coupled with the fact that TV is not any more a few channels that sign off at midnight, but
rather hundreds of channels broadcasting 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Of course, the transition
from being a limited niche product to becoming a mainstream commodity has brought along its posi-
tives as well as negatives.
On the downside, subtitling rates have come under serious pressure in recent years, which in turn has
brought quality levels into disrepute, with many holding the belief that the loss of quality is a natural
by-product of the pricing slide and is not compensated by the technological advances. On the upside,
as subtitling projects became bigger in the number of hours and languages to be translated, their
budgets also rose, making the whole operation an attractive field for many new companies setting up
innovative businesses and for translators to specialise in this area in order to enter the marketplace.
Though the situation may be changing these days as it becomes a more competitive business with a
larger base and is also exposed to the current financial pressures, the reality is that the subtitling
industry has experienced a massive growth in the number of companies entering the market, with
many of them specialising solely in this field and morphing into multinationals. As far as viewers are
concerned, the hike in the volume of subtitles means that they can expect to enjoy subtitles in a
greater number of programmes and contexts.
3. Universal subtitles
For many, the ubiquity of subtitling, though a desirable aim, it is still far from being achieved. Let us
take YouTube as an example: a web portal that is localised in 25 countries across 43 languages. Ac-
cording to its own statistics (Web 3), more than 13 million hours of video were uploaded during
2010 and 48 hours of video are uploaded every minute, resulting in nearly 8 years of content
uploaded every day in hundreds of different languages. Over 3 billion of these videos are viewed a
day, which is a clear indicator of the importance that audiovisual material on internet has for people
in order to learn, to communicate, to trade, to befriend and to play.
Yet, despite this rich catalogue many internet users are unable to share content across cultures b-
ecause they cannot overcome language barriers. The motivation to change this state of affairs and
make accessible to all as many videos as possible is the driving force behind the Universal Subtitles
project (www.universalsubtitles.org/en-gb), whose ultimate objective is to improve linguistic access
to online video by making it easy to subtitle online content and share video creations across
languages and cultures. One of their underlying premises is the acknowledgement that subtitling
internet video opens up the world for everyone, allowing users to explore otherwise inaccessible
information, use their own language skills and enjoy creative content from anywhere in the world.
According to their own website, the main characteristics of this project are:
1. It helps increase video views by reaching global audiences and being accessible to the deaf and hard-
of-hearing.
2. It is a collaborative nonprofit subtitling project, powered by viewers and a community of volunteers.
3. It is free, open source, and 100% web-based, making it possible for anyone, anywhere to subtitle any
video they see online, regardless of the hosting platform.
4. The process of adding subtitles is fast and easy and no software needs to be downloaded or installed.
5. Contributors are not dependent on any particular video host, platform, or format and can host their clips
wherever they want.
A Mozilla Drumbeat project, the Universal Subtitles venture by the Participatory Culture Foundation
seeks to make ultimately a more inclusive web by keeping it open to everyone irrespective of their
language skills (interlingual subtitling) or hearing impairment (intralingual subtitling). To promote
their goals and gather support, they launched an online petition in early 2011 to urge all online video
hosts to support universal subtitles and open the web to everyone (Web 4).
Of a similar nature, TED (www.ted.com) started out back in 1984 as a nonprofit project devoted to
‘ideas worth spreading’ from three worlds: technology, entertainment, and design. Since then, its
scope has become ever broader, but their underpinning philosophy remains unchanged. Believing in
the power of ideas “to change attitudes, lives and ultimately, the world”, the project builds a
clearinghouse that offers “free knowledge and inspiration from the world's most inspired thinkers,
and also a community of curious souls to engage with ideas and each other”. Their site, launched in
April 2007, is an ever-evolving work in progress, open to anyone interested in the values of the
project, and especially to subtitlers.
Indeed, the TED Open Translation Project is pivotal to their goal of bringing their videos beyond the
English-speaking world. Working with a community of volunteers worldwide, who provide subtitles
and interactive transcripts of the original videos in many other languages, this is an ambitious project
that aims at enhancing the accessibility of the talks for the hearing-impaired, for those who speak
English as a second language, for search engines which can now index the full transcript of a talk and
for the vast audience of non-English speakers worldwide.
To give an idea of TED’s rapid expansion, the project was launched with some 250 translations, 50
languages and 100 volunteer translators. Four years later, in 2011, the figures have grown ex-
ponentially to 21,674 translations in 82 languages carried out by 6,187 translators. A sign of the
importance placed on translation and subtitling is reflected in their special features highlighting the
languages with the most translated talks, the most active translators as well as the most translated
talks.
A hybrid venture in this field of promoting subtitling for all is the portal dotSUB (http://dotsub.
com). After registering, users can view, upload, transcribe and translate any video into any language
or, if they prefer, they can just create their own subtitles for their own videos. In addition to their
nonprofit activities, and through their Enterprise Solutions, the portal also claims to be “a cost-
effective platform for managing high-quality subtitles at scale”, offering “fast, accurate and
affordable professional transcriptions, time-coded captions, […] closed caption services for the
hearing impaired, and translations into more than 200 languages […] by experienced native-speaking
translators”. What is not very clear from their portal is whether this pool of experienced translators
are paid for their work or, rather, they offer their expertise on a voluntary basis, which would of
course have some ethical implications.
4. The technology turn

In recent decades, translation studies as a discipline have gone through quite a number of changes
referred to by scholars and academics as ‘turns’. The most prominent of them has been the ‘cultural
turn’ (Bassnett and Lefevere, 1998), which has contributed to increasing awareness of the socio-
cultural embeddedness of translation beyond the traditional linguistic approach. Other turns have
followed suit – gender turn, postcolonial turn, sociological turn, ethical turn, ideological turn and
even linguistic turn – but perhaps the turn that has had a greater impact on subtitling has been the
technology turn.
Besides defining the way we produce, transmit and consume audiovisual materials nowadays, tech-
nical advancements have also shaped the subtitling world in many ways and, in this sense, the
marriage of technology and AVT has been a fruitful one in a relatively short period of time. For
instance, none of the projects mentioned in the previous section could have taken off without the
support of technology.
Technology and computers have had a great impact upon the subtitling praxis, making life easier for
all those working in this field. The profile expected of subtitlers has changed accordingly and lin-
guistic competence, cultural awareness and subject knowledge are no longer sufficient in order to be
able to operate effectively and successfully in this profession. A reasonably high technical know-
how, an ability to recycle and expand their encyclopaedic knowledge and to quickly familiarise
themselves with new software programmes and specifications are now also expected of technophile
subtitlers.
5. Computers and subtitling programmes

As discussed previously, the most crucial milestone has been the advent of digital technology,
opening unforeseen potential for the development of specific subtitling software with new func-
tionality. The first pioneering software programmes designed exclusively for subtitling started being
commercialised in the mid 1970s. At the time, in order to carry out all the tasks involved in the
subtitling process translators needed a computer, an external video player in order to play the VHS
tapes with the material to be translated, and a television monitor to watch the programmes. The com-
puter would have a word processor with a special subtitling programme which made it possible to
write the subtitles in a form identical to that shown on the television screen, and some subtitlers
would also need a stopwatch to perform a more or less accurate spotting of the dialogue.
The situation has changed quite drastically and these museum pieces have gone through many rein-
carnations until becoming the state of the art applications that most of them are today. With a PC, a
digital copy of the video, and a subtitling programme, subtitlers can perform all pertinent tasks in
front of a single screen (Fig. 1): to create the timecodes, to respect shot changes, to control the read-
ing speed of their subtitles, to translate and spell check their texts, to simulate their subtitles on
screen, etc.
Fig. (1): Interface of the professional subtitling programme WinCAPS, developed by SysMedia
The fact that professional subtitling software has traditionally been rather expensive and out of reach
for many translators has encouraged many on the web to take advantage of the potential offered by
technology and come up with their own creative solutions, favouring the development of a vast
number of subtitling programmes that anyone can download for free from the internet in order to
create their own subtitles. The following are among some of the best known ones:
Aegisub www.aegisub.org
DivXLand Media www.divxland.org/subtitler.php
Subtitler
Gnome Subtitles http://gnome-subtitles.sourceforge.net
JACOsub http://unicorn.us.com/jacosub
Subtitle Creator http://subtitlecreator.sourceforge.net/SubtitleCreatorHomepage.html
Subtitling Wokshop www.urusoft.net/home.php?lang=1
Professional subtitling programmes have also been developed and improved at an incredibly fast
pace in recent decades, with many new additions to the market:
EZTitles www.eztitles.com
FAB www.fab-online.com
Screen Subtitling www.screen.subtitling.com
Swift www.softel.co.uk
Spot www.spotsoftware.nl
WinCAPS www.sysmedia.com
As with any other industry, time equates money and professional (and amateur) subtitling pro-
grammes are being constantly updated with a view to maximising subtitlers’ productivity (and
creativity) and, hence, reducing costs. The modern subtitle PC workstation is configured in such a
way as to ultimately minimise the time needed to create subtitles for video programmes. In this
sense, automation of different subtitling tasks has always been a route followed by developers,
particularly when it is to do with the technical spotting of subtitles, though new developments are
now taking place that look at how to automate the actual linguistic transfer too.
6. Automation
To speed up the cueing process whilst respecting shot changes, most subtitling software applications
detect shot changes in the audiovisual programme automatically, displaying a timeline in which the
video track and the shot change boundaries are shown, and taking them into account when in and out
times are set for the subtitles. Another early improved feature of most programmes was, and still is,
to provide an audio level indication waveform, whereby changes in soundtrack volume are shown
and speech presence can be detected and distinguished from music or background effects. The main
benefits of these efficiency tools are twofold. Firstly, subtitlers can skip the scenes with no speech,
saving time especially during the final preview or quality check. Secondly, by assisting them in
identifying the timing of speech points, it helps making spotting a lot easier, faster and more
accurate.
Technology can also offer further assistance in breaking down the subtitling process by effectively
simplifying the tasks of text input and timecode synchronisation3. In this sense, several companies
have also been working more recently in developing automatic spotting by means of speech align-
ment technology. In a nutshell, the script or transcript of the audiovisual material is fed to the subti-
tling programme which, thanks to an in-built speech recognition system, synchronises it with the
3
The now defunct e-TITLE project (www.etitle.co.uk) was one of the pioneers in the field.
soundtrack of the video and assigns it a given timecode. If the script contains more textual
information than just the dialogue exchanges, it can still be imported into the software, which is
capable of parsing the script layout to extract dialogue or any information deemed relevant, such as
speaker cues. In the case of subtitling for the deaf and the hard-of-hearing (SDHH), this information
can be used in order to automatically colour the interventions of the different actors, for instance.
Autotiming, i.e. assigning the time in and time out to subtitles, can also be done automatically ac-
cording to some developers. Sysmedia (Web 5) claim that one of the advanced productivity features
of their software, based on automated speech recognition, can greatly speed up the task of timing
subtitles by ‘listening’ to the video material and converting the programme audio into timed text.
There is, however a rather important proviso to their claim as the dialogue must be “reasonably free
from background noise” for the results to be satisfactory.
As well as its use for offline subtitling, speech recognition has been instrumental in the spectacular
growth that we have seen in real-time subtitling and respeaking (Romero-Fresco, 2011), as an econo-
mic alternative to conventional keyboard-based methods for live subtitling like stenotype. In this
process, oral speech is converted into written text in the form of subtitles that appear on screen4. As
highlighted by SysMedia (Web 6):
“the use of speech recognition for subtitling does not mean recognising the voice of the TV presenter,
as the technology is not yet good enough to deliver sufficient accuracy. Instead, a trained re-speaker
listens to the programme, and re-dictates a slightly edited transcript of what is said into a speech recog-
nition system that has been trained for their voice”.
7. Towards machine translation

Whilst developments in the technical dimension of subtitling have been numerous as regards
spotting, shot changes, audio and speaker recognition and colouring of text for instance, the advances
on the linguistic front have been much more modest. In this sense, some programmes can help text
segmentation by automatically dividing the text of a script into subtitles based on linguistic rules that
are set up for a specific language. However, results can sometimes be rather disappointing and the
participation of the translator is crucially required.
Translation memory tools, which store previously translated sentences and allow the user to retrieve
them as a base for a new translation, have had a great impact in translation, particularly in the fields
of specialised and technical translation. However, their worth has been normally called into question
in the case of AVT because of the very diverse and eclectic nature of audiovisual materials. Though
this might have been true a few years back, when most of the materials being subtitled came from the
entertainment genre, the situation is rapidly evolving. The fact that companies and institutions
working in selling, marketing, education and science, to name but a few areas, are discovering the
virtues of communicating audiovisually, mainly through the internet, is clearly bringing changes to
this state of affairs. DVD bonus material, scientific and technical documentaries, and corporate
videos tend to contain the high level of lexical repetition that makes it worthwhile for translation
companies to employ assisted translation and memory tools in the subtitling process.
As one of the pioneers in this area, the Taiwanese company Webtrans Digital (www.webtrans.
com.tw) has been working with a computer assisted tool called Wados for many years now, claiming
that it enhances efficiency and subtitling consistency. Assisted translation is mentioned as one of the
4
The opposite approach, i.e. the conversion of text to speech has been investigated by Szarkowska (2011) in the
context of Poland as a way of promoting the re-usability of subtitles. In her study, she proposes a new method
of producing audio description for the blind and the partially sighted by using a speech synthesis software ap-
plication that reads the subtitles of the audiovisual programme.
key features of the new WinCAPS Qu4ntum launched in September 2010 (SysMe-dia, 2010), though
the information provided in the document or the company’s website does not elaborate on the virtues
of this new application.
A step further from computer assisted translation in the form of memory tools is machine translation,
demonised by some and glorified by others. In the field of AVT, one of the first projects to look into
its feasibility in subtitling was MUSA (MUltilingual Subtitling of multimediA content, http://
sifnos.ilsp.gr/musa), which ran from 2002 until 2004 and had English, French and Greek as the
working languages. According to the information provided on their web portal, the team’s rather
over-ambitious goal was:
“the creation of a multimodal multilingual system that converts audio streams into text transcriptions,
generates subtitles from these transcriptions and then translates the subtitles in other languages. […] A
state-of-the-art Speech Recognition system was enhanced and improved to meet the project settings. An
innovative Machine Translation scenario combining a Machine Translation engine with a Translation
Memory and a Term Substitution module was designed. Sentence condensing for subtitle generation
was performed by an automatic analysis of the linguistic structure of the sentence. MUSA combined
core speech and language technologies in a real-life application addressing a pan-European audiovisual
audience that depends on subtitles to overcome the linguistic barriers”.
Despite such high hopes, no tangible results seem to have materialised from the MUSA project.
Much more recently, the European Commission has started funding the project SUMAT (An Online
Service for SUbtitling by MAchine Translation) under its Information and Communication
Technologies Policy Support Programme (Web 7). The project will run from 2011 until 2014 and its
ultimate objective is to increase the productivity of subtitle translation procedures, reducing costs and
turnaround times while enhancing the quality of the translation results. In this particular project,
subtitling has been recognised as an area that could benefit from the introduction of statistical
machine translation techniques – using statistical methods based on (large) multilingual text corpora
–, followed by post-editing techniques carried out by humans. One of their main deliverables will be:
“to develop an online subtitle translation service addressing 9 different European languages combined
into 14 different language pairs, with the aim to semi-automatise at a large scale the subtitle translation
processes of both freelance translators and subtitling companies, in order to optimize their efficiency
and productivity thereby helping them to meet the market demands”. (Web 7)
Although the switch from rule-based approaches to statistical translation methods seems to have
helped improve the accuracy of the translation output, the reality is that no current system provides
the holy grail of fully automatic high-quality machine translation. Indeed, as mentioned by Hunter
(2010: online):
“There is scope for machine translation technology to be used in the creation of translated subtitle files,
but as this is not yet a perfect science, there is a fine line between the time taken to check and edit auto-
mated content and the time taken to translate each subtitle in turn’.
SUMAT’s objectives are clearly less ambitious than MUSA’s and more down to earth, although at
first reading the stated goals may sound a bit optimistic. Of course, only after completion of the
project can SUMAT’s outcomes be evaluated.
In the toolbox of automatic translation undertaken within the context of subtitling, TranslateTV™
(www.translatetv.com) has been translating English closed captions into Spanish subtitles in real
time as a commercial venture in the USA since 2003. Taking advantage of the high volume of
intralingual subtitles (English into English) for the deaf and the hard-of-hearing being done in the
USA, Vox Frontera, Inc. offers an automatic translation service of those subtitles into Spanish, aimed
primarily at the Hispanic and Latino community, who see and hear exactly what English-speaking
viewers see and hear, with the only difference of the added real-time Spanish subtitles.
A much bolder approach in the automation of subtitling has been taken by Google and YouTube. In
an attempt to boost accessibility to audiovisual programmes, primarily to people with hearing im-
pairments, they introduced in 2006 a new feature allowing the playback of captions and subtitles
(Harrenstien, 2006). Three years later, in 2009, they announced the launch of machine-generated
automatic captions, with the firm belief that “captions not only help the deaf and hearing impaired,
but with machine translation, they also enable people around the world to access video content in any
of 51 languages” (Harrenstien, 2009: online). Their philosophy is summarised in the following quote:
“Twenty hours of video is uploaded to YouTube every minute. Making some of these videos more ac-
cessible to people who have hearing disabilities or who speak different languages, not only represents a
significant advancement in the democratization of information, it can also help foster greater collabo-
ration and understanding”. (YouTube, 2010)
Automatic captioning, based on Google's automatic speech recognition technology and the YouTube
caption system, is only available for user-generated videos where English is spoken (YouTube,
2010). For the system to work, a clearly spoken audio track is essential and videos with background
noise or a muffled voice cannot be auto-captioned. The video owner can download the auto-
generated captions, improve them, and upload the new version; and all viewers are offered the option
to translate those captions into a different language by means of machine-translated subtitles (Cutts,
2009)5, with various degrees of success6.
The second subtitling feature launched by the two internet giants allows for a higher degree of accu-
racy in the linguistic make-up of the captions. Called automatic timing, it permits video owners to
add manually-created captions to their videos by automatically figuring out when the words are said
in the video. All the user needs is a transcript of the dialogue and, using speech-to-text technology,
Google does the rest, matching the words with the time when they are said in the audio and chunking
the text into subtitles. The owner of the video can download the timecoded subtitles to modify or to
use somewhere else. As with automatic captioning, the subtitles generated with automatic timing can
also be automatically subtitled into other languages, with the same shortcomings. As incisively
pointed out by Lambourne (2011: 37), “Look at Google AutoCaps. Submit your media file and see it
create automatic captions. The quality and accuracy varies from the sublime to the ridiculous but if
you’re deaf you may not be able to determine which is which”.
8. And then 3D came

A Christmas Carol (Robert Zemeckis, 2009) marked a milestone in UK cinema as the first movie
ever in the UK to become truly accessible in 3D to deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers (Web 8), and
hence, as the first film to show 3D intralingual subtitles. The release of Avatar (James Cameron,
2009) a month later, in December 2009, saw the birth of interlingual 3D subtitles and set the trend of
the changes to come. With the surge in interest for 3D stereographic movies, more pressure is being
applied to the broadcast and entertainment industry to provide 3D content for the array of 3D media
players, televisions and cinemas. This migration to high definition and 3D in broadcasting as well as
5
More information on viewing videos with captions can be found on <www.google.com/support/
youtube/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=100078>, and a video singing the virtues of the system is available on
<www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRS8MkLhQmM>.
6
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology <www.youtube.com/mit> has been one of the first large institu-
tions to embrace automatic captioning. Sadly, no human revision seems to be done and many videos are very
poorly transcribed and translated: plagued by typos, comprehension errors, and lack of punctuation among
other shortcomings.
in digital cinema is bringing along fresh challenges and new ways of working in subtitling and is
bound to have an impact on the time it takes to produce 3D subtitles and the skills and workflows
required.
The need for 3D subtitles in multiple languages has become a commercial necessity since the use of
traditional subtitles in a 3D environment risks destroying the 3D illusion. The main challenges derive
particularly from the way the 3D subtitles are positioned on screen and how they interact with the
objects and people being depicted. Any apparent conflict between an onscreen object and the subtitle
text will destroy the 3D illusion and can cause headaches and nausea (Web 9).
Acknowledging that “the support for professional subtitles in the 3D content delivery marketplace is
one that has been largely overlooked” (Screen Subtitling, 2010: 1), the British company Screen
Subtitling have been pioneers in the development of Poliscript 3DITOR, a subtitle preparation
software that helps design, display and deliver 3D subtitles (Web 9).
9. Other developments
In 2009, it was reported that smart spectacles had been created to provide live subtitles (Web 10).
Resembling glasses but lacking lenses, the headset uses a tiny projector to display images on the
user's retina. The gadget, dubbed Tele Scouter, was originally intended to be a business tool to aid
sales staff, who could have information about a client's buying history beamed into their eye during a
conversation. However, the developers argue that the glasses could also be used in a translation
setting using real-time translation to provide subtitles for a conversation between people lacking a
common language. In this scenario the microphone on the headset picks up the voices of both people
in a conversation, pipes it through translation software and voice-to-text systems, and sends the
translation back to the headset so that the user gets subtitles beamed onto the retina (Fig. 2). The
system could also be used for confidential talks that would be compromised by the use of a human
translator.
Fig. (2): Smart spectacles
On a similar note, Sony have developed subtitle glasses to be used by hearing impaired audiences in
cinemas (Web 11). In many countries cinemas do not show films with subtitles for the deaf and the
hard-of-hearing and when they do, the screenings are often only available midweek and at off-peak
times. Hearing impaired viewers have to plan visits to the cinema carefully, because of the reluctance
of cinemas to display subtitles on the screen when non-deaf people are watching. What the glasses
potentially offer is the chance for hearing impaired film fans to go and see a film anytime they like
along with the general audiences who do not need to have the films subtitled. The glasses show the
subtitles onto the little screens in a green font and in a way that looks as if they are on the cinema
screen. The glasses should become available in British cinemas in 2012 and it is hoped that they will
give hearing impaired audiences a cinema-going future.
Live performances have also seen a boost to accessibility with the launch in 2009 of a personal,
mobile screen which enables theatre goers to read live captions of a performance in eight different
languages – French, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Japanese and Chinese – (Web 12), including
English for the hearing impaired and those who are learning the language. The captions, received
over wifi on to a handset with a black background and orange text to minimise glare, have been made
by translators rather than translation software. The Shaftesbury Theatre in London has been the first
to offer this service and it is hoped that the handsets will attract more tourists to theatres.
Of a more disturbing nature is the invention of a personal TV censor based on subtitles. A computer
connected to a TV set or video recorder monitors electronic programme guides along with the sub-
titles for the hearing impaired viewers. The software application then searches for dubious keywords
and decides, based on the user's preferences, whether to block the entire programme or simply mute
the sound for a short while. Fox (2007) provides some revealing examples: if the programme uses the
words ‘serial killer’, the system could block it altogether; the word ‘damn’ could be acceptable on
the Discovery Channel, but muted on all movie channels; and the word ‘bitch’ might only be
permitted during a programme about pets, and never if preceded by ‘you’.
10. Conclusion
There is no doubt that the visibility of subtitling has grown exponentially around the world, including
the so-called dubbing countries where until recently subtitling was rather marginal. The output has
multiplied quantitatively and the outlets and screens where subtitles are displayed have proliferated
and diversified: cinema, television, opera and theatre stage, DVD, internet, Blu-ray, mobile devi-
ces…Helped by this and by the passing of legislation in many countries that promote the subtitling of
contents broadcast by state-owned and private TV stations, the demand for subtitles has never been
so high and, as a consequence, the industry has expanded remarkably.
To some extent, in a world of audiovisualised media, subtitles have become a commodity that can be
expected in many audiovisual programmes, and its overwhelming presence on the internet could well
be heralded as a sign of its pre-eminence over the rest of AVT modes and perhaps even over other
types of translation. Its attraction for learning and maintaining a foreign language and the ease and
speed at which subtitles can be produced – particularly in the case of amateur subtitling of USA TV
productions – can be seen as some of the main arguments why younger generations seem to be more
willing to watch audiovisual materials that have been subtitled rather than dubbed.
However, subtitling faces some important problems derived mostly from its own success. From the
practitioners’ perspective, the downward price spiral witnessed in recent years has seen the departure
from the profession of very skilled subtitlers, forced to find other more lucrative sectors. Another
factor that contributes to the diminishing interest in planning for a career in this field is that some
professionals may expect that subtitling demand will be eventually met with a technological solution
(e.g. machine translation), which would then depress further their earning potential. Finally, as
technological advances have made access to software and hardware much easier, the gap between
professionals and amateurs seems to have diminished and the threat posed by amateur subtitlers and
crowd-sourcing forces is perceived by some as a very real one.
On the industry’s side, the mantra of the subtitling companies can be summarised in three key con-
cepts: (low) costs, (speedy) turnovers and, to a lesser degree, (high) quality. The first two, i.e. costs
and turnovers, are being clearly addressed by many of the technological developments mentioned in
the previous pages. The latter, not so much, leaving quality as one of the unresolved questions that
needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency, with some professionals advocating the formation of a
subtitling trade body by the industry for the industry (Lambourne, 2011).
The high demand for subtitles to translate both user-generated content and commercial programmes
seems to be the driving force behind most technical developments taking place in the field. Recon-
ciling costs, time and quality is not an easy task and, to date, there is no technology that is adequately
filling the gap. Instead of looking for ways to do away with the human translator, technology should
concentrate more on how subtitlers can be assisted in their work. Ultimately, the solution to the
conundrum has to be the development of technology that find synergies with the individual and relies
on the participation and savoir faire of the subtitlers. The key to success is not the technology in
itself, but rather the innovative use we make of it.
Despite their promising nature, some of the developments discussed above should be seen as pio-
neering projects, with their potential and limitations, rather than as the ultimate panacea for all the
challenges in subtitling. Crucially, the potential of machine translation has to be properly assessed
and aims and goals should be perhaps more realistic. To quote Lambourne (2011: 37) again, “the
industry should not expect the subtitling houses just to plug in an automatic module and halve the
prices yet again. Something has to change”. Let’s hope it does, and soon.
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Web 4: Support Universal Subtitles -- Allow Everyone to Watch Online Videos!
www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/255/964/088
Web 5: SysMedia - Automatic Subtitle Timing. www.sysmedia.com/subtitling/speech_follower.asp
Web 6: SysMedia – Speech Recognition for Subtitling. www.sysmedia.com/subtitling/speech_recognition.asp
Web 7: Europe’s Information Society - SUMAT: An Online Service for SUbtitling by MAchine Translation.
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/apps/projects/factsheet/index.cfm?project_ref=270919
Web 8: Your Local Cinema – A Christmas Carol. www.yourlocalcinema.com/christmascarol.PR.html
Web 9: Screen Subtitling – 3D Subtitle and Caption Solutions. www.screen.subtitling.com/index.asp?PageID-

=225
Web 10: BBC News – Smart Spectacles Aid Translation. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8343941.stm.
Web 11: BBC News – Cinema Subtitle Glasses Give Promise to Deaf Film Fans. www.bbc.co.uk/news/-
technology-14654339.
Web 12: BBC News – Theatre performances available in eight languages. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/-
technology/8380266.stm
YouTube. 2010. The Future Will Be Captioned: Improving Accessibility on YouTube. http://youtube-global.-
blogspot.com/2010/03/future-will-be-captioned-improving.html.
TOWARDS A TYPOLOGY OF CHALLENGES

IN SUBTITLING EGYPTIAN FILMS
Muhammad Y Gamal
University of Canberra, Australia
Abstract: Subtitling in Egypt remains an area open to practitioners who ,despite possessing ex-
cellent linguistic skills, still lack rudimentary knowledge of the principles of subtitling filmic
material. The difficulty stems from the misguided belief that translating from the native tongue
is relatively easy and that knowledge of the local cinema is fairly automatic. The paper, part of
a wider research interest into audiovisual translation in the Arab world, focuses on the subtitling
of classic Egyptian films into English and the challenges this specialist field poses to subtitlers,
both beginners and experienced alike. It proposes a scheme whereby a typology of challenges
could be devised to assist practitioners to explore the common challenges and to provide a base
upon which to build a repertoire of examples that would encourage further research and
examination of subtitling challenges.
1. Introduction
Egyptian cinema began with the silent film Leila1 in 1927 and with its first talkie Awlad Az Zawat
[Children of the Rich] in 1932 it began an industry which has dominated the Arab world ever since
(Hayward, 2000: 410). It made its first international debut at the Venice International film festival
with Zeinab in 1936 and continues to make frequent appearances at international film festivals. Yet,
Arabic-language films have remained an exclusive area for those who are fluent in the language or
have a keen interest in the activity. In the Arab world, Egyptian cinema has an established audience
who not only appreciate the regional Egyptian dialect, the cultural references and issues, the social
and religious topics but also the film language and the semiotics of the Egyptian film industry (Bus-
combe, 2003). These same issues may not have the same level of appreciation in European or Asian
cultures due to the lack of common cultural background (Chaume-Valera, 1997). For many decades
Egyptian cinema neglected marketing its production to non-Arabic-speaking audiences. Apart from
cultural issues, the linguistic challenge of subtitling and other technical factors have also hampered
the process. With the advent of digital technology and the appearance of satellite broadcasting the
trend began to reverse. Since the mid to late 1990s two Egyptian channels, Nile TV and Al Masriya
began broadcasting subtitled films. However, not until the advent of the Digital Versatile Disc
(DVD) that Egyptian cinema became accessible, portable and affordable (Gamal 2007). Today, there
are over a thousand titles available on DVD and the number is steadily increasing. In addition, the
growing number of film festivals in Arab capital cities (from Abu Dhabi to Marrakech) and the huge
investment in media production cities (Cairo, Dubai, Petra, etc.) and the increasing trend among
national channels to subtitle their productions into English has forced TV channels, satellite channels
and media companies to pay closer attention to subtitling.
2. The literature on subtitling in Arabic

Since the early days of foreign cinema in Egypt, film subtitling into Arabic has been an activity that
was largely practiced and widely accepted. Egyptian film authorities opted for subtitling, as opposed
to dubbing, in a bid to protect the fledging national cinema against the more capable American and
foreign productions (Maluf 2005). Early subtitling history in Egypt remains sketchy but the annals of
Egyptian cinema point to the effort of Italian residents in Egypt who embarked on the commercial
activity (Abu Shadi 2002). Yet, the history of subtitling in the country begins with the return of a
1
Kiss in the desert, by the Palestinian brothers Badr and Ibrahim Lama, who were residing in Egypt, was screened
in Alexandria six months before Leila. However, the latter is widely referred to as the first “Egyptian” film in
what was later to become a full-fledged industry known as the Hollywood of the Arab world.
134 MUHAMMAD Y GAMAL
young engineer from his study in Paris in the early 1940s to practice not engineering but subtitling.
Anis Ebaid (1908-1988) established his company in Cairo that would become a household name not
only in Cairo but in all Arab capital cities as cinema houses were being built and local televisions
began broadcasting. Ebaid’s dominance of the business and indeed influence on the subtitling pro-
fession was to remain undisputed from the beginning and till the advent of satellite and digital tech-
nology in the mid-nineties of the last century. The changing scene in telecommunication, broad-
casting and the computer industry forced Anis Ebaid & Sons to concede control and to accept
competition by a multitude of media companies varying from well-established post-production com-
panies to subtitlers working on a PC from home. Yet, despite the long practice of film translation in
Egypt, and in many other Arab countries, the literature on subtitling remains disproportionately mini-
scule. This literature takes the shape of film reviews, letters to the editor, complaints of subtitling
errors and technical subtitling difficulties. In an unpublished research, the author examined this
literature covering a 25-year period (1980-2005) focusing on the reception of subtitled programs into
Arabic (Gamal, 2005).
Most of the literature, however, focuses on the subtitling of foreign films and TV drama from Eng-
lish (and other languages) into Arabic. This is due, in part, to the large number of foreign programs
on Arab televisions and also the dominance of American television drama and films (Gamal, 1994).
Most television stations in the Arab world today continue to rely on the experience of Anis Ebaid &
Sons and some countries have modeled their own subtitling units on the Egyptian example. The
sudden emergence of subtitling centers – later companies – in various Arab capitals, in the past
decade, has not been examined despite the relevance of the phenomenon to the overall industry of
subtitling in Arabic. The literature, therefore, tends to concentrate on the dominant direction of
subtitling foreign television programs into Arabic. Ashkenani (2006) examines the history and
profession of television subtitling with a major focus on the situation in Kuwait. His short book
under the title of Television Translation (subtitling) gives a short, albeit, a welcome addition to the
literature in Arabic and remains, perhaps, the only book on subtitling in Arabic today. In this respect,
it is insightful to note that the available literature in Arabic focuses on the linguistic level only by
examining issues related to the translation of obscene language in American films, the translation of
cultural images in foreign films or the treatment of sexual, religious or political issues. Even at the
postgraduate level, a recurrent topic of research in audiovisual translation is the examination of
linguistic transfer in the subtitling of American film/TV drama into Arabic as seen in recent MA
thesis at universities in Amman, Cairo, London, Manchester and Sydney. The main problem with
this narrow interest, from the audiovisual translation point of view, is that by focusing on the
linguistic level, it tends to reduce film, an essentially multi-semiotic composition into a mono-
dimensional text, not dissimilar to the printed page. Films are a complex structure that is made up of
several channels and modes: visual, audio, verbal and non-verbal in addition to a large number of
semiotic meaning-making resources.
3. Subtitling Egyptian films into English

Arab cinemas, and particularly Egyptian films, have been appearing at film festivals and film weeks
in many capital cities from Rotterdam to Sydney. The importance of national cinema and the po-
tential role they can play in the dialogue between cultures and civilization is immense. Although
subtitled films stress the “foreignness of film” (Egoyan and Balfour 2004) and highlight the cultural
difference and sometimes ideological chasm between nations they are nevertheless appreciated in
many cultural settings. Nedergaard-Larsen points out that even between different cultures foreign
films are eagerly welcome:
“Hence, cross-cultural problems ought not to prevent anyone from importing or consuming foreign films.
Quite the opposite, one could wish for many more French and even more “exotic” films that can contri-
bute to a greater knowledge and understanding of other cultures.” (1993:237).
In Australia, SBS (The Special Broadcasting Service) has been an active center of subtitling world
cinema. Under the slogan of “Bringing the world home” the subtitling division of SBS has been
subtitling world films in more than 400 languages since its inception in 1980. Today it is a world
class subtitling-centre with accumulative experience in subtitling films from foreign and exotic
cultures. Likewise, Egyptian films participating at the Sydney film festival, Egyptian film weeks or
the Arab Film Festival in Australia draw the attention of an audience interested in the subtitled cine-
ma of that part of the world. However, Egyptian film critics have argued for a long time that the very
success of Egyptian cinema has been a double-edged sword as it delves too deeply into the locale and
does not translate its topics to international audiences. The argument here may be understood at two
different levels. The first could be the lack of film production with an international audience in mind
which is outside the scope of this paper. The other could be the reference to subtitling its production
to other languages, and this is precisely the main interest of this research. The culture-specific refe-
rences in Egyptian film come not only from the dialogue but also from every other channel: the
visual, the visual non-verbal and the acoustic (Delabastita 1999). And with each channel there is a
myriad of semiotic references that make up the filmic production and together give Egyptian cinema
its form.
In the course of 100 minutes or so and in such confined space, the task of subtitling becomes daunt-
ing. However, no matter how different the two cultures may be, every film is capable of being sub-
titled as in print translation every text is capable of being translated. Naturally, some films, classic or
otherwise, adapted from a significant work of literature, produced by some famous director or with
some famous actor or exhibiting complex cinematic skills may require extra special attention by the
subtitler (Mera, 1999).
4. The difficulty in subtitling Egyptian cinema

With Egyptian subtitled films making their DVD appearance commercially in 2002, the practice of
film translation began to attract the attention of some practicing researchers. (See Gamal, 2004,
2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012a and 2012b). However, the DVD industry in Egypt
has not been examined despite its huge potential and impact in the wider sense of infotainment and
audiovisual translation (Gamal forthcoming). DVD subtitling is an area that challenges Arabic lan-
guage translators and researchers who do not possess sufficient training in film literacy. In the
context of audiovisual translation, and particularly subtitling narrative films, film literacy means a
developed appreciation of how meaning is constructed in film. In this respect, the many and varied
meaning-making resources in film are identified, understood and appreciated by the viewer.
Naturally, different viewers bring different life-experiences to film viewing and the levels of
appreciation vary; however, a certain degree of film analysis is required in order to be able to
identify meaning-making resources and how they are deployed throughout the film. Subtitlers are not
expected to be film critics; however, they are expected to know how to identify meaning and how to
suggest translation strategies that will carry the meaning successfully and succinctly.
Egyptian cinema, like literature or art, embodies a multitude of signs and symbols that not only
reflect but also embody cultural meaning (Abu Shadi, 2005). A film tends to be a multi-layered
structure that requires a trained eye in seeing through the different layers but without losing focus of
the whole picture. For instance, the dialogue is not, necessarily, the one channel through which
meaning is conveyed in a given scene. Apart from the linguistic choice of words, the tone of voice, a
wink of an eye, a gesture of the hand, and equally, the lighting, the camera angle or the presence of a
painting on the wall or the music in the background may not only determine the meaning but have a
direct bearing on the entire plot (Gamal 2009).
Egyptian subtitled films on DVD tend to exhibit a style of translation that is basically mono-di-
mensional pointing to a flawed practice (Gamal, 2007). It is clear that the practice is based on trans-
lating the dialogue list without working with the video, a commercial practice that is common not
only in Egypt but in other countries as well. Quite often, a film dialogue list is outsourced to
translators to work on translating the dialogue into segments that could be mounted on the film with
little instructions on the technical specifications of segmenting the translation so they fit, legibly, on
the two lines at the bottom of the screen. Thus, line breaks, punctuation, the use of pronouns, the
definite article, anaphora and the tricky issue of managing subtitles when there is a camera change
are left to the devices and discretion of the individual translator. Quite often, and mainly due to
production costs, subtitlers work without an editor, who in most cases should be a native speaker of
the target language. In the absence of academic and professional training in subtitling and due to a
sudden increased demand for subtitlers, many media and translation companies resort to ‘translators’
who may be accomplished written translators but lack training in audiovisual translation, i.e., lack
the essential skills of dealing with the multi-semiotic filmic material.
Gamal (2006) points out that in Arabic there is no term for subtitler and the notion is usually ex-
pressed by ‘film translator’. Given the fact that audiovisual translation is not examined at academic
translation programs, the tendency is to treat film translation as a form of written translation. This is
coupled by the erroneous practice of sending the dialogue list without the video to ‘translators’. Even
on the rare occasions when the video accompanies the dialogue list, the assumption is that the native
Arabic translator is familiar with the filmic material that he or she can carry out filmic analysis and
decide on how and, more importantly on what, to translate. The result is that the ‘translation’ is
dialogue-centered which is quite often divorced from the image when it is mounted on the film.
Another serious problem is that due to the vernacular which is employed in almost all Egyptian
feature films (except historical/religious film) the translation reflects a bias towards the vernacular
which is, again, an area that most Arabic translators are not trained in since all their training has been
primarily based on translating from and into Modern Standard Arabic.
Yet, the main issue is the lack of training in the examination of audiovisual texts and developing an
appreciation of meaning-making components in film. As the dialogue activates the image, the image
also has its own cinematic language and grammar that adds to and influences the overall meaning of
the film. Understanding the composition of images in film is the sine qua non of film translation.
Film analysis refers to the knowledge of and experience in Egyptian cinema and it transcends the
knowledge of and interest in actors and plots. It actually implies interest in directors, screenplay and
the original work upon which the film is based. This also presupposes knowledge of the historical
background of the entire work. For instance to be able to carry out film analysis of the Cairo Trilogy,
the ‘film translator’ is expected to be familiar with the working style of the director Hassan Al-Imam,
the original work of novelist Naguib Mahfouz upon which the films are based and to be knowledge-
able of the historical background of the period. That fact that the cast includes some of the most
prominent actors of Egyptian cinema is actually immaterial. The lack of this prerequisite knowledge
would almost certainly ensure that the film translator will face challenges in bringing the translation
to a level that is reflective of the importance of the work. It is for these reasons Gamal argues that
“DVD subtitling in Egypt is an industry without a profession” (2007: 85).
5. The need for a typology

Given the new interest in and the increased activity of subtitling Arabic language films into English
(and French) there is a need for the rigorous examination of this new genre of translation. A typology
of the major challenges facing the subtitler working from Arabic has the potential of providing a
framework of reference to the common challenges and offers an attempt towards a platform for
further examination and research. The implication for professional development and training are
clearly obvious. Typological studies require experience in actually subtitling films, examining differ-
ent versions of subtitled films, compiling real observations/examples and finally reflecting on prac-
tice. A typology is a compilation of similar types/examples of challenges an experienced subtitler can
present with the purpose of making a coherent conclusion on the examination of a particular pheno-
menon/challenge. The opposite would be a mere taxonomy of unrelated observations where each
item, though important per se, does not contribute to the examination or understanding of the point at
hand.
Nedergaard-Larsen (1993) provides a general typology of the common features in film subtitling.
Though her main focus is on subtitling American/European films into Danish and Swedish (1993:
227), it does have significance to other national cinemas. It is significant to observe the content and
purpose of the typology Nedergaard-Larsen presents. First, the typology has four main categories:
Geography, History, Society and Culture. Each category has further sub-categories which are
illustrated by examples. The typology provides a simple table (1993: 211) where the entire scheme of
reference can be seen. However, the content of the table is not the goal of the typology. She makes it
clear that the purpose of the typology is to provide the subtitler with a reference framework that
would enhance the identification of the translation challenge and determination of the appropriate
subtitling strategies. Nedergaard-Larsen (1993: 222) focuses on the significance of ‘local colour’ as
she strives to make subtitles both successful and succinct: “As a translator or subtitler you will
therefore have to estimate the distance between the two languages and cultures, and you will
obviously have to decide whether you want to be loyal to the author’s exact words or his intentions”.
Since the Arabic cultural signs portrayed in film may be different to the common shared knowledge
exhibited in western culture, a typological study may prove helpful and insightful to trainee sub-
titlers. Likewise, Chaume-Valera (1997: 324) highlights the significance of commonly shared
cultural signs and points out “Fortunately, the western culture shares many of them such as colors,
places, physical appearance, etc., most of which usually have the same meaning. Exotic cultures may
find real problems to understand certain signs, scripts or schemata”. The present attempt, therefore,
focuses specifically on the Arabic language and Egyptian cinema in particular and addresses some of
the peculiar signs intrinsic in Egyptian film language.
6. Methodology
For the purpose of this study a number of subtitled Egyptian films have been reviewed. They mainly
come from Egyptian DVDs as well as subtitled films broadcast on the Egyptian international channel
Nile TV. Primary attention is given to the classic films that are considered representative of Egyptian
cinema as they appear in the list of the Most Important 100 Films Produced by Egyptian Cinema (Al-
Hadary, 2007). Attention is also had to the earlier films of Omar Sharif before his debut into inter-
national cinema in 1963. The purpose of working with classic films is twofold: first, most are
available on DVD and second they appear on satellite television which allows for their recording and
their examination. Omar Sharif films are increasingly becoming available, subtitled on DVD and also
shown, subtitled, on satellite channels. The two sources of subtitled Egyptian films have led to the
happy, albeit rare, collection of films subtitled by two different sources offering the possibility of
conducting comparative subtitling studies which to-date have never been contemplated in Arabic
audiovisual translation studies. The examination involved repeated viewing of the subtitled films into
English with extensive notes taken of the subtitling issues. Relevant scenes were identified and cop-
ied into a working disc which later was indexed using Microsoft Moviemaker program to facilitate
the processing and accessibility of the scenes/examples of subtitling challenges. The observations are
then grouped by type in a long list of categories/sub-categories and further examples. The
preliminary findings were shared with, and tested on, trainee Arabic translators during translation
classes in Sydney where the Arabic translation class has mature age students who come from
different backgrounds: professional, cultural and even linguistic as some come from different Arab
countries and speak not only “different” Arabic dialects but also other ethnic languages such as
Amazigh, Armenian, Assyrian, Chaldean, Dinka, Farsi, Kurdish, Turkish and Tigrinya. Testing
Egyptian film semiotics, among non-native viewers of Egyptian cinema, in this context, provided the
present researcher with a unique research (and learning) opportunity not available anywhere in the
world.
7. Some limitations of the present study

The study of subtitled Egyptian films is primarily governed by the availability of subtitled films. For
instance, the study focuses on the earlier DVD release of ‘Classics of Egyptian Cinema’, produced
by Finoon Production Company between 2002-2005, which as the series title suggests makes classic
films on DVD the primary source of subtitled Egyptian films (Gamal forthcoming). However, some
of the films that pose particular challenge to subtitlers have not been released on DVD. Of particular
interest are some of Naguib Mahfouz’s films such as the Cairo Trilogy which provides an immense
opportunity for the examination of subtitling cultural-bound images, both linguistic and cinematic,
into English. While much has been said about translating Mahfouz into English, nothing has been
said about subtitling his films. This trend will change as more and more Egyptian researchers tackle
audiovisual translation and exert more effort on academia, translation authorities and the Council for
Culture to turn their attention to the serious role audiovisual translation can play in contemporary
Egypt. Likewise, the films of Egyptian director Yousif Chaheen, particularly his autobiographical
series the Alexandria Tetralogy, have not been examined by audiovisual researchers. Chaheen’s
films are composite not only because of his sophisticated film language but also because of the
employment of several languages and various cultural signs in the same film.
8. The proposed typology

The following table suggests a framework designed as a mere guideline for subtitlers to illustrate
possible challenges in subtitling Egyptian films into English. In themselves, the challenges are natu-
rally obvious yet it is the explicit highlighting of the challenges in a discreet table, with examples,
that makes the challenges more present in the mind of the subtitler as they embark on determining
the most suitable subtitling strategy (Gamal, 2012b). The following table has three main categories
for the linguistic, cultural and non-verbal challenges. In the sub-category column more description is
added to expand the meaning of the category. To illustrate the main category further, examples are
listed in the third column. It must be stressed that the table is not intended to be a manual for listing
challenges and a list of what strategies to use. As much as students and trainees would love it to be,
this is not the case and no such manual exists. For the sake of clarification, the purpose of a typology
is to enable subtitlers, trainees and professionals to train themselves to monitor their performance and
progress by reflecting on their practice. The table that follows is nothing but a framework that sheds
light on the challenges as seen in today’s most audiovisual material. A fourth category, technical,
may be added should a practitioner feels that, by virtue of involvement with the media company
through software manipulation or development , he or she has a lot to contribute to the expanding of
this typology.
Category Sub-category Examples

Linguistic Translating the Egyptian vernacular: Diglossia:
-spoken, colloquial, idiolects & dialects Translating the spoken variety into
-features of Egyptian regional dialect written English
Cultural Customs and traditions: Religious references, history, geog-
raphy, places, institutions and places,
etc.
Non-verbal Implied meaning through visual only, Sotto voce, graffiti, mural hanging,
communication i.e., not articulated through the dialogue. ethnic names, etc.
9. Translating the Arabic vernacular

One of the most challenging tasks of the subtitler is to grasp the meaning of the dialogue and render
its message in a clear and concise form. While subtitling is described as “translation in a confined
space” (Schwarz, 2002) it must also help viewers to follow the film without undue strain. Yet, the
task of the Arabic subtitler is further increased by the fact that the vast majority of Egyptian films
employ the vernacular, a form of Arabic that is used in spoken conversations and is considered,
though widely employed, a lesser variety of good Arabic, or what is commonly known as Modern
Standard Arabic (MSA). Arabic is a diglossic language which means it has two co-existing varieties:
the MSA which has a restricted use (employed in the media, the written mode and the literary field)
and the vernacular which is the everyday language for communication. The problem with translating
the vernacular stems from the fact it is never examined or translated from or into at translation
schools which only employ the MSA variety of Arabic (Gamal 2008). This is the reason why the
subtitles tend to be stilted, literal or incorrect. Quite often, the subtitler, keen to preserve the spirit of
the dialogue falls in the trap of producing literal translations that are cumbersome and difficult to
follow by target viewers.
The use of MSA in the entire film is the domain of religious/historical films such as An-Naser
Salahul-din [Saladin] (1963), Fajrul Islam [Dawn of Islam] (1971), Al-Shaima (1972). Equally
significant is the employment of terms of endearment, respect which tends to be sacrificed or under-
translated. The MSA is also used in some films as an introductory comment or a narration by one of
the characters as in Nahr Al Hub [River of Love] (1960). This is an important point as the intro-
ductory narration sets the scene for the entire film and getting it wrong by under-translating its tone
may undermine the appreciation of the film particularly if it is a classic film. Also, in Fi Baitina
Rajul [A man in our house] (1961) the use of the MSA in the radio police announcement heightens
the situation by adding a more serious effect to the already tense atmosphere of the police chase of
the freedom fighter (Gamal, 2012b).
Egyptian vernacular also embodies references to regional dialects, literary or religious quotations,
jokes, and the sarcastic use of foreign words. All add to the burden of the subtitler who has to be a)
aware of them, b) grasp the pragmatic meaning in the source language and, c) account for their effect
in the target language. El-Batal (2000) points out that most Arabic-English dictionaries don’t account
for colloquial structures used in film. This is another area that casts light on the weak rendition of
some very common Egyptian idiomatic structures that are under-translated into English through
ineffective translation strategies.
10. Title translation

One of the best examples of the difficulties translating the vernacular can be found in translating film
titles, which are more often than not framed in the vernacular. A cursory examination of the trans-
lation of Egyptian film titles shows that the translator opts for literal translation. While it is arguable
that a translated title must indicate close resemblance to the original for ease of identification it is
equally important to capture the meaning of the film title. It is insightful to observe that some
Egyptian films provide English translation in the credits. Prominent director, Yousif Chaheen used to
provide French translations to his films. However, in his masterpiece Bab El Hadid [Cairo Station]
(1958) he also provides the English translation ‘Cairo Station’ and underneath it the transliteration
Bab El Hadid between brackets. It is insightful to know that Bab El Hadid , literally Iron Gate, is the
Egyptian vernacular for the central train station in Cairo that once had an elaborate wrought iron
fence and an actual iron gate till the late sixties. In 2007, a new film by the name Fi Mahatat Masr
[At Cairo station] was released and promoted by DVD distributors with two different translations.
The first is “At Egypt station” by a DVD distribution company (http://www.aramovies.com/-
addprod_eng.asp?productid=4157) and also as “Cairo Station” by FineArt film, which is one of the
larger DVD distribution companies (http://fineartfilm.com/ index.php?manufacturers_id=10&-
main_page=index). It is rather interesting to observe here that the first translation is not only hope-
lessly literal but fails to appreciate the vernacular where Cairenes always refer to Cairo as Egypt. So
it is not only literal but denotes a total disregard to translation rules as if the translator were too
foreign to pick up the nuance.
Translating film titles for DVD marketing is obviously a responsibility that rests with the distributor
who holds all the keys to the process. However, a close working relation would, perhaps, convince
the business side to see the benefit of academic research. For instance, in most of Omar Sharif’s
subtitled films on DVD there is a constant, if not disturbing, difference between the film title trans-
lated on the DVD cover and the title in the subtitles themselves. Surely this is a professional issue
that results from the awkward working arrangement where the business side does not even commu-
nicate with the professional subtitler. Subtitlers need to be aware of the connotation behind the film
title before they opt for the easy but meaningless literal translation. For instance in Ghuroob wa
Shurook [literally, Sunset and Dawn] (1970) the title refers to the sunset days of the monarchy and
the dawn of the new revolution. Subtitlers may need to think about a more descriptive translation that
adds to the film particularly when it is meant to be marketed abroad.
In their examination of film language (Monaco 2000) and the semiotics of Egyptian cinema subtitlers
would do well to consider the employment of the film title as a technique sui generis by directors.
For instance, the film title may be referred to indirectly in the film or, quite often, referred to more
than once. For instance, in Aduo Al Mar’ah [Woman’s enemy] (1966) the film title is mentioned 16
times throughout the film. Furthermore, a film title is occasionally repeated, in writing, at the end of
the film in lieu of the traditional The End. Quite often, the repetition is accompanied by a subtitle.
This is a good reason why subtitlers need to work with the video and not depend solely on the film
dialogue list. Despite the deceptive simplicity of translating film titles and the simplistic tendency of
translating titles literally or providing transliteration it must be pointed out that the current practice is
dictated by distribution companies whose linguistic command and treatment of subtitlers are
questionable.
11. The religious dimension

A language reflects its culture and thus it exhibits the features of the values, norms and mores of the
peoples who speak it. Thus, Arabic employs a considerable body of religious references that reflect
the religious beliefs, traditions, customs and festivities as practiced by Muslims and Christians alike.
Quite often, the subtitles employed on DVD reflect religious greetings and even sayings literally
where a more pragmatic translation would suffice, particularly when the religious connotation is not
intended or stressed. The problem with religious references is that they are embodied in the verna-
cular and constitute an inseparable part of the dialogue. Take for instance the common greeting
Assalamu alaikum which is not always taken to mean, the historical or etymological “Peace be upon
you” but a rather and simpler and more pragmatic, “Hello”! The opposite is equally true. Quite often,
subtle references to religious practices such as the month of Ramadan, the pilgrimage to Mecca,
marriage or divorce arrangements or issues of inheritance go un-noticed or unaccounted for. A more
careful analysis of such scenes, prior to subtitling and with the help of the video, would enable
subtitlers to identify strategies leading to “judicious subtitling” (Taylor, 2003: 197).
12. Songs and lyrics

Egyptian films abound with songs that cover a wide variety of occasions from love songs to children
sing-a-longs. While subtitling manuals differ on whether songs aught to be subtitled, the decision to
subtitle a song should not be an after-thought. Songs, like poetry, require a patient effort to render the
translation, in a confined space, correctly and elegantly. In films with significant form such as classic
or historical films, songs can be a period marker identifying a certain event or even referring to a
particular previously produced film. The typology suggested here, is not meant to serve as a list of
examples but rather as a working manual kept by the practicing subtitler where they continuously
add to it with examples of subtitling strategies and what worked and what did not. This provides an
opportunity to reflect on practice particularly as subtitlers move on to other new and untested
projects in the wider field of audiovisual translation.
13. Non-verbal communication in film

The above examples of challenges facing the subtitler of Egyptian films are all language-dependent
and a close attention to the dialogue would, or at least should, alert the subtitler to their possible
difficulty. However, as explained previously, film language is a lot more complex and includes more
meaning-making resources than just the dialogue. It contains images, sounds and symbols which are
deployed, and co-deployed, to make meaning. Taylor (2003: 194) points out that “the meaning po-
tential of a film far transcends the spoken dialogue and that any translation of film material should
pay heed to the other semiotic modalities interacting with the verbal”. Training in film analysis and
an appreciation of the composite nature of Egyptian film language would be conducive to better
translation strategies. To this effect, it is paramount that the subtitler has access to the film, given
sufficient time to complete the scene analysis and sufficient time to subtitle it.
Despite the multi-semiotic nature of filmic material, subtitlers continue to work with the dialogue list
in the absence of the video. This is a serious anomaly as some directors opt for indirect messages not
articulated in the dialogue. For example, the employment of sotto voce where an actor whispers
something or is seen to ‘say’ something with his hands or facial expression can add meaning in a
subtle way and with more punch. A dialogue list may not reflect these non-verbal meaning-making
resources. Likewise, graffiti, quite often, are used to give background knowledge of the present shot
or the following scene and their lack of translation may deny target viewers the opportunity to
understand and appreciate the film (Cavalieri, 2004). Some Egyptian directors make use of mural
hangings that adorn walls in most Egyptian homes. These murals contain verses from the Koran, the
Bible, poetry and philosophical quotations or political sayings. They are used in a fleeting fashion as
the camera moves away from the speaker brining the mural into focus before moving away. Experi-
enced viewers can take this in and process the mural with the scene’s dialogue or interpret the
message of the mural in context. While native viewers are able to simultaneously process visual, au-
dio and non-spoken message, target language viewers would find it impossible to do so, as they tend
to process meaning in film serially: one channel at a time (de Linde and Kay, 1999).
The problem with non-verbal communication, whether through kinesics, proxemics or body language
(Poyatos, 1997), or through non-spoken linguistic messages such as sotto voce, graffiti, newspaper
headlines or road signs, is twofold. First, for subtitlers working with the dialogue list: they are most
likely to miss such meaning-making resources, unless of course they are explicitly mentioned in the
list. Second, for the less experienced subtitler, who received little or no training in film analysis and
therefore has no film literacy: he will definitely miss them. This brings me now to the point of
training subtitlers to examine film as a multi-modal text and the relevance of conducting multimodal
analysis and description of film as a tool for empowering subtitlers to identify challenges and to
suggest appropriate translation strategies (Gambier, 2006).
14. Multimodal analysis of filmic texts

Over the past two decades, digital technology enhanced the multi-modal nature of text with images,
video and sound working in unison to create and present meaning within the original text. Film is
perhaps the oldest and most common example of a multimodal text where the major components
play different parts in different film types. The analysis of the various meaning-making modes in a
given text, be it a film or an advertisement, gave rise to the area of multimodality (Kress, & van
Leeuwen, 2006). This concept can be beneficially applied to the study, analysis and subtitling of
filmic material.
The principal idea of filmic text analysis and description is to analyze film through its basic unit: the
shot (Baldry and Thibault, 2006). In such analysis the visual and audio channels, as suggested by
Delabastita (1989) and later described by Gottlieb (1994), are analyzed, highlighting the meaning-
making resources against the time and space available for their subtitling. The task is evidently
useful and relevant to subtitlers notwithstanding its criticisms. Most of the objection to such
methodology of multimodal analysis stems from the fact that it is time consuming with “infinite
details” that seem to be redundant (Forceville 2007). Gambier (2006) points out that the methodo-
logy has obvious benefits for trainee subtitlers and academics but has little application to profession-
al subtitlers. The methodology, however, can be adapted to aid professional subtitlers who would
conduct scene analysis only for complex scenes with subtitling challenges they identified the first
time they viewed the video. Later, it becomes a mental modus operandi as they watch subsequent
films.
Multimodal analysis of filmic material, when adapted for the purpose of researching audiovisual
translation, can have invaluable benefits. It informs the research into subtitling challenges of classic
or important films, aids comparative subtitling research and finally can be applied to the design of
training programs for trainee audiovisual translators.
15. Concluding remarks

Research in Arabic audiovisual translation remains scarce and lags behind other areas of translation
such as literary and technical translation. The teaching of some units of audiovisual translation such
as subtitling, dubbing and web-based advertisement is increasing at some academic institutions in
Egypt but there is still no concerted effort or consolidated policy on audiovisual translation in the
country. While there is no shortage of conferences dedicated to translation, the observation over the
past two decades is that audiovisual translation is peculiarly absent. This is peculiar due to the long
history of cinema and television in Egypt and the considerable consumption of foreign subtitled
material on television and at cinema theatres.
Although the subtitling of Egyptian films (no television drama yet) into English and French, and
some into Spanish, came about only in the last twenty years with satellite broadcasting, the real
impetus came with the DVD technology. Strangely enough, the DVD industry in Egypt completed its
first decade this year and research into this industry and its impact on translation and film subtitling
and distribution remains unexamined.
In this paper, I paid attention to the subtitling of Egyptian films into English and focused on a small
number of the major challenges. In suggesting a typology of these challenges my main concern is to
suggest a framework designed to build a body of knowledge that could be tested, challenged and
modified as experience is gained. Most of my research and professional practice has been focused on
Egyptian classic films, or films with significant form, that have been shown abroad at film festivals,
broadcast subtitled or un-subtitled on Egyptian international channel Nile TV or Al Masriyah (The
Egyptian Channel) or films that are commercially subtitled and available on DVD. To this effect, the
typology suggested here is based on the examination of subtitled films and is designed with young
researchers in mind (Gamal 2010).
The recent events and dramatic changes in Egypt point to a rise of interest in audiovisual translation
due in no small part to the changing political scene and the espousing of social media by young
people who make up 40% of the population. Egyptian cinema has a long and impressive record and
some classic films have seen their 50th anniversary in the last few years, chief among them are
Balzing Sun (1954), Dark Waters (1956) and the most popular A man in our house (1961) all
featuring Omar Sharif who turned eighty this year (Gamal 2012b). DVD subtitling is an area that has
great relevance for academic research, the cinema industry and the translation profession. While the
American University in Cairo has championed the Screen Translation program since 1995, it is an
encouraging thought to see the University of Hamad bin Khalifa in Doha, Qatar planning to offer the
first MA in Audiovisual Translation, in the region, in the second half of 2013.
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145
Section III:
The Training of Translators and Interpreters
146
TOWARDS A CRITICAL TRANSLATION PEDAGOGY

John Kearns
Kazimierz Wielki University, Bydgoszcz, Poland
Abstract: In recent years, the desire for university translation curricula to be more vocationally
focussed has been the impetus behind the work of many of the leading scholars on translator edu-
cation. This has often stemmed from a frustration with translation programmes being “driven not
so much by the needs of the learners as by the academics’ in-house theorizing and philosophi-
zing, based on their own experiences of learning languages and translation and their particular
beliefs about the teaching of translation” (Li 2000a: 128; for similar positions see Li 1999, and
2000b). One can certainly sympathise with Li’s frustrations here, though the endpoint of the vo-
cationalizing enterprise of Li and others seems not without its hazards. One of the most ardent
campaigners for a highly vocational mode of translator training has been Daniel Gouadec, who
makes the following somewhat surprising comment in a recent publication: “It is high time aca-
demics stopped pretending the design of translator training courses is a complicated matter.
After many years of well-informed debate, everyone now knows what the contents and methods
should be, and those who do not should not really be attempting to set up courses at all”
(Gouadec, 2007: 327-8).
In an earlier paper (Kearns, 2008) we examined the sometimes problematic relationship which
may obtain between academic and vocational impulses in translator education. Our position
might well be considered to be directly at odds with that of Gouadec, in that we regard the
development (or, more properly renewal) of translation curricula to be a complex and con-
tinuous process which must of necessity take stock of the particular individual environments in
which education takes place, replete with their social, linguistic, educational, and doubtless many
other specificities. Indeed, one of these ‘other’ specificities might well be ‘translational’ itself, if
we note Maria Tymoczko’s prediction of a future trajectory of translation studies research being
concerned with defining ‘translation’ per se (2005: 1082).
Given that it is impossible to know to any precise extent the direction which the translation pro-
fession will take in years to come, given that translation courses may be taught in a variety of
different contexts (from vocational translation certificate programmes to much broader degrees in
modern languages and cultural studies), given that not all the students pursuing these courses
necessarily want to eventually become translators (or, more pertinently, want to become just
translators), and given that universities and their staff have the potential to provide a far richer
educational experience than one which merely trains students the basics to carry out a
particular job, it is our contention that more extreme adherents to vocationality may well be
short changing students in tertiary educational terms. This paper thus assumes that it is pref-
erable to prepare students for life rather than for jobs.
Taking as our starting point the desirability of nurturing transferable skills in students (Assiter,
1995), we respond to Li’s concerns of curricular development based on whim and caprice by
proposing an alternative, co-ordinated pedagogical approach to that advocated by the more
extreme adherents of vocationalism. In second language teaching, critical language pedagogy
has worked on developing an approach to teaching the eminently vocational skill of speaking a
second language, which encourages reflection on the nature of language and culture and the
concomitant relations of power that inhere in our experience of language and its acquisition (see
the contributions to Norton & Toohey, 2004 and Phipps & Guilherme 2004). Developments in
translation studies since the 1980s – and particularly in the last decade – have demonstrated
how sociological concerns and power (im)balances are also central to the activities of language
mediation. As such, we propose to investigate the development of a curriculum predicated on a
critical translation pedagogy, which can integrate many of the more recent socio-cultural and
technological concerns of translation studies in nurturing the development of both skilled and
reflective translation practitioners.
148 JOHN KEARNS
Intellectual and academic interest in translator training, it appears, continues unabated with in a trend
that is to be welcomed by those of us interested in exploring new ways of optimising curricula and
methodologies in the field. On one hand, it is certainly encouraging that there is so much good work
going on in education in language mediation in terms of contributions to specialist journals such as
The Interpreter and Translator Trainer and in conferences in the field. On the other hand, with
reference to the topic of curriculum design (which is what we shall be focussing on in particular in
the present paper) one might be somewhat concerned to read the following quotation from a recent
monograph in the field:
“It is high time academics stopped pretending the design of translator training courses is a complicated
matter. After many years of well informed debate, everyone now knows what the contents and methods
should be and those who do not should not really be attempting to set up courses at all.” Daniel
Gouadec, Translation as a Profession, 327-8.
Gouadec’s somewhat provocative statement here will act as a backdrop for the considerations on
translator training that will follow. For, if Gouadec is right, then everything you are about to read in
this paper is entirely pointless. Indeed, if he is right, then there is not much point in any of us saying
anything about curriculum design for translator training. However, there are various reasons to
suggest that Gouadec may not be right and, with a view to explaining why, let us set the scene by
comparing two different translator training scenarios, one being the environment in which I work,
and the other being the context in which a friend of mine teaches.
I have a good friend who is also a translator trainer and when we meet, we often talk about our work,
our personal experiences, thoughts and ideas. Often these discussions prove quite interesting for both
of us because we come from two very different perspectives. My friend works in one of the most
prestigious translator training institutions in Europe, a college with a long and noble history of
producing some of the finest translators and interpreters for many international organisations, inclu-
ding the EU and UN. I, on the other hand, work in a relatively small Polish third-level institution
which has enjoyed the title of university for less than ten years. I work in an English department
which has succeeded in attracting the minimum quota of qualified staff to grant it independence as an
academic unit, though which is growing quickly. Our students pursue undergraduate degree
programmes in English which feature translation courses, along with other courses in literature, lin-
guistics and culture – the kind of thing one expects to find in a language degree.
Returning to my friend, only 5% of the students who apply to study on her programme are accepted
onto it – entrance exams at her institution are rigorous and extensive. On the other hand, the vast
majority of students who apply to study on the programmes run by our ever-more cash-strapped de-
partment are accepted, if not on the day programme, then often on the extra-mural option. At MA
level many come from having completed their BA degrees in private colleges, colleges which are
themselves under financial pressure to pass as many students as possible, often regardless of
linguistic or academic ability. Certainly our students can have a basic conversation in English. All of
them improve during our programme. For my own part, if I do not see improvement in my classes, I
do not allow students to pass at the end of them.
The staff at my friend’s university are some of the most talented translator and interpreter trainers of
their kind, having themselves worked extensively in high-level translation jobs internationally. In
addition, many are world leaders in translation and interpreting pedagogical thought and research.
The translation staff at my university come from a variety of backgrounds, though all have attained
their teaching positions first and foremost through research rather than practical professional expe-
rience. None of us have worked in international organisations and even if we had, such experience
would generally not be integral to our career development above and beyond academic research. Ca-
reer development in Poland in the essentially social activity of academic teaching is still largely
contingent on the quintessentially hermetic activity of academic research – a contradiction which no

doubt prevails in certain other countries also.
My friend works in a major language translation culture. Her school focuses mostly on English, Ger-
man, French and Spanish – languages which will always boast sufficient numbers of native speakers
to cater for translation demands into the language in question. As such, her students learn that
professional translators only translate into their mother tongue and indeed one of her biggest worries
is her students’ L1 competence. I work in a translation culture where inverse translation is a neces-
sity. We cannot afford the luxury of wondering whether or not our students are being professional in
translating from Polish into English because if all the translation demands from Polish into English
were to be catered for by the small number of native English speakers like myself who know Polish,
the tiny number of us would have been killed off with exhaustion long ago!1 Yet this is not to say
that L1 competence isn’t also a problem for our students too, as can be seen from some of the
translations our students produce into Polish in their literary translation classes. Given that they are
pursuing degrees in English, however, they legitimately expect classes to address productive skills in
the L2 as much as possible.
The matter of technology also reveals great differences between the teaching contexts in which my
friend and I work. Students doing translation courses at my friend’s school are introduced to a wide
range of CAT tools and are given hands-on experience in their use. In my translation seminar I lay
considerable emphasis on presenting new translation and localisation technologies. However, at the
time of writing our computer lab has only recently upgraded from Windows 98 and budgetary con-
straints prevent us from investing extensively in translation software. In any case there is a shortage
of staff in our department trained in the use of translation software (not to mention being trained in
teaching it) and our university allocates almost no funding for staff teaching development.
In financial terms, staff at my friend’s institution earn what are, by European standards, very
comfortable salaries. The vast majority of staff in my institution (and in Polish university language
departments in general) teach in two or three different universities and colleges to make ends meet,
and thus spend a lot of time running around from place to place. The basic salary for an assistant
professor is around €11,000 p.a. after tax.
The Job Market. This is where the rather marked distinctions that we have noted above end because,
by and large, graduates from both my department and that of my friend have great success in getting
jobs. My friend’s students go to her programme to become translators and interpreters, and this is
what they become, often in highly prestigious international organisations. My students are not always
too sure what they want to do when they sign up to my courses (and indeed I wasn’t either when I
was their age – interestingly it wasn’t translation), though some of them also become professional
translators. Some of them become language teachers. And some of them become farmers and some
become musicians. Some of them become musicians and translators, and may well do a nice sideline
in farming. And these ones I find quite interesting because in managing to multitask like this, they
are representative of a very large part of the world’s population. I am not alone in seeing this trend
continuing in the future, where an increasingly fragmented and volatile job market will demand not
just that many individuals retrain at certain points in their lives, but also that the profession of trans-
lation itself will change, with new competencies being demanded, with translation skills being de-
manded in other jobs, and with other skills being demanded in translation jobs (see, for example,
Pym, 2003 & 2005).
1
For a more detailed discussion of prejudice against Polish-English inverse translation and its pedagogical
implications, see Kearns 2007.
150 JOHN KEARNS
Finally, how do the different contexts in which I and my friend work influence our job satisfaction as
trainers? This is an important point that my friend and I do have in common – she would not wish to
teach in any other university than where she works. And, as universities go, I am perfectly happy
where I am too. Neither of us would swap with each other for the world.
Yet what I am far less happy about is this: returning to our Daniel Gouadec quote, can we really be
quite so sure that it is entirely obvious what the contents and methods in translation training pro-
grammes are, when such programmes are as diverse as those of my friend and mine? In fact, there is
a good chance, given the differences outlined above, that much between them should probably be
different, while a certain amount should be the same, and achieving this balance to me – as someone
who has studied translation pedagogy and curriculum design – seems a long way from obvious.
I should address the obvious rejoinder to this at the outset that my translation courses form part of a
languages degree programme rather than a professional translator training programme and, as such,
might be considered beyond the purview of Gouadec’s interests. For various reasons, this qualifica-
tion appears to me to simply not be good enough. Firstly, while my students may pursue a wide
range of different courses, my time is entirely devoted to training translators and teaching translation
studies (and yes the two can be combined). As such, it is perfectly legitimate for lecturers in my kind
of teaching situation to expect writing on translation pedagogy to address their problems as well as
such research addresses the problems in my friend’s school or in the University of Rennes where
Gouadec teaches.
At this point, however, let us cut Gouadec some slack and backtrack to chart some currents in
considering curricular design for translator training. The desire for translator training to be more
vocationally focussed has been the impetus behind the work of many of the leading scholars on
translator education. This has often stemmed from a frustration with translation programmes being
“driven not so much by the needs of the learners as by the academics’ in-house theorizing and phil-
osophizing, based on their own experiences of learning languages and translation and [...] their parti-
cular beliefs about the teaching of translation” (Li 2000a: 128; for similar positions see Li 1999, and
2000b). One can certainly sympathise with Li’s frustrations here – leaving curricular design up to the
whim of individual academics can be more beneficial to the academics than to the students. Yet the
endpoint of the vocationalizing enterprise of Li and others seems not without its hazards.
As Gouadec and Li see it, professional translator training means preparing students for jobs. This, it
seems is taken as obvious. Yet when considered from an educational perspective, such an assumption
– to the extent of denying the validity of questioning any other aims for the third-level translation
curriculum to aspire to – seems foolhardy at many levels, not least because it appears directly at odds
with much mainstream curricular thought.
Early curriculum theorists, such as Franklin Bobbitt working at the beginning of the twentieth centu-
ry responded to the Gradgrindism of 19th century pedagogues by advocating schooling as primarily
preparation for the job market (Bobbitt, 1918). Learners should cease their rote memorisation of
facts, determined in an agenda set by more classical ideals of learning, and must pursue exclusively
vocational goals in their education – education as the preparation for jobs.
There are numerous commonalities that can be noted between Bobbitt and contemporary vocational-
izing translation scholars. Indeed the intellectual reaction to Bobbitt may well point the way for a
more considered assessment of translation curriculum renewal. The American philosopher John De-
wey countered Bobbitt’s position in 1929 by criticising “the social definition of education, as getting
adjusted to civilisation, [because it makes education] a forced and external process and results in
subordinating the freedom of the individual to a preconceived social and political status” (Dewey,
1929, in Flinders & Thornton, 2004: 18).
With regard to translation, if we bear in mind the sometimes problematic relationship which may ob-
tain between the academic and the vocational impulses in translator education and acknowledge the
frustrations that many such as Li have articulated with moribund transmissionist curricular practices,
we nevertheless feel that Dewey offers an interesting riposte to the kind of assumptions being made
by both Bobbitt and Gouadec. Is education about preparing people for jobs or preparing them for
life? For Dewey it was the learner’s own interests – rather than those of future employers – which
were to occupy the centre of the educational process. Whereas education for Bobbitt and the progres-
sivists was a means of social reproduction, for Dewey is was an agent of social reform, with the cur-
riculum being considered a tool with which society could reinvent itself (for a more detailed examin-
ation of the vocational / academic dichotomy in translation, see Kearns 2008).
Nevertheless, it seems to me that there are other reasons why those of us teaching translation might
be better focussed on preparing students for jobs rather than life (and not just because of the in-
creasingly precarious labour market).
Translation curricula must of necessity take stock of the particular individual environments in which
both education and translation takes place, environments which are replete with their social, linguis-
tic, educational, and doubtless many other specificities. Indeed, one of these ‘other’ specificities
might well be ‘translational’ itself, if we note Maria Tymoczko’s prediction of a future trajectory of
translation studies research being concerned with defining ‘translation’ per se (2005: 1082). This
issue of what precisely translation is, is one which is in constant flux, as is the question of the skills
sets necessary to work as a translator these being contingent to a large extent on technological devel-
opments – as Anthony Pym has noted, translation competence, whatever it might be, is not what it
used to be (Pym 2003). Indeed, experience has shown that the kind of front-end loading curricular
models advocated by Gouadec often fall flat when they attempt to second-guess the technological
skills to be required of translators in years to come. Localisation guru Bert Esselink tells the story of
how as a student in the early 1990s he was taught C++ programming language in the belief on the part
of his educators that it was something all translators were going to need in years to come – a belief
that proved totally unfounded.
Thus given that it is impossible to know to any precise extent the future direction which the trans-
lation profession will take, given that translation courses may be taught in a variety of different con-
texts (from vocational translation certificate programmes to much broader degrees in modern lan-
guages and cultural studies), given that not all the students pursuing these courses necessarily want to
eventually become translators (or, more pertinently, want to become just translators), and given that
universities and their staff have the potential to provide a far richer educational experience than one
which merely trains students in faux amis and software use, it is our contention that more extreme
adherents to vocationality may well be short changing students in tertiary educational terms.
Indeed, it seems that in the current economic climate and difficult labour market the nurturing of
transferable skills in students – skills which will be useful in a variety of different job contexts and
other social situations – is a particularly appropriate aim for those of us in the academic translation
community to adopt. Of course, the merest mention of a phrase like “transferable skills” connotes for
many the kind of corporate administration-speak which seems currently to permeate university bu-
reaucracies. Nevertheless, it was probably a mode of skills transferability that Cardinal Newman had
in mind in The Idea of a University (1852/1858) in claiming the university’s right to provide a liberal
education to contribute to the cultivation of mind.
We must remember that translation’s position in pedagogy has not always been a happy one, having
long been associated with the servility of grammar-translation language teaching methodologies. Yet
it appears that the replacement of such methodologies by more ‘communicative’ approaches – while
it may have proved effective for second language teaching – sidelined translation for many in the
152 JOHN KEARNS
educational setting. Recently a student from my BA seminar working on his final year project in
translation studies asked me whether he might be permitted to quote some Polish examples in his
text. To most of us, the notion that translation examples can be discussed at all without using more
than one language seems absurd, but for this student the influence of the communicative language
teaching methodologies which had characterised the university education in languages he had been
receiving up to that point, had left him with the belief that all usage of the foreign language (in this
case, Polish) must be expunged in texts written in the second language.2
This has been unfortunate because one of the positive outcomes of the cultural turn in translation
studies of the past thirty or so years has been the awareness of new literacies of translation, resulting
both from the intercultural and technological procedures by which translations have been produced.
The translator at the centre of these literacies, is thus posited in a highly complex social position – a
position which the received wisdoms of vocational training in production-line service seem ill
equipped to address in translation degree programmes. These tendencies are nothing new to any of us
who have been working in translation studies for any period of time. Yet from a pedagogical point of
view, they can be seen to be matched in their intentions by various revisions in curriculum design
arising out of critical pedagogy, particularly with the work of Paolo Friere and Peter McLaren. For, if
our aim in training translators is to develop reflective practitioners, then it would seem that a peda-
gogy that harnesses the questions of domination and subordination that have been occupying our
attentions in translation studies for some time might well benefit both translation studies and trans-
lator training.
The critical engagement about students’ own encounters with their environments, languages and
technologies which critical pedagogy encourages, has already been used to considerable effect in
second language teaching (critical language pedagogy) and appears to lend itself naturally to the
contemporary format of many translation curricula, with separate courses in translation studies and
practical translation. Rather than conceiving the relationship between the two, as was done in the
past, in the rather barren lip service paid to theory (You can’t translate without having a theory of
translation), the bridge which critical pedagogy could provide at the levels of both syllabus and
teaching methodology would appear consonant with many of the claims made in recent work in
translation studies, demonstrating how sociological concerns and power (im)balances are also central
to the activities of language mediation. From examining lexical choices of foreignisation and domes-
tication in their more appropriate political terms, to looking at the implications of freeware software
options and crowdsourcing possibilities, to investigating what ‘professionalism’ actually means in a
world where non-professional translation is achieving greater and greater recognition – it seems that
critical pedagogy offers a way of demonstrating the relevance for translator training of translation
studies from an educational perspective (as well as from the theoretical perspective which we may be
more used to).
Is this a move away from vocationalism? If the aim of the vocational were to be (perhaps somewhat
unfairly, though provocatively) characterised as being the production of corporate lackeys, then cer-
tainly it is. Yet the recent news that Japanese games localisation companies have begun providing
creative writing courses for their localisers suggests that there may be much to be gained at an econo-
mic level from conceiving the student in more holistic terms. Critical approaches enhanced by a fo-
cus on the learner as a thinking being may even have benefits beyond nurturing more critically
reflective practitioners – they may even help us to educate (and dare I say ‘train’) better translators.
2
This issue also raises the question of the tacit ideologies underlying curricular design in translator training, a
topic I examine elsewhere (Kearns, in press).
References
Bobbitt, F. (1918), “Scientific Method in Curriculum Making.” Originally published as ‘Public Domain’, Pre-
face, and Chapter IV in The Curriculum. Cambridge, MA: The Riverside Press. Reprinted in The
Curriculum Studies Reader. Second Edition. Ed. David J. Flinders and Stephen J. Thornton. New York /
London: RoutledgeFalmer, 2004. 9-16.
Dewey, J. (1929), “My Pedagogic Creed.” Journal of the National Education Association, 18:9. 291-295. Re-
printed in The Curriculum Studies Reader. Second edition. Ed. David J. Flinders & Stephen J. Thornton.
New York / London: RoutledgeFalmer, 2004. 17-23.
Gouadec, D. (2007), Translation as a Profession. Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
Kearns, J. (2007), “Translate and Be Damned! Inverse Translation and Professional Recognition”, in Richard
Sokoloski, Henryk Duda, Konrad Klimkowski, and Jolanta Klimek (eds.) Warsztaty Translatorskie /
Workshop on Translation, vol. IV, Lublin / Ottawa: Towarzystwo Naukowe Katolickiego Uniwersytetu
Lubelskiego Jana Pawła II / Slavic Research Group, University of Ottawa, 171-191.
Kearns, J. (2008), “The Academic and the Vocational in Translator Education.” In John Kearns ed. Translator
and Interpreter Training: Issues, Methods and Debates. London & New York: Continuum. 184-214.
Kearns, J. (in press), “Curriculum Ideologies in Translator and Interpreter Training.” In Séverine Hubscher-
Davidson and Michał Borodo (eds.) Global Trends in Translator and Interpreter Training: Mediation
and Culture. London: Continuum.
Li, D. (1999), “The Teaching of Commercial Translation in Hong Kong: Problems and Perspectives.” Babel
45:3, 1999. 193-204.
Li, D. (2000a), “Tailoring Translation Programmes to Social Needs: A Survey of Professional Translators”.
Target 12:1. 127-149.
Li, D. (2000b), “Needs Assessment in Translation Teaching: Making Translator Training More Responsive to
Social Needs”. Babel 46:4. 289-299.
Newman, J.H.C. ([1852 / 1858] 1927), The Idea of a University Defined and Illustrated. Ed. Daniel M.
O’Connell. Chicago: Loyola University.
Pym, A. (2003), “Redefining Translation Competence in an Electronic Age: In Defence of a Minimalist Ap-
proach.” Meta 48:4. 481-497. Also available as html at: http://www.erudit.org/revue/meta/2003/v48/n4/
008533ar.pdf (Last accessed August 22nd 2011).
Pym, A. (2005), “Training Translators: Ten Recurrent Naiveties.” Translating Today 2, January 2005. 3-6.
Tymoczko, M. (2005), “Trajectories of Research in Translation Studies.” Meta 50:4. 1082-1097. Available on-
line at: http://www.erudit.org/revue/meta/2005/v50/n4/012062ar.html (Last accessed August 22nd 2011).
154
MONITORING IN STUDENT TRANSLATORS’ TRANSLATION PROCESS

Minna Kumpulainen
University of Eastern Finland
Abstract: This paper deals with a small-scale experiment the purpose of which is to depict
learner profiles of first-year students of translation from English into Finnish. Learner profiles
are based on the students’ ability to monitor their translation performance, and the ability is
evaluated on the basis of a short translation task and a self-reflective questionnaire. In addition,
students are divided into learner groups based on their profile. The experiment serves as a pilot
study for a doctoral dissertation project in which the whole study path of translator students
will be looked upon with the aim of finding out how translation is actually learned.
1. Introduction
As a translator trainer, I find myself pondering the same question every time a translation course be-
gins: What do these students already know? What is their concept of translation? What aspects of
translation do they know, and what do they just think they know? What should I, as a teacher, em-
phasize in my teaching so that each student would gain new insights into the concept of translation?
Those are the questions that gave rise to the topic of my doctoral dissertation project for which the
small-scale research experiment described in this paper is to provide tentative information. The
purpose of the dissertation research, which will be a longitudinal study over the course of four-five
years, is to pay attention to the way translation competence is actually gained by following a group
of translation students from the very beginning of their studies to the end and report on their progress
at regular intervals. The aim of this experiment was to find how and to which extent the first-year
students monitor their translation process, and in this way draw some conclusions about what they
already know at the early stage of their studies, i.e. what competences they have in their possession
to begin with. On the basis of their monitoring ability, the group of novices – in this case the first-
year students of English language and translation – will be divided into different learner groups.
Clearly, from the translation point of view, each student has a unique combination of skills, strengths
and weaknesses, but it could be hypothesized that there are also enough common features for differ-
ent learner groups to be formed. Portraying such groups would give valuable knowledge to translator
trainers when it comes to planning translation tasks and courses.
2. Theoretical notions: the monitor model, novices and experts

In her summary of results in the area of translation process research, Tirkkonen-Condit (2005:4;
2007:354) comes to the conclusion that the feature that best defines translation expertise is the trans-
lator's ability to monitor his or her own performance. On the other hand, research on translation uni-
versals seems to indicate that source text influences the choices of the translator to the extent that
s/he tends to go for the formal correspondence rather than ignore the structure of the source text and
search for more suitable solutions (ibid.). The monitor model of translation suggested by Vladimir
Ivir (1981, quoted in Toury, 1995) suggests that formal correspondence may, indeed, be a transla-
tor’s first choice, but when it is inappropriate in the target language, a control mechanism rejects it;
in Ivir’s words (ibid.), "the translator begins his search for translation equivalence from formal corre-
spondence, and it is only when the identical-meaning formal correspondent is either not available or
not able to ensure equivalence that he resorts to formal correspondents with not-quite-identical mean-
ings or to structural and semantic shifts which destroy formal correspondence altogether". In other
words, a (competent) translator monitors his or her performance and is able to erase formal corre-
spondents that do not fit in the text for structural, semantic, pragmatic or other reasons. To put it in
yet another way, a (competent) translator knows how to avoid interference.
156 MINNA KUMPULAINEN
It could be deducted from what has been said above that the monitor model is a model of translation
process of expert translators and is not suitable or beneficial when looking at the performance of
novices. After all, Tirkkonen-Condit et al. (2008: 2) states that the model is based on the assumption
that professional translators have learnt to look beyond the linguistic structure and the literal mean-
ing of the words. However, expertise is not gained overnight; the development into expertise is grad-
ual, and, as Tirkkonen-Condit (2005: 3) points out on the basis of main findings from research based
on the think-aloud data (see e.g. Jääskeläinen, 1999), there is wide individual variation in the pro-
cesses of novices (as well as in those of skilled professionals) and novices’ performance may mani-
fest features of expertise. Gyde Hansen (2002a), too, reports that there are great differences among
student translators in awareness of the problems they come across in their translation assignments;
those more aware of the problems are also capable of monitoring. It could thus be claimed that there
is no novice without some features of expertise, and vice versa; many experts show some tendencies
of novices. Based on these reports and assumptions, I feel it is worthwhile to have a look at the mon-
itoring skills of novices, too; to what extent they monitor the process if they do indeed monitor it and
at what level the monitoring takes place (lexical, syntactic, textual).
3. Experiment design
The subject group of the experiment consisted of twenty first-year students of English language and
translation. They were all native speakers of Finnish. The experiment was conducted as part of their
first translation course from English into Finnish in the second term of their first academic year. The
text was distributed to the students at the very beginning of the course as the first translation task.
The students were also asked to answer the questions alongside the task. They had about a week's
time to hand in the translation, and after a month they were given the possibility to revise (or
monitor) their work before the translations were marked.
The source text was the beginning of the first chapter of Into the Minds of Babes by Lisa Guernsay
(appendix I). The book is an account on how media consumption including tv watching, videos and
computer, affect children aged 0 – 5 years and is based on scientific research and Lisa’s own experi-
ence. The style is informal, especially when Lisa writes about her own experiences; at certain points,
perhaps to give her words more validity, the text is more matter-of-fact and closer to the scientific
style. The (imaginary) translation brief was to translate the whole book into Finnish; for this experi-
ment, the students were asked to translate only the first paragraphs, approximately 500 words.
The students were also asked to answer the following questions:
• Was the source text easy/average/difficult to understand?

• Was the text easy/average/difficult to translate?
• Were there any points in the text that you found specifically problematic?
• If so, what were they?
• How did you arrive at your solution at those points?
• From the qualitative point of view, what do you think of your translation?
With the answers to the questionnaire and the students’ translation products, the experiment aimed at
shedding light to the monitoring ability of the students. In the translations, I paid attention to the
students' translation solutions on lexical and syntactic levels and in such a way aimed to see whether
there is a monitor working in the process and if there is, how and on which level it seems to be work-
ing. Originally, I wanted to look at the textual level, but that turned out to be fruitless in this experi-
ment as the text to be translated was only a fragment of a whole, and changes on the textual level
would not have been possible. The purpose of the questions was to get a picture of the students'
awareness of the possible difficulties in the translation process and of their understanding of transla-
tion as a process in general.
4. Results
In this section, I will first present the students' solutions on different linguistic levels in order to esta-
blish a statement about the working of the monitor. The levels that are of interest here are lexical and
syntactic level. Although textual level must be left outside the analysis due to nature of the source
text, students' awareness of the textual level can and will be briefly discussed. Secondly, an account
will be given on different learner groups that were formed on the basis of students’ answers and
translations.
4.1 Students’ solutions on the lexical level

Students’ answers to the question Were there any points in the text that you found specifically prob-
lematic support the finding of various expertise studies that novices tend to stick to micro-level prob-
lems instead of seeing “the big picture”. Almost all specific problems mentioned in the answers were
on the lexical level. It became apparent from the students’ solutions, however, that words that actual-
ly were problematic (on the basis of the product) went unnoticed in the translation process; interfe-
rence on lexical level was very common indeed. Nevertheless, it has to be noted that students are ex-
tremely inconsistent in this respect – they may be able to come up with a brilliant target-language
equivalent in one sentence and show signs of heavy interference in the next. In the following, some
examples of the students’ solutions on the lexical level will be given.
Example 1
Source text:
On went the video, opening a window onto a terrain that I never knew existed before: the world of
electronic media for the very young.
Eleven students out of twenty translated ‘electronic’ as elektroninen which is clearly a loanword from
English, albeit a largely used one in Finnish. The Finnish term to be used in collocation with ‘media’
is not, however, elektroninen, but the Finnish equivalent sähköinen, which was used by nine students.
One student showed came up with sähköinen in the second version, having originally vauvaikäisten
viihdeteollisuus, ‘entertainment industry for the babies’ (which would have been slightly problematic
stylistically, too) and changing it into pienille lapsille suunnattu sähköinen media, ‘electronic media
for small children’, in the second version.
Example 2
Source text:
On went the video, opening a window onto a terrain that I never knew existed before: the world of
electronic media for the very young.
In this context, ‘the very young’ refers to children aged 0 – 5 years. The most natural equivalent in
Finnish would be pikkulapsi, or pieni lapsi, ‘small child’; the word-for-word translation hyvin/
erittäin nuori is highly unidiomatic, and even more obscure if the modificand lapsi is left out as it is
in the English phrase. The emphasizing ‘very’ is also tricky when translating this noun phrase into
Finnish; if nuori lapsi ‘young child’ sounds unnatural and improper in this context, erittäin
‘extremely’ or hyvin ‘very’ nuori lapsi makes it even more foreign.
Seven students used the collocation nuori (lapsi ) 'young (child)' in their first version. Two of them
changed it in the second round, one into pieni lapsi ‘small child’ and another into vaippaikäinen ‘dia-
per-aged' (which is not quite correct as five-year-olds do not use diapers).
What I found quite interesting was the transfer of the emphasizing very into Finnish. Eight students
used the Finnish word-for-word equivalent hyvin or slightly stronger erittäin ‘extremely’ in the first
round. Two of them paid attention to it in the second round and left it out.
Example 3
Source text:
Meanwhile, child-advocacy groups have continued to turn up the sirens, issuing warnings about the
academic and health problems children will soon face if they are settled down in front of TV and
computer screens at such an early stage.
‘Academic’ in this context refers to learning difficulties children may come across at school. The
loan word akateeminen is a fixed part of the Finnish vocabulary, too, but in Finnish it refers strictly
to the university level; to use it to describe learning difficulties at school is not justified. Never-
theless, eight students out of twenty translated the phrase 'academic problems’ word-for-word as
akateemiset ongelmat. In the second round, two of these changed it into oppimisvaikeudet 'learning
difficulties'.
4.2 Students’ solutions on the syntactic level

In the questionnaire none of the students reported specific problems on the syntactic level, except for
one sentence which was seen as a problem in several answers. However, the translation products
seem to reveal more problematic points on the syntactic level as well.
Example 4
Source text:
I recognized that they were simply trying to make a buck in the baby market, but that didn’t mean that
I was immune to the lure of the products labeled “educational”.
…but – that – didn’t mean – that…

…mutta – se – ei tarkoittanut – että…
The word-for-word correspondence for ‘but that didn’t mean that…’ is mutta se ei tarkoittanut että...
and it was chosen by six students. This structure is quite possible in Finnish, too, but I feel it is some-
what clumsy and stiff, and there are more natural ways of expressing the same idea in Finnish; If the
sentence was written originally in Finnish, it is quite likely that the structure mentioned above would
not be used. Most of the students translated it as en silti voinut vastustaa, ‘Nevertheless, I couldn’t
resist…’, which is one way of putting the original sentence into fluent, idiomatic Finnish.
Example 5
Source text:
I was a new mother with a colicky, 5-week-old baby, desperate for anything that might calm her.
In Finnish, the word-for-word correspondence of this sentence is Olin uusi äiti koliikista kärsivän
viisiviikkoisen vauvan kanssa, or, to be precise Olin uusi äiti kanssa koliikkisen, viisiviikkoisen vauvan.
I was – a new mother – with – a colicky, 5-week-old baby

Olin – uusi äiti – kanssa – koliikkisen, viisiviikkoisen vauvan
As Finnish rarely uses prepositions, the latter word-for-for translation was not suggested by anyone,
although it would be possible in more poetic contexts. Four students did, however, use a structure
close to the English original and translated the sentence as Olin uusi äiti koliikista kärsivän viisiviik-
koisen vauvan kanssa, whereas Finnish would rather use a genetive: Olin viisiviikkoisen koliikkivau-
van tuore äiti, 'I was a five-week old colicky baby's fresh mother'.
Olin – viisiviikkoisen – koliikkivauvan – tuore äiti.

'I was – a five-week – colicky baby's – fresh mother.'
This structure was used by 16 students; two of them came up with the structure in the second round.
On the basis of examples 4 and 5 it could be argued that the students seem to be rather skilful in
avoiding interference in case of simple, short clauses. In other words, there seems to be some kind of
a monitor working in the process, flashing red light when the target text requires structures different
from the original. However, as the sentence grows longer and more complicated, the student (the
monitor?) cannot cope with it anymore; they seem to recognize the problem but cannot find the
solution. The sentence in example 6 illustrates this.
Example 6
Source text:
Since then, as my daughter has grown and her younger sister arrived, companies have produced
more and more electronic media for the stroller set.
Although the sentence is not that long, it consists of several parts that cannot be put together in Fin-
nish as neatly as in English (although the English might not be very elegant either). The students did
not seem to try and figure out what the sentence actually means – that as the time has passed, the pro-
duction of multimedia for small children has expanded rapidly. They did not pay attention to the
syntactic structure of the sentence; to the fact that there is a sub-clause embedded in the main clause,
and that the function of the sub-clause is to give extra information and to connect the sentence to
what has been said in the previous paragraph. Instead, they tried to fit all elements of the original – in
the same order – into the Finnish text, which does not result in a sentence that would make sense in
Finnish. Most of them were not satisfied with the translation they produced but could not think of
another way of putting it. In other words, they tendede to find meaning in words, not in context.
4.3 Students’ awareness of the textual level

Due to the fact that the text to be translated was only a small fraction of a longer text, major changes
on the textual level, such as omission, changing places of the paragraphs etc., were not possible
within this assignment.
However, something can be said on the students’ awareness of the textual level on the basis of this
assignment, too. One feature that characterizes expert translators is that they tend to resort to the text
itself rather than external sources when searching for solutions to the translation problems (Tirkko-
nen-Condit, 2005). In this assignment, there were a few lexical and syntactic problems for which an
elegant solution could have been found in the text; had the students paid attention to what is being
said before and after the problematic point, they might have been able to come up with an appro-
priate solution (that is, IF they recognized the problem in the first place). Example 6 provides an
example of this on the syntactic level, and example 7 will illustrate how the text can help in lexical
problems.
Example 7
Source text:
I recognized that they were simply trying to make a buck in the baby market, but that didn’t mean that I
was immune to the lure of the products labeled “educational”.
Most students did probably not even find the word problematic; none of them specified it as a trans-
lation problem. Sixteen students translated it as opettavainen or opettava, 'something that makes you
learn something’ or even ‘something you can learn a lesson from’. One student chose kasvattava,
‘something that raises your child’.
On the basis of the text, these products include videos and TV programmes that promote cognitive
growth, and some of them are targeted at babies of only two months of age. It seems to me that they
do not actually teach a child a specific skill, such as reading or writing, but rather contribute to the
development of cognitive processes, support the child's ability to learn. Therefore, opettavainen does
not seem to be an appropriate equivalent for educational in this context. Neither is the purpose of
these videos to replace parents; thus kasvattava is out of the question, too.
Two students had translated educational as kehittävä, ‘something that contributes to the (cognitive)
development of a child', which, at least to me, would be the word to promote such videos and pro-
grammes in Finnish.
4.4 Students’ monitoring skills on the basis of the translation product

In this experiment, there were no students who translate word-for-word all the time; by the same
token, there were no students who manage to avoid interference the throughout the whole text (which
is hardly surprising). Using the terminology related to the monitor model, it could be said that the
monitor seems to be working on and off for all the students; the process is not as automated as it is
(claimed to be) by the experts. For some students, the monitor is mostly off, for others it seems to be
on most of the time. Inconsistency is probably the feature that best defines the performance of
students in this experiment; there were excellent solutions and clear interference often in the same
translation.
The inconsistency applies to both linguistic levels that were looked upon in this experiment. On the
lexical level, the most difficulties arise from the words the exact meaning of which can be deducted
from the whole text (such as example 7); to use the terminology of the monitor model hypothesis,
such instances call for advanced monitoring skills. There were a few students who, at least in this re-
spect, showed 'expert-like' behaviour.
Even though inconsistency is clear on the syntactic level as well, somewhat surprisingly the exam-
ples 4 and 5 introduced here seem to imply that simple structures are ‘easier’ for the students to
translate into natural Finnish. The monitor seems to be 'on' more often when processing simple sen-
tences than when dealing with individual words. The more complex the sentence is, the more diffi-
culties the students have in translating it (example 6), which may have to do with the fact that the
students fail to figure out the meaning of the sentence on the basis of the context in which it appears,
much like in example 7.
As the starting point of this experiment was to find out what the students know at the beginning in
order to improve the teaching, an attempt was made to divide the students into different learner
groups on the basis of their monitoring ability at this point and their answers to the questions. The
groups will be introduced in the following section.
4.5 Learner groups

Dividing the students into learner groups was a laborious task, as there were various overlapping fea-
tures is students' translations as well as their answers to the questionnaire. Thus there can be no clear-
cut boundaries between the groups, and obviously, the groups also share some features. In the end,
the four groups were formed and named by me as follows: safe-players, attentive novices, captives of
English and (too) brave rewriters. An account of each group will be given next.
4.5.1 Safe-players
Most of the students, eleven out of twenty, belong to the group of Safe-players. Their work
contained interference on both lexical and syntactic level, and no attention was paid to the text as
whole in problem-solving. However, the interference in the translations of this group was not
necessarily distracting; the words and structures used were at many points were quite possible in
Finnish, too, but they were perhaps not the most natural choice and thus made the text sound
somewhat clumsy, especially if the amount of such incidents was high. This kind of translation work
is, at least in my opinion, very challenging from the teacher's point of view, if s/he is to give grades
for translations. There were also excellent solutions in the translations of this group; the monitor
seemed to be on and off.
The safe-players did not mention any translation problems except for some points on the lexical
level. The defining feature of this group was uncertainty; they did not know "when and to what ex-
tent can one go beyond the formal equivalence" (a quote from an answer sheet). Related to this is
their inability to evaluate their own translation. Comments like “My translation is not totally bad, but
by no means even close to good” clearly indicate that the students do not really know what IS a
“good” translation.
As mentioned earlier, little can be said about the translation process. However, a comparison of the
two translations might tell something about the working of the monitor. Six safe-players did not
change much in the second version; three made changes that reduced interference but also changes
that did not suit the text; two managed to reduce interference and thus mainly to improve the text in
the second round.
4.5.2 Attentive novices

The distinctive feature between safe-players and attentive novice is the attentive novices’ ability to
evaluate their work quite realistically, which in this case means that they saw their strengths and
weaknesses in the way similar to my views. One of them writes in her self-evaluation that her work
"... is ok, though it was done in a bit of haste. I'm really satisfied with some of my solutions, but I
will not tell you what because I can’t bear it if they turn out to be poor after all.” They, too, were un-
certain as to "what is allowed", perceived problems mainly on the lexical level and had interference
on both linguistic levels. However, they did seem to be more courageous in their translations than the
Safe-players and found natural Finnish solutions, not sticking to the formal correspondents as often
as the safe-players. There were two students belonging to this group.
In the second round, both students belonging to this group managed to improve their text by making
changes that reduced interference.
4.5.3 Captives of English

This small group consisting of two students had two distinctive features: clear and distracting in-
terference on both linguistic levels (and subsequently, great difficulties in producing proper Finnish)
and unrealistically positive view on one's own performance. The students are clearly unable to differ-
entiate between the two languages and produce Finglish, Finnish with English structures and gram-
mar, starting from the punctuation, the rules of which are completely different in Finnish and in Eng-
lish. The only translation problems identified by these students were on the lexical level, as in other
groups. One of the students reported as having solved the problems by “changing the word/structure
in question as little as possible”.
Neither of the captives changed their text in the second round, except for one or two singular words.
4.5.4 (too) Brave rewriters

The distinctive feature of this group of five students was that they seek solutions other than the for-
mal correspondence, but do so often at the expense of style or register. They also omit freely and
leave out pieces of information. Similar to the captives of English, they produce improper Finnish,
but unlike the captives, the faults in the Finnish language are not necessarily due to the influence of
English but rather due to incompetence in written Finnish. Despite the fact that these students tend to
look for brave solutions, there are instances of interference in their translations, too. They, like the
other groups, reported as having no translation problems other than singular points on the lexical
level. Nevertheless, they did not have a very high regard for their work as the grades they gave them-
selves were average at best, and the comments with regard to self-evaluation were rather vague or
cryptic: "Suitable for the Finnish language, if there were more resources, the translation would be
better; 2”. (In Finland, the scale is 1 – 5, five being the highest grade).
Of rewriters, two changed little or nothing at all in the second round and three made substantial
changes, managing to reduce interference at some points but still resulting in poor Finnish.
5. Discussion
The aim of this experiment was to provide tentative information for my forthcoming doctoral disser-
tation project, in which my initial plan was to follow how translator students' monitor develops
during their studies. With the formation of learner groups I strive to find out what kind of needs the
students have at the beginning, and this experiment tested the suitability of this idea to my
dissertation as well. All in all, the experiment turned out to give valuable information on what has to
be taken into account in the forthcoming project and led me to ponder on ways to avoid pitfalls.
My initial idea was to follow the path from novice to expert by looking at the way students learn to
monitor their translation process. The hypothesis was that students' have some kind of monitoring
skills to begin with. In the light of the results, this idea proved to be slightly problematic; even
though (some) students do show traces of a monitor functioning in the process , it is also apparent
that in order for the monitor – or any control mechanism of translation process – to work, one has to
have the basic tools for translating. It can even be argued that no monitor can exist before a student
has a clear understanding of the process of translating. If s/he is uncertain as to what is “allowed”,
how much s/he can “change” the text, there is no way of knowing when there is a need to look for
more suitable solutions. It is only when the student realizes that a translator does not translate words,
not even sentences, but texts, or meanings that reside in texts, and that those meanings are construct-
ed in different ways in different languages, that the monitor can start functioning to the full. In
addition to the vague concept of translation, some students seem to have serious problems with their
mother tongue. This always comes as a surprise to the students who take their Finnish skills for
granted – after all, it IS their mother tongue. It seems to me that some students are unable to recog-
nize the linguistic difference between written and spoken genres, not to mention differences between
various written genres. Some students, especially (too) brave rewriters do manage to avoid interfe-
rence in their translation; in this respect it could be argued that there is at least some control mecha-
nism working that stops them from using the English structures. This control mechanism does not,
however, produce good translation, because the students lack the most basic tool for a translator: an
excellent command of their mother tongue.
For the reasons mentioned above, my initial idea to follow the development of monitoring ability of
the students from the very beginning must be refined, though not totally abandoned. I feel that moni-
toring ability can be taken under the magnifying glass at a later stage of their studies; at the begin-
ning, the main attention will be paid to the basic competences – indeed, what they know when they
start. The formation of learner groups at the beginning seems to be a sensible way to find different
translation learner profiles; the changes between and within the groups could be the center of interest
in the forthcoming study. Even in this small-scale experiment it could be observed how heteroge-
neous the students are when it comes to translation and how different learning needs they have.
As far as the method is concerned, a major pitfall in this experiment was that there was no access to
the translation process of the students. The process, however, cannot be overlooked when aiming at
modelling students' learning processes. Something can be said on the basis of the products and self-
reflective comments, but reviewing the process allows a deeper understanding of what goes on in the
students' minds when they are translating and can provide explanations for certain phenomena.
A final remark deals with the translation tasks students are to complete for the research. It is of
utmost importance that students translate whole texts, not chunks of longer texts. In this way, the stu-
dents’ awareness of the textual level can be fully explored and taken into account. A question still to
be pondered is the quality of the source text; in case of example 7 in this experiment it was pointed
out to me by a native speaker of English that the word 'educational' is not the most suitable word
choice in English in this context, and the students' translation solutions may be partly explained by
"misguidance" of the source text. On the other hand, source texts are often poor or badly written, and
it is one aspect of translation competence to learn to cope with them. Whether they are misguided out
of ignorance or whether they consciously decide to copy the authors bad word choice for some
reason can also tell about the level of expertise.
References
Hansen, G. (2002a), Selbstaufmerksamkeit im Übersetzungsprozess. In Hansen, G. (ed.), Empirical Transla-
tion Studies. Process and Product. Copenhagen Studies in Language 27, Copenhagen, Samfundslitteratur.
9—27.
Ivir, V. (1981), “Formal Correspondence vs. Translation Equivalence Revisited,” in Even-Zohar, Itamar and
Toury, Gideon (eds.), Theory of Translation and Intercultural Relations, Tel Aviv, The Porter Institute
for Poetics and Semiotics, Tel Aviv University. [= Poetics Today 2: 4.]
Jääskeläinen, R. (1999), Tapping the Process. An Explorative Study of the Cognitive and Affective Factors In-
volved in Translating. Doctoral thesis. University of Joensuu Publications in the Humanities No. 22.
Tirkkonen-Condit, S. (2005), “The Monitor Model Revisited: Evidence from Process Research”. Meta 50,
special issue on Processes and Pathways in Translation and Interpretation ed. by Lee-Jahnke, H., 405 –
413.
Tirkkonen-Condit, S. (2007), ”Kääntämisen tutkimisen nykysuuntauksia”. In Riikonen, H.K., Kovala, U., Ku-
jamäki, P. & O. Paloposki (eds.), Suomennoskirjallisuuden historia 2. Suomalaisen kirjallisuuden seuran
toimituksia 1112. 346 – 356.
Tirkkonen-Condit, S., Mäkisalo J. and S. Immonen (2008), ”The Translation Process – interplay between lite-
ral rendering and a search for sense”. Across Languages and Cultures 9 (1), pp. 1 – 16.
Toury, G. (1995), Descriptive Translation Studies and Beyond, Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
164
165
Section IV:
Tranlation and Language for Special Purposes
166
THE IMPACT OF COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE

ON EXPORT PERFORMANCE:
A RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT APPROACH
Josée Bloemer
Centre of Research International Business and Communication
Zuyd University of Applied Sciences /
Institute of Management Research
Radboud University Nijmegen
The Netherlands
Mark Pluymaekers and Armand Odekerken

Centre of Research International Business and Communication
The Netherlands
Abstract: This study explores the effects of relation-oriented competencies (communicative

competence and cultural sensitivity), entrepreneurial competencies (entrepreneurial posture)
and relationship quality characteristics (commitment and trust) on export performance. Using
survey data from 134 firms located in the south of the Netherlands, a conceptual model was
tested focussing on the relative impact of communicative competence vis à vis the other in-
dependent variables. The results clearly reveal that all independent variables have a positive
impact on export performance. Although communicative competence seems to be the least im-
portant, communicative competence nevertheless is an important indicator for export perfor-
mance. Export success is, among others, indeed dependent upon communicative competence.
1. Introduction
This study investigates how export performance is affected by relation-oriented competencies
(cultural sensitivity and communicative competence), entrepreneurial competencies (entrepreneurial
posture) and relationship quality characteristics (trust and commitment). Although previous studies
have shown positive effects of each of these characteristics on export performance, one important
question has not yet been answered: What is the relative impact of communicative competence, vis à
vis other independent variables, on export performance in a relationship management context?
Representatives of the “relational paradigm" (Chryssochoidis & Theoharakis, 2004; Pressey & Tzo-
kas, 2004; Styles & Ambler, 1994, 2000; Zhang, Cavusgil, & Roath, 2003) have mainly focused on
the nature and impact of exporter-customer relationships. For example, Styles & Ambler (1994) de-
veloped a conceptual "hybrid" model, which combined selected variables from both the service profit
chain and relational paradigms, while Styles & Ambler (2000) modeled the effects of a limited num-
ber of relational characteristics on performance indicators. Although prior research has provided evi-
dence of the importance of exporter-customer relationships (Leonidou, Katsikeas, & Hadjimarcou,
2002; Rosson & Ford, 1982; Styles & Ambler, 1994, 2000), no comprehensive study has been con-
ducted on the effects of different relationship management characteristics on export performance,
despite its potential usefulness in providing "a more insightful and complete understanding of export-
ing" (Leonidou et al., 2002).
In the current study, relationship management characteristics are divided into two groups: relation-
oriented competences such as communicative competence and cultural sensitivity, and entrepreneu-
rial competences such as innovativeness, risk-taking and proactiveness. Although previous studies
have shown positive effects of each of these characteristics on export performance, a comprehensive
study on the impact of these variables together with relationship quality characteristics such as trust
168 JOSÉE BLOEMER, MARK PLUYMAEKERS & ARMAND ODEKERKEN
and commitment is, to the best of our knowledge, lacking. Neither is there any research focusing on
the relative importance of communicative competence.
The findings of this study will have important implications for both academics and practitioners.
First, considering that there is very little and fragmented research in this area, this study will help
academics to better understand the impact of variables like communicative competence on export
performance. In addition, the results will provide guidance to managers because they will indicate
which characteristics and competencies are the best predictors for export success.
The paper is structured as follows: First, we will discuss the conceptualization of the variables inclu-
ded in this study and the evidence for their impact on export performance. At the end of this section
we formulate the hypotheses for our research. In the section on materials and methods, information is
provided about the research sample, the different measurement instruments, and the statistical
analysis. Finally, we present our results, their implications for theory and practice and the limitations
and directions for further research.
2. Conceptualization and hypotheses

In their comprehensive literature review, Sousa et al. (2008) discuss some firm competencies that
have been shown to have a positive impact on export performance. Broadly speaking, these compe-
tencies can be divided into two types: (1) Skills that are needed to gain or maintain a competitive ad-
vantage in foreign markets and (2) Skills that are needed to build relationships with foreign
customers. We refer to the first type as ‘entrepreneurial competencies’ and to the second type as ‘re-
lation-oriented competencies’. In an international setting, two relation-oriented competencies are
particularly important: communicative competence and cultural sensitivity. These two competencies
allow exporters to communicate effectively with their foreign customers, which is an important
prerequisite for the development of a successful business relationship (Duncan & Moriarty, 1998;
Mohr & Spekman, 1994).
2.1 Relation-oriented competencies

2.1.1 Communicative competence
We define communicative competence as the capacity of an organization and its personnel to com-
municate effectively in foreign languages, and to convey information in a manner that is easily
understood by foreign customers. Many studies have explored the relationship between com-
municative competence and export performance (Bilkey & Tesar, 1977; Cunningham & Spigel,
1971; Enderwick & Akoorie, 1994; Lautanen, 2000; Schlegelmilch & Crook, 1988; Schlegelmilch &
Ross, 1987; Swift, 1990; Turnbull & Welham, 1985; Ursic & Czinkota, 1989; Walters, 1990; Williams
& Chaston, 2004). These authors argue that, in addition to enhancing the effectiveness of verbal and
written communication per se, language skills can directly improve export performance.
Furthermore, a lack of foreign language knowledge may cause managers to perceive more
‘psychological distance’ between their home and foreign markets, and can therefore hinder export
success (Swift, 1991; Turnbull & Welham, 1985).
2.1.2 Cultural sensitivity

Cultural sensitivity is defined by Harich & LaBahn (1998) as "a general open-mindedness with re-
spect to different cultures and the willingness to understand the ways in which cultures differ". Cul-
tural sensitivity can help develop intimate relations with customers to the level that rivals cannot
replicate (Srivastava, Fahey, & Christensen, 2001). Moreover, cultural sensitivity has been shown by
Harich & LaBahn (1998) and Skarmeas, Katsikeas, & Schlegelmilch (2002) to have a positive im-
pact on export performance.
2.2 Entrepreneurial competencies

Entrepreneurial skills cannot only be linked to individuals, but also to entire organizations. Accord-
ing to Covin & Slevin (1991), firms differ in the extent to which they adopt an entrepreneurial pos-
ture. This posture is reflected in their propensity to take risks, their propensity to make product inno-
vations and their propensity to compete proactively with industry rivals. Whether it is possible to
adopt an entrepreneurial posture depends on the hostility and dynamism of the environment (Balaba-
nis & Katsikea, 2003; Covin & Slevin, 1989), as well as the size of the firm and its organicity (Bala-
banis & Katsikea, 2003). Still, firms who are able to adopt an entrepreneurial posture in their export
ventures tend to perform better (Balabanis & Katsikea, 2003), presumably because it increases the
motivation and self-efficacy of management (Keats & Bracker, 1988).
2.3 Relationship quality characteristics

2.3.1 Commitment
In Sousa et al.’s (2008) review of the export performance literature, managerial commitment to ex-
porting emerges as the most frequently cited relationship quality characteristic to influence export
performance. Committed managers are believed to be more careful in planning the allocation of rele-
vant resources, which reduces uncertainty and increases the effectiveness of the marketing strategy.
Furthermore, commitment is essential in fostering a long-term orientation (Larson, 1992; Styles,
Patterson, & Ahmed, 2008) and mutual cooperative behavior (Leonidou, Palihawadana, & Theodo-
siou, 2006; Morgan & Hunt, 1994).
In general, commitment can be defined as the binding of an individual to a course of action specified
within the terms of that commitment (Meyer, Becker, & Vandenberghe, 2004). It is often also re-
ferred to as an attitude of attachment and an intention to continue a relationship (E. Anderson &
Weitz, 1992; Dwyer, Schurr, & Oh, 1987; Gundlach, Achrol, & Mentzer, 1995; Morgan & Hunt,
1994). Allen & Meyer (1990) distinguish three different components of commitment in an organi-
zational context: affective, calculative, and normative commitment.
Affective commitment is the exporting organization’s desire to build and maintain a relationship with
foreign customers because of the enjoyment of the relationship for its own sake, separate from its
instrumental worth (Allen & Meyer, 1990; Geyskens, Steenkamp, Scheer, & Kumar, 1996; Kumar,
Hibbard, & Stern, 1994). Calculative (or continuance) commitment is the degree to which an export-
ing organization experiences a need to build and maintain a relationship with foreign customers be-
cause of the significant perceived switching costs associated with leaving the relationship (Allen &
Meyer, 1990; Geyskens et al., 1996). Finally, normative commitment is reflected in the perceived
moral obligation of an exporting organization to stay in a relationship with foreign customers (Allen
& Meyer, 1990).
Following Mathieu & Zazac (1990), Styles et al. (2008) argue that affective and calculative com-
mitment are the most relevant types of commitment in inter-organizational settings. Firms whose
commitment to exporting is mainly affective continue the relationship with a foreign customer be-
cause they enjoy being in that relationship. Firms whose commitment is mainly calculative continue
the relationship with a foreign customer because it would cost too much if the relationship was dis-
continued. Despite the different nature of these motivations, both variables are expected to have a
positive effect on export performance (Styles et al., 2008, p. 884).
2.3.2 Trust
In addition to the variables mentioned in Sousa et al. (2008) as important relationship management
characteristic to influence export performance, several other authors (E. Anderson & Weitz, 1989; J.
C. Anderson & Narus, 1990; Leonidou et al., 2006; Morgan & Hunt, 1994) mention trust as still
another important relationship quality characteristic impacting export performance. Trust can be
defined as the belief that an organizational foreign customer will be honest, fair, and reliable. Trust is
benevolence towards and confidence in a foreign customer (Dwyer et al., 1987). When the parties
involved in a business-to-business relationship trust each other, they are more likely to engage in
behavior that leads to positive outcomes (Driscoll, 1978; Dwyer et al., 1987; Leonidou et al., 2006;
Raven, Tansuhaj, & McCullough, 1993). Hence, trust establishes value in the relationship, prevents
opportunistic behavior (Moorman, Zaltman, & Deshpande, 1992) and increases relational
effectiveness or performance (Katsikeas, Skarmeas, & Bello, 2009; Massey & Dawes, 2007).
From the literature review discussed above, we derive the following hypotheses:
H1: Communicative competence has a positive effect on export performance

H2: Cultural sensitivity has a positive effect on export performance
H3: Entrepreneurial posture has a positive effect on export performance
H4: Commitment has a positive effect on export performance
H5: Trust has a positive effect on export performance
Commitment
Trust
+
+
Communicative
competence +
Export
+ performance
Cultural
sensitivity
+
Entrepreneurial
posture
Fig. (1): Conceptual model
3. Materials and methods

3.1 Sample characteristics
By e-mail we asked 3875 exporting companies in the southern part of the Netherlands to fill out our
online questionnaire in May - June 2009. 254 exporters reacted positively to our request. Re-
spondents who did not completely fill out the questionnaire were removed from the sample. 134
participants filled out the entire questionnaire, yielding a response rate of 3.5%.
Although the participating companies exported all over the world, the most frequently mentioned
export countries were Germany and Belgium. The average number of employees of the companies
was 17, but almost one third of the sample consisted of single owner companies. Overall, the
wholesale and industry sectors were overrepresented in our sample. For 20% of the companies the
sales generated by export amounted to 10% or less of their total sales, while 23% of the companies
indicated that they generated all their sales from export.
Despite the fact that the questionnaire was distributed during an economic downturn, 31% of the
participants reported that sales from export, when compared to last year, stayed the same. 38% of the
companies thought that their export goals had been reached and 43% was satisfied with their export
performance.
3.2 Questionnaire development

Unless indicated otherwise, all statements in the questionnaire were rated on a 7-point Likert scale
(“completely disagree” – “completely agree”). It is important to note that participants were instructed
to answer the questions from the perspective of the firm, not their own individual perspective.
3.2.1 Export performance

Export performance can be divided into financial and non-financial performance. Financial export
performance refers to export sales intensity, export profit intensity and export sales growth. Other
financial indicators are market share, return on assets, return on investment, export profit growth and
ratios of export sales to the number of export managers and employees (Lages, 2000). Non-financial
indicators of export performance include goal achievement, satisfaction, perceived success, and
perceived importance of a certain item to export performance (Lages, 2000). Other non-financial
indicators are customer, employee and shareholder satisfaction and loyalty (Hooley, Greenly, Fahy,
& Cadogan, 2001). Financial and non-financial measures can be operationalized in objective and
subjective terms. However, most financial measures are objective and most non-financial measures
are subjective. Lages (2000) advises to use multiple measures, since in order to capture the
complexity of the concept, it is better to construct a scale based on a set of different variables
(Bijmolt & Zwart, 1994; Shoham, 1996). For our research we will use both financial and non-
financial measurements of export performance, using objective as well as subjective terms. We
measured export performance using the following financial measures (Kaynak & Kuan, 1993;
Shoham, 1996):
− percentage of sales generated by export

− percentage of profit generated by export
− increase or decrease in export sales (in terms of percentage)
− increase or decrease in export profit (in terms of percentage)
− export sales growth in the previous year as compared to competitors (rated on a 7-point Likert scale,
where 1 represents “much worse than competitors” and 7 represents “much better than competitors”)
− export profit growth in the previous year as compared to competitors (rated on a 7-point Likert scale,
where 1 represents “much worse than competitors” and 7 represents “much better than competitors”)
As non-financial measures of export performance we included one item for perceived success (e.g.
Cavusgil & Zou, 1994; Singer & Czinkota, 1994), two items for overall satisfaction with export
performance (e.g. Evangelista, 1994; Seifert & Ford, 1989), and one item each for the satisfaction
and loyalty of employees, customers and shareholders (Hooley et al., 2001).
3.2.2 Cultural sensitivity

We operationalized cultural sensitivity in accordance with Johnson et al. (1996) and Styles et al.
(2008) on a seven-item scale.
3.2.3 Communicative competence

Communicative competence was measured with the following three items:
• In our contacts with foreign customers we use the language of that customer
• Our company uses promotion materials (brochures, flyers, web site) in the language of foreign
customers
• When gathering information that is relevant for our export ventures, we use sources in the language of
foreign customers
3.2.4 Entrepreneurial posture

To measure the exporting firm’s entrepreneurial posture, we used Covin & Slevin’s (1989) strategic
posture scale, which consists of semantic differentials with contrasting theorems. It should be noted
that this scale is concerned with entrepreneurial posture in general, rather than entrepreneurial
posture in an exporting context. The scale was chosen because it was also used by Balabanis &
Katsikeas (2003), who observed a positive effect of entrepreneurial posture on export performance.
We restricted ourselves to the six items included in their study.
3.2.5 Commitment
Affective commitment was measured with a three-item scale from Leonidou et al. (2006). Originally,
Leonidou et al. (2006) used five items, two of which were excluded after exploratory factor analysis.
To keep our questionnaire short, we only included the three items that showed sufficient
unidimensionality in their study. Calculative commitment was measured using a three-item scale
from Meyer, Allen & Smith (1993). The original items were concerned with employee loyalty, but
they could easily be adapted to the context of an exporter’s relationship with foreign customers.
3.2.6 Trust
Trust was operationalized using a three-item scale from Leonidou et al. (2006). Again, we only
included items which showed a sufficiently high item-to-total correlation in the original study.
3.3 Statistical analysis

The statistical analysis proceeded in several steps. First, exploratory factor analysis was used to
assess the unidimensionality and validity of the constructs. Items which exhibited high cross-loa-
dings were dropped. All constructs, including export performance, turned out to be unidimensional.
Next, cluster analysis was used to identify multivariate outliers. A dendrogram of the participants
was created using centroid clustering based on the squared Euclidian distance. In the dendrogram,
eleven participants were identified as outliers. These participants were removed from the data set.
The conceptual model was tested using a regression analysis procedure.
4. Results
Figure 2* shows the results of the regression analyses in terms of the Beta-coefficients. All co-
efficients were significant (p<.05). The percentage of explained variance was . 41, indicating that
41% of all variance in export performance can be explained by trust, commitment, cultural sensi-
tivity, entrepreneurial posture and communicative competence. In terms of the relative importance of
the different variables, the results clearly show that communicative competence, although of least
importance as compared to the other independent variables included in the model, plays a significant
role when it comes to contributing to export performance. In other words, communicative
competence is an important predictor for export performance.
Trust
.32
Calculative
commitment .30
.29 Export
Cultural
sensitivity performance
.15
Entrepreneurial
posture .11
Communicative
competence
Fig. (2): Results of regression analases (* Numbers shown are Beta- coefficients)
5. Conclusion and discussion

This study explored how export performance is affected by relation-oriented competencies (cultural
sensitivity and communicative competence), entrepreneurial competencies (entrepreneurial posture)
and relationship quality characteristics (trust and commitment). The focus was on the relative
importance of communicative competence on export performance in a relationship management
context.
Our results show that communicative competence, although of least importance as compared to the
other independent variables included in the model, plays a significant role when it comes to
contributing to export performance. Being able to communicate effectively, as a relation-oriented
competence, is of essential importance when improving export performance, next to entrepreneurial
posture, cultural sensitivity, calculative commitment and trust. Therefore, our study has an important
theoretical implication for further studies on the impact of communicative competence on export
performance. Communicative competence is a variable that definitely needs to be included when a
relationship management perspective on export success is taken.
6. Managerial implications
Awareness of the energizing effect of communicative competence can help managers to improve
their firms’ export performance. To do so, they need to invest in the communicative competences of
their employees. This means investing in and improving the capacity of an organization and its
personnel to communicate effectively in foreign languages, and to convey information in a manner
that is easily understood by foreign customers. Moreover, in addition to enhancing the effectiveness
of verbal and written communication per se, language skills can directly improve export perfor-
mance. A lack of foreign language knowledge may cause managers to perceive more ‘psychological
distance’ between their home and foreign markets, and can therefore hinder export success (Swift,
1991; Turnbull & Welham, 1985).
7. Limitations and directions for further research

Our study has strengths as well as weaknesses. Some of the latter could be related to the charac-
teristics of our sample. Our respondents mainly consist of directors of small enterprises from the
province of Limburg, in the south of the Netherlands. The province of Limburg is an area with a
width of 16 miles, enclosed between Germany at the east and Belgium at the south and west side.
Due to this geographic location, firms from this region may be more involved in export than com-
panies from regions in the Netherlands that are not that close to the border. The generalizability of
our results may therefore be limited.
Second, common method bias may be a shortcoming of our study. We used one questionnaire to
measure our constructs. Therefore, some relations between constructs may be overstated to a certain
extent.
A third shortcoming is that we only investigated one side of the dyad: The exporting firm. This
means that at least some of the relational variables that impact export performance were not included
in our study (Styles et al., 2008).
Besides including the perspective of the foreign customer, interesting directions for further research
could also be the inclusion of the duration of a particular relationship as a moderating variable. It
could be assumed that the longer a relationship exists, the more effective the communication will be.
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LA TRADUCTION ET L'INTERPRETATION EN MILIEU JUDICIAIRE"

OU "LA LANGUE DU PALAIS DE JUSTICE"
Mohammed Benlarbi El’kebich
Office Public de Traduction Officiel, Tiaret, Algérie
Abstract: Given the intense socio-economic and politic movement of people and goods of today,
around the world in general and between north and south in particular, and given the presence
of strong foreign language communities amidst other communities, as well as legal systems
where citizens exercise their rights and obligations by virue of the principles stated in the
'Universal Declaration of Human Rights, such as the right to interpretation and translation,
translators – interpreters are the key mediators between people.
This holds in particular for people away from home such as official delegations of sportsmen
and -women, cultural delegations, tourists, emigrants, immigrants, refugees, as well as asylum
seekers. They may become involved in difficult situations, being admitted to hospital, detained
in prison, or involved in criminal cases. All these people have a right to translation and
interpretation.
1. La science de la traduction au service de l'homme

Dans la conjoncture actuelle et à travers tous les moyens de la communication, la science de la tra-
duction est au service de l'homme ses droits et intérêts même si, parfois, elle reste soumise aux
préjugés, des uns par méconnaissance et des autres, par ignorance, négligence ou mépris, des prin-
cipes des droits de l'homme, notamment le droit à la traduction et à l'interprétation, en toute équité,
dans un procès judiciaire de droit commun, d'ordre pénal ou civil, administratif, militaire ou
politique.
Le traducteur – interprète aujourd'hui traduit et transmis à l'autre, accusé, prévenu, inculpé, ou

contrevenant, les lois du pays d'accueille, civile, pénale, commerciale et administrative, de droit
public, privé, national ou internationale. Il est un précieux mandataire auprès des étrangers à la
langue du pays et à ses lois, entre autres, la traduction et l'interprétation en milieu judiciaire.
De par sa connaissance approfondie des termes juridiques utilisés dans le jargon judiciaire du palais
de justice, l'interprète est le pivot des débats dans les procès, notamment en matière criminelle où
rien n'est laisser au hasard quant à la recherche de la manifestation de la vérité par les juristes, et
discuté contradictoirement par les parties en cause, avocat général, représentant le Ministère Public,
avocat de la partie civile et avocat de la défense.
2. Le rôle de l'interprète dans un procès criminel

Après avoir suivie la procédure d'enquêtes préliminaires, de la police judiciaire, à l'ouverture
d'information devant le juge d'instruction, jusqu'à la chambre d'accusation qui renvoie les parties au
procès devant la cour de justice criminelle.
Au moment de la composition de la cour et la formation du jury de jugement aux côtés des

magistrats, l'interprète doit donner lecture aux étranger à la langue des débats, le texte portant
serment des membres du jury ainsi conçu:
"Vous jurez et promettez devant Dieu et devant les hommes d'examiner avec l'attention la plus
scrupuleuse les charges qui seront portées contre l'accusé de ne trahir, ni les intérêts de l'accusé ni ceux
de la société qui l'accuse, de ne communiquer avec personne jusqu' à votre déclaration, de n'écouter ni
la haine ni la méchanceté, ni la crainte ou l'affection et de décider d'après les charges et les moyens de
la défense, suivant votre conscience et votre intime conviction, avec l'impartialité et la fermeté qui
conviennent à un homme probe et libre et de conserver le secret des délibérations, même après cessation
de vos fonctions."
178 MOHAMMED BENLARBI EL’KEBICH
‫" تقسمون وتتعھدون أمام ﷲ وأمام الناس بأن تمحصوا باالھتمام البالغ غاية الدقة ما يقع من دالئل اتھام على عاتق المتھم‬
‫وأال تبخسوه حقوقه أو تخونوا عھود المجتمع الذي يتھمه وال تخابروا أحدا ريثما تصدرون قراركم وأال تستمعوا إلى صوت‬
‫الحقد أو الخبث أو الخوف أو الميل وأن تصدروا قراركم حسب ما يستبين لكم من الدالئل ووسائل الدفاع وحسب ما يرتضيه‬
‫ويقتضيه اقتناعكم الشخصي بغير تحيز وبالحزم الجدير بالرجل النزيه الحر وبأن تحفظوا سر المداوالت حتى بعد انقضاء‬
" ‫مھامكم‬
Là, au milieu des débats et dans la proie de la traduction, l'interprète, doit traduire intégralement et
dans toutes ses subtilités et nuances, avec discernement, l'arrêt de renvoie devant la cour de justice
criminelle, rendu par la chambre d'accusation où sont relatés les faits reprochés à l'accusé et les
motifs qui ont abouti à son accusation et expliquer à ce dernier, dans sa langue et a haute voix, les
charges retenues contre lui auxquelles il doit répondre.
L'audience étant publique, l'auditoire et prétoire, composés de la société civile, notamment le monde
de la presse écrite et audiovisuel, l'interprète rappel à l'auditoire, tous les éléments constitutifs de
l'infraction ayant trait au crime dont l'accusé est poursuivie et qu' il devra répondre, par coupable ou
non coupable, devant la cour de justice, composée de juges assesseurs, de jurés, représentant la
société civile, et d'avocat général, représentant le ministère public, ainsi que des peines prévues par la
loi pénale du pays où le crime a été commis et que l'accusé risque d'en courir , si il est reconnu
coupable par la cour. Ces peines peuvent aller de la réclusion criminelle à temps limité ou a
perpétuité jusqu'à la peine capitale dans les pays qui n'ont pas abolie la peine de mort.
Au milieu des parties au procès, et en plaine audience, présidée par un magistrat de la cour, assisté
par des juges et assesseurs jurés choisi au tirage au sort, l'interprète prend note, de la manière la plus
scrupuleuse, de toutes les interrogations et les questions adressées, tout d'abord à l'accusé, puis aux
parties en présence, des témoins des faits, soit à charge ou à décharges, l'interprète doit expliquer, la
version soutenues par chaque déposant à l'audience, les questions posées, et les réponse y afférentes.
Lorsque la parole est donnée à la partie civile ou son avocat, pour défendre les intérêts des victimes
et l'administration de toute preuve susceptible de retenir l'accusé dans les liens de l'accusation,
l'interprète doit reproduire fidèlement la version développée par la partie civile elle-même ou par son
avocat.
Les débats terminés, la parole est donnée à l'avocat général, pour son réquisitoire,au cours duquel il
donne les motivations se rapportant à l'accusation, les moyens de preuves mises à la charge de
l'accusé et la démonstration des pièces a conviction, les peines prévues par le code pénal qui peuvent
aller de la détention préventive pour une durée déterminée, à la réclusion criminelle jusqu 'à la peine
capitale. Là aussi l'interprète reprend les mêmes termes dans toutes leurs nuances et expliquer aux
parties intéressées par la traduction, les réquisitions de l'avocat général contre l'accusé et les charges
retenues contre lui.
De même suite, la parole est donnée à l'avocat de la défense pour sa plaidoirie, si son client nie les
faits qui lui sont reprochés, l'avocat qui plaide pour anéantir les modes de preuves et leur
confrontation avec la réalités des faits et prouver, d'une manière convaincante, l'innocence de son
client. Là aussi l'interprète assiste l'avocat et donne, au fur et a mesure, à l'accusé et aux étrangers à
l'audience, les points de vue développés par la défense.
A la fin des débats et avant de se retirer pour en délibérer, la Président de l'audience donne à l'accusé
la parole en dernier pour exprimer ses pensées quant à ces débats et à la persistance de ce qu'il croit
comme étant les moyens de sa défense.
Puis, le Président de l'audience donne lecture aux jurés des instructions prévues par le code pénal que
l'interprète doit traduire en leurs termes ainsi conçus:
"La loi ne demande pas aux juges les moyens par lesquels ils se sont convaincus; elle ne leur prescrit
pas de règles desquelles ils doivent particulièrement dépendre la plénitude et la suffisance d'une preuve;
elle leur prescrit de s'interroger eux mêmes dans le silence et le recueillement et de chercher, dans la
sincérité de leur conscience, quelle impression ont fait, sur leur raisons, les preuves rapportées contre
l'accusé et les moyens de sa défense. La loi ne leur fait que cette question qui renferme toute la mesure
de leurs devoirs: "Avez-vous une intime conviction?"
‫"إن القانون ال يطلب من القضاة أن يقدموا حسابا عن الوسائل التي بھا قد وصلوا إلى تكوين اقتناعھم وال يرسم لھم قواعد بھا يتعين‬
‫عليھم أن يخضعوا لھا على األخص تقدير تمام أو كفاية دليل ما ولكنه يأمرھم أن يسألوا أنفسھم في صمت وتدبر وأن يبحثوا بإخالص‬
‫ضمائرھم في أي تأثير قد أحدثته في إدراكھم األدلة المسندة إلى المتھم وأوجه الدفاع عنھا ولم يضع لھم القانون سوى ھذا السؤال‬
"‫ ھل لديكم اقتناع شخصي ؟‬: ‫الذي يتضمن كل نطاق واجباتھم‬
L'interprète qui couvre la traduction des débats dans ce genre de procès, doit posséder une solide
expérience dans le domaine, un niveau de technicité flexible, un sens de réflexe développé, per-
mettant ainsi, de transmettre simultanément, le sens, l'idée, la forme et la pensée de tous les an-
tagonistes, vers la compréhension de l'auditoire, restent les conditions requises, d’une mémoire
infaillible, d’audibilité de visibilité ainsi qu’une articulation phonatoire parfaite et un niveau lin-
guistique à la mesure de celui qui parle et de celui qui écoute, parmi les assesseurs jurés, qui observe
ou qui en prend note.
Au cours de l’exercice de sa profession, le traducteur interprète doit accomplir sincèrement et fi-

dèlement sa mission et d’exercer loyalement la profession avec probité et bonne foi. Il s’oblige de
garder, en tout lieu, le secret professionnel, pendant et après le procès, il s’engage d’accomplir son
devoir professionnel et de respecter la déontologie que lui impose sa conscience professionnelle et
son serment. Il ne doit trahir ni les intérêts de l'accusé ni ceux de la société qui l'accuse.
Du fait que l'interprétation à l'audience est orale, l'interprète qui effectue l'interprétation, dans le
cadre de ses compétences et de ses attributions, doit être doté d’une formation adéquate, soutenue par
la parfaite connaissance d’une ou de plusieurs langues et idiomes ainsi que d'une culture générale
étrangère vastes, un sens de réflexe développé lui permettant ainsi de restituer dans toutes leurs
nuances, les termes des débats oraux, interrogatoires et interpellations; questions, réponses,
explications d'experts, médecin légiste, et témoins, plaidoiries, réquisitions d’ avocat général
représentant le ministère public.
Aussi, Il doit posséder une solide expérience dans le domaine, un niveau de technicité flexible, un
sens de réflexe développé, permettant de transmettre simultanément la pensée de l’orateur vers la
compréhension de l’auditeur, restent les conditions requises, d’ une mémoire infaillible, d’audibilité
de visibilité ainsi qu’une articulation phonatoire parfaite et un niveau linguistique à la mesure de
celui qui parle et celui qui écoute et d'expliquer les termes juridiques soutenus par les juristes à
l'audience.
Au cours de l’exercice de sa profession, le traducteur interprète doit accomplir sincèrement et fi-

dèlement sa mission et d’exercer loyalement la profession avec probité et bonne foi Il s’oblige de
garder, en tout lieu, le secret professionnel, il s’engage d’accomplir son devoir professionnel et de
respecter la déontologie que lui impose sa conscience professionnelle et son serment.
Au cours du procès judiciaire, l'interprète doit prendre note, avec l’attention la plus scrupuleuse de
probité et de neutralité, le débat et d’éviter le contre sens qui pourrait porter préjudice aux intérêts
des parties; car très souvent le sort, d’un individu, d’un groupe ou de toute une société, dépend de
l’efficacité de la traduction ou de l’interprétation, aucune supposition ou hypothèse n'est admise en
matière de procès criminel. En aucun cas, l'interprète, ne pourra agir sous l’empire de l’influence
d’une quelconque passion de haine, vengeance, méchanceté, crainte, cupidité ou sentiment
d’affection à l’égard de quiconque à même vis à vis de ses proches ou col légionnaires.
‫الترجمة القضائية تحويل تعبير قانوني كتابي أو شفوي من لغة خاصة به إلى أخرى بواسطة اللسان والقلـــم‬
‫أو اآللة أو باإلشــــارة وشرح المعنى الق انوني ب التفكير والقي اس وتركيب ه ف ي أس لوب واض ـح ومت وازن م ع الحف اظ بق ـدر‬
.‫اإلمكان على عبقرية البالغة لكلتا اللغتين‬
‫م ن حي ث اللف ظ والتراكي ب وحس ن اختي ار المص طلح المناس ب فيم ا يخ ص ال نص الق انوني والفقھ ي واإلداري مواكب ة م ع‬
‫مستوى اللغة المترجم منھا وإليھا من حيث الفكرة والمعنى في إنشاء وانتقاء المفردات وخاصة حرفية االلتزام بالترجمة مع‬
‫التمكين دون الخروج عن شكل أو معنى أصل الموضوع‬
‫ف ي ص لب مض مونه وخاص ة فيم ا يتعل ق ب العقود المس ماة والنص وص التش ريعية والقانوني ة والمراس يم واألحك ام واألوام ر‬
.‫والقرارات والمقررات والمذكرات والمناشير والتعليمات‬
‫دون االبتعاد أو الخروج عن شكل صلب موضوع مصدر النص بال زيادة وال نقص ان و ال إس راف لفض ي أو بي اني تص ويري‬
‫ ألن الترجم ة القانوني ة غي ر قابل ة التوس يع أو اإلب داع البالغ ي كم ا ھ و الح ال‬, ‫كان أم خيالي وال افتراضي أو احتمالي حتى‬
.‫بالنسبة للترجمة األدبية‬
‫السيما أن للغة العربية إمكانيات ھائلة توفر القدرة وبدون عجز وال افتقار لغوي على صناعة الترجمة القانونية بحــيث تفي‬
.‫بالمقصود و بدقة في أي مجال من مجاالت الفقه القانوني‬
‫وما مقولة لسان حالھا شاعر النيل حافظ إبراھيم إال دليل ش اھد عل ى ذل ك وھ ي تعات ب م ـن رماھ ا خط أ أو تج اھال ب العقم‬
.‫والعجز‬
‫" رموني بعقم في الشباب وليتــني عقمت فلم أجزع لقول عـدا تـي‬
‫" ولدت ولما لم أجد لعـرائســــــي رجاال وأكفاء وأدت بناتــــــــــي‬

‫" وسعت كتاب ﷲ لفضا وغايـــــة وما خفت عن أي به وعضــــا ت‬
‫" فكيف أضيق اليوم عن وصف آلــة وتنسيق أسماء المـخترعـــا ت‬
...‫" أنا البحر في أحشائه الدر كامـــــن فھــل سألوا الغواص عن صـدفاتي‬
Quoique la poésie arabe, parfois, ne se laisse pas traduire et n’admet pas que ’l’on touche à sa beauté
sublime, mais en la caressant de quelques rimes de belles lettres françaises, que j’ai combiné pour
l’occasion, elle a finie par accepter cette modeste traduction, a peu près équivalente:
«Ils m’ont dit inféconde dans ma tendre jeunesse.

«Si mes ennemis disaient vrai, je me tairais sans cesse.
«Ils ont enterré mes semences dans une mare de tristesse.
«Quand je n’ai pas trouvé d’hommes hardis dans la caresse
«Pourtant, j’ai infiniment commenté les Saint livres de Sagesse
«Je suis et je le suis encore capable de ces prouesses.
«Quand des gens sans culture voudraient que je régresse.
«Je trouverai le terme juste pour nommer leur machine de paresse
«Je suis l'océan au fond plain de richesses.
«Ont -’ils demandé au marin plongeur, quel beau nom.
«J’ai donné aux belles perles qu’il pêche?
«Dans mon vocable riche, il trouvera sans faille ce qu’il cherche.
De par sa souplesse aux moindre détours de la pensée juridique, la langue arabe est au service de la
justice et du justiciable et aux techniques même soumis, parfois aux exigences du temps moderne et
classique et aux doubles idiomes des communautés arabes.
3. Conclusions: les difficultés inhérentes à la traduction juridique

Selon les affirmations de spécialistes en la matière, reprises dans le présent exposé, la traduction
juridique possède des caractéristiques qui la distinguent d’autres formes de traduction. Dans le
domaine scientifique, par exemple, la traduction est favorisée par le fait que la terminologie y est
généralement univoque; elle peut souvent être exprimée à l’aide des symboles qui excluent toute
ambiguïté.
Les symboles chimiques et les formules mathématiques, eux aussi, ont une représentation uni-
verselle, ils ne sont pas affectés par des questions de contexte ou de langue.
Dans le domaine littéraire,par exemple, il n’y a pas d’objection à considérer le traducteur comme
étant un second créateur qui puise son inspiration de l’original et en fait une nouvelle œuvre dans
laquelle il tente, au moyen d’une forme nouvelle, d’exprimer les mêmes idées.
Cependant, dans le domaine juridique, le rôle du traducteur/interprète ne saurait être perçu ainsi. Le
langage juridique est l’une des langues de spécialité les plus complexes. Sa traduction est par
conséquent complexe elle aussi. La langue est le véhicule d’expression du droit.
Ce véhicule d’expression est soumis à un grand nombre de règles sur les plans stylistique, synta-
xique, sémantique et lexical. Ces règles sont fixées au sommet de la hiérarchie du système juridique,
soit par le législateur. Il en résulte une langue dotée d’un caractère particulier que tous les usagers du
domaine se doivent de respecter. En se dotant d’une langue particulière, le droit cherche à donner à la
norme l’efficacité et la nature impérative nécessaires pour organiser la vie en société. La
terminologie du droit est vaste et provient de sources variées.
Bon nombre de termes proviennent de la langue courante, mais sont dotés d’une signification
particulière, alors que d’autres n’existent qu’à l’intérieur du cadre juridique. D’autres termes sont
empruntés à d’autres langues ou en sont l’héritage, en particulier le latin et le grec. Par ailleurs, la
signification des termes est souvent fixée selon un contexte particulier, le terme législateur désigne
l’autorité collective qui a le pouvoir de faire les lois. Dans les démocraties, le législateur est
généralement un parlementaire élu. Définition fournie par Michel Sparer, un cas particulier, ce qui
fait de la langue juridique l’une des langues les plus polysémiques.
En ce qui a trait à la stylistique, la langue du droit peut organiser les composantes de son discours de
façon à ce qu’on reconnaisse facilement qu’il s’agit d’un texte juridique. En français, par exemple, la
langue du droit se distingue d’autres langues de spécialité par la façon d’agencer les composantes de
son discours. Le verbe placé en début de phrase et es longues énumérations, par exemple, sont
propres au discours juridique.
La langue du droit est une langue redondante. Par souci de clarté, le rédacteur de textes juridiques
recourt souvent à la répétition des sujets ou des objets. Elle se distingue également par son ton
solennel qui évite toute tournure familière. Voilà un autre procédé de style qui contribue à renforcer
le caractère impératif de la norme et à faire en sorte qu’elle soit respectée.
La traduction juridique doit tenir compte des éléments qui constituent le tissu du droit. À l’instar
d’un véritable tissu, le droit est composé d’éléments ayant des effets les uns sur les autres: le droit est
un phénomène social véhiculé par une langue qui est, elle aussi, un phénomène social; le droit dicte
la norme à l’aide d’une langue qui a été au préalable soumise à des normes que le droit a lui-même
établies. Par ailleurs, le droit étant un phénomène social, traduire un texte de loi signifie transposer
un produit dans une autre culture. Ce sont là des caractéristiques faisant de la traduction juridique
une opération aux difficultés multiples.
Le jurilinguiste Jean-Claude Gémar, dont les études constituent le cadre théorique de base de sa
recherche, établit une typologie des problèmes inhérents à la traduction juridique. Gémar considère
que les problèmes fondamentaux de la traduction juridique découlent des facteurs suivants:
• le caractère normatif ou contraignant du texte juridique, qui laisse une marge de manœuvre très étroite
au traducteur quant au choix des ressources linguistiques existantes (le traducteur doit savoir
distinguer ce qui constitue une servitude juridique qu'il doit respecter de ce qu'il peut utiliser
librement);
• le discours (ou langage) du droit, son jargon, ses techniques, ses mécanismes, ses institutions et ses
notions, et les autres phénomènes propres à ce domaine; le fondement terminologique du droit qui est
aussi vaste que flottant; la diversité sociopolitique des systèmes juridiques; la variété et la diversité
des systèmes juridiques en présence;
• les éléments conditionnant le problème de la documentation;
• le domaine du droit qui se caractérise par la grande abondance de termes polysémiques qui sont
difficiles à transposer en raison des conditions socioculturelles et socio-économiques des sociétés;la
nécessité de suivre une approche pluridisciplinaire du droit;
• le traducteur juridique doit avoir reçu une double formation (juridique et linguistique).
• La traduction dans ce domaine exige également des connaissances en

• économie, en sociologie, en histoire,voire en philosophie;
• le droit commercial, par exemple, exige des notions de fiscalité,
• le droit musulman exige des notions de la charià qui elle est inspirée du Saint Coran.
Les locutions latines souvent insérées dans des décisions judiciaires, plus particulièrement en matière
civile, "ab intestat",-"ad hoc",-"ultra petita", "appel a minima", -"appel a maxima", etc. qui n'ont pas
leur équivalence dans la langue du palais ni ne peuvent être traduites très exactement en français.
Voir d'autres formes de styles telles que
compulsoire forclusion réintègrande

confessoire homologuer révocatoire
conservatoire huis clos rogatoire
contractuel instrumentaire subrogation
contumax licitation supplétoire
débouter litispendance soult
décisoire main levée subsidiaire
déclinatoire paritaire surenchère
défendeur pétitoire suspensif
défenderesse possessoire synallagmatique
dol pourvoi tierce
éviction préjudiciel opposition
exécutoire pro-tuteur tuteur datif
extrajudiciaire récollement tuteur testamentaire
forclos reconventionnel etc.
Bon nombre de théoriciens définissent la traduction par l’équivalence, c’est-à-dire qu’ils perçoivent
la traduction comme le processus par lequel le traducteur recherche dans la langue d’arrivée des
éléments équivalents à ceux de la langue de départ. La notion d’équivalence a donné naissance à des
théories qui vont de l’intraduisibilité à la perception du texte traduit comme un texte qui peut avoir
une fonction différente de celle de l’original, en passant par les approches prescriptives et
hermétiques. En raison des caractéristiques propres aux différents systèmes de droit, aux langues qui
véhiculent les droits et aux traits culturels de chaque système de droit, la notion d’équivalence en
traduction juridique acquiert une signification toute particulière.
Loin de nous la prétention qu'il n'est pas une critique qui pourra prendre base dans notre exposé nous
nous accusons d'avance de notre insuffisance. Mais en ceci nous faisons appel à l'indulgence des
compétents, tout en espérant fermement qu'elle tiendra compte de la loyauté de notre geste.
ÜBERSETZUNGS- UND BEDEUTUNGSRELEVANTE DEUTSCH-

POLNISCHE UNTERSCHIEDE IN DER
GESCHÄFTSBRIEFKOMMUNIKATION VOR DEM HINTERGRUND
DER DEUTSCHEN UND POLNISCHEN „KULTURSTANDARDS“
Iwona Szwed
Uniwersytet Rzeszowski (Universität Rzeszów/Polen)
Instytut Filologii Germańskiej
Abstract: This paper discusses the current German and Polish cultural standards (“Kulturstan-
dards”) in business, as well as the problem of resulting similarities both real and apparent, and
the differences in the expression of intentions between Polish and German business letters.
1. Die kontrastive deutsch-polnische Perspektive des Ansatzes

Die Wahl des Themas kann mit dem folgenden Zitat begründet werden:
„Sensibilisierung für kulturspezifische Wahrnehmung, Bedeutungszuweisung und kulturspezifische

Kommunikationsstrategien ist ein integraler Bestandteil der kommunikativen Kompetenz“.
(Berdychowska 2005)
Eine solche kommunikative interkulturelle Kompetenz ist ein unabdingbarer Faktor, der zum Erfolg
eines Dolmetschers/ Übersetzers beiträgt. Das Wissen, wer wem was wann wie mit welcher Wirkung
und mit welchen Folgen sagen kann, ist kulturspezifisch (Berdychowska 2005: 293) und alle, die im
interkulturellen Bereich tätig sind, darunter auch Dolmetscher und Übersetzer, sollen auf kultur-
spezifische kommunikative Unterschiede aufmerksam gemacht werden. Dabei muss beachtet
werden, dass im Mittelpunkt der bisher geleisteten textlinguistischen Untersuchungen hauptsächlich
Texte aus nicht benachbarten Kulturen standen, weil man sich davon besser erkennbare und deut-
lichere Ergebnisse versprach. So erweckten beispielsweise deutsch-koreanische kontrastive Studien
(vgl. Seo Min-Soon, 20031), die auf gravierende kulturelle Unterschiede hindeuten, das Interesse der
Linguistik.
Die soziokulturellen Gegebenheiten in benachbarten Gemeinschaften sind dahingegen eher selten

Gegenstand von Untersuchungen. Dies ist wohl auf die Tatsache zurückzuführen, dass unter den
Bedingungen einer relativen Kulturnähe Differenzen oft verdeckt sind. Die kulturelle Differenz wird
oftmals erst durch einen ungewöhnlichen Kontext der Verwendung oder aber durch eine nicht erwar-
tungskonforme Reaktion des Rezipienten signalisiert. Das Ziel des vorliegenden Beitrags liegt u.a.
darin, Kommunikationspartner im interkulturellen deutsch-polnischen wirtschaftlichen Kontakt für
die nicht beim ersten Blick auffallenden, aber doch vorhandenen kulturbedingten Unterschiede in der
Kommunikation zu sensibilisieren.
Die Bewertung bzw. Einstufung des kulturspezifischen Verhaltens ist immer von der eingenom-
menen Perspektive und von der jeweiligen Bezugsgröße abhängig. So wird beispielsweise den deut-
schen Textautoren oft zugeschrieben, dass sie sich ziemlich direkt äußern. Das war aber das Ergebnis
von beispielsweise deutsch-koreanischen oder deutsch-schwedischen kontrastiven linguistischen
Studien, die gezeigt haben, dass die Äußerungen von deutschen Textautoren im Vergleich zu den
von koreanischen oder schwedischen einen sehr direkten Eindruck machten2. Wenn wir aber die
1
Seo Min-Soon (2003) hat in seiner Studie u.a. die Indirektheit des Ausdrucks thematisiert, es ging aber dabei
um allgemeine Probleme der interkulturellen Kommunikation (wie Missverständnisse) und um deutsch-korea-
nischen Vergleich von argumentativen Gesprächen im Durchlauf von einzelnen Stadien dieser Gespräche.
2
Vgl. Seo Min-Soon (2003) und Breckle (2003).
184 IWONA SZWED
Deutschen mit den Amerikanern vergleichen würden, würden wir wahrscheinlich feststellen, dass
sich gerade die Amerikaner sehr direkt äußern.
Im Folgenden soll gezeigt werden, wie es sich in der Korrespondenz im deutsch-polnischen Ver-
gleich verhält.
2. Deutsche und polnische „Kulturstandards“ und ihre Auswirkungen auf das Verhalten
im Geschäftsleben
Die kommunikativen Möglichkeiten im Ausdruck von Intentionen in polnischen und deutschen
Geschäftsbriefen werden von den allgemeinen „Kulturstandards“ stark beeinflusst. Hier werden
einige Prinzipien des Verhaltens (hauptsächlich im wirtschaftlichen Bereich) von Deutschen und
Polen in Anlehnung an die Studie von Schroll-Machl/Wiskoski 1999 gezeigt.
Bei der Darstellung von unterschiedlichen Kulturstandards ist man immer der Gefahr ausgesetzt, den
Verallgemeinerungen und Stereotypisierung nicht ausweichen zu können. Einerseits bin ich mir
dieser Tatsache bewusst, andererseits aber kann eine solche Darstellung das bessere Verstehen von
Unterschieden im Ausdruck von Intentionen in der polnischen und deutschen Geschäftskorres-
pondenz ermöglichen. Dabei haben meine Erfahrungen als Dolmetscherin und Übersetzerin im
polnisch-deutschen wirtschaftlichen Bereich viele der Thesen von Schroll-Machl/Wiskoski (1999)
bestätigt. Auf Abweichungen, die sich aus meinen Erfahrungen ergeben, wird im Folgenden ebenso
eingegangen.
2.1 Arbeitsprinzipien
Zuerst wird ein für die Wirtschaft besonders wichtiger Bereich näher gebracht – nämlich die Ar-
beitsprinzipien. In diesem Bereich wird den Deutschen zugeschrieben, dass sie die Ungewissheit,
Unklarheit und Unbestimmtheit nur schwer ertragen. Damit hängen die Organisationsliebe und
starke Detailorientierung auf der deutschen Seite zusammen. Daher kann die Improvisation auf der
polnischen Seite als störend empfunden werden. Das aktive und weit vorausschauende Planen
ermöglicht nämlich in Deutschland ein möglichst störungsfreies Handeln.
Es muss dabei jedoch angemerkt werden, dass sich die skizzierten Einstellungen mit der Zeit (und
mit der internationalen Zusammenarbeit) ändern. Besonders auffallend werden solche Änderungen in
den in Polen tätigen Konzernorganisationen, wo man durch zahlreiche Schulungen auch an Organisa-
tionsliebe und langfristige Planung gewöhnt wird.
Die Kulturstandards ändern sich aber nicht schnell, auch wenn die gezeigten Daten von vor über
zehn Jahren stammen, so gab es in dieser Zeit keine so gravierenden Änderungen, dass man in Polen
von völlig geänderten Wertvorstellungen sprechen könnte. Und die Wertvorstellungen sind eben so,
dass es in Polen hoch angesehen wird, wenn Menschen selbständig handeln, Initiative zeigen und
möglichst autonom arbeiten. Anpassungsfähigkeit, Flexibilität, Kreativität und Improvisationstalent
werden geschätzt, weil sie es erlauben, mit neuen unerwarteten, manchmal schwierigen Situationen
zurecht zu kommen. Während dessen werden in Deutschland als kompetente Mitarbeiter diejenigen
geschätzt, die genau planen sowie Pünktlichkeit und Sorgfalt bei der Ausführung von Aufgaben
zeigen. Das erlaubt ihnen nämlich, böse Überraschungen und Pannen zu vermeiden.
2.2 Zeitgefühl
Weitere Unterschiede beziehen sich auf das Zeitgefühl. In diesem Bereich wird Deutschen das
monochrone Zeitgefühl, und Polen das polychrone Zeitgefühl zugeschrieben. Was bedeutet das
polychrone Zeitgefühl bei Polen? Es heißt, sie können mehrere Dinge parallel erledigen und mehrere
Vorgänge gleichzeitig bearbeiten. Das kann von Deutschen als unseriös empfunden werden.
Das polychrone Angehen an die gestellten Aufgaben spiegelt sich bei Polen auch in der Kom-
munikation wider. Es geht hier um die sog. Polychronie des Sprechens, wenn man seine Worte mit
viel Mimik und Gestik, Kopfschütteln und Augenkontakt unterstützt, wodurch eine engagierte
Unterhaltung geschaffen wird.
2.3 Erfüllung von Aufgaben

Der nächste Bereich hängt mit der Art und Weise zusammen, die gestellten Aufgaben zu erfüllen.
Hier sind Zielorientierung, Sachorientierung und Aufgabenbezug für Deutsche charakteristisch,
während sich Polen durch gestreute Aufmerksamkeit und starken Personenbezug auszeichnen.
Mit der Zielorientierung hängt auf der deutschen Seite oft das strenge Verfolgen der Tagesordnung
zusammen, man ist also darauf konzentriert, vom eigentlichen Thema nicht abzukommen. Die Sach-
orientierung verbindet sich mit ruhigem und sachbezogenem Verhalten, das gerade im Berufsleben
als professionell geschätzt wird.
Manchmal wird aber solche streng sachbezogene, eindeutige Sprechweise als zu direkt angesehen.
Auch in der Geschäftskorrespondenz werden meistens sachbezogene Faktoren aus der objektiven
Realität für beispielsweise Begründungen herangezogen, worauf ich später noch im Kapitel (3.3)
kurz eingehen möchte3.
Die gestreute Aufmerksamkeit hängt bei Polen mit dem polychronen Zeitgefühl zusammen. Da von
Polen oft mehrere Handlungen gleichzeitig verfolgt werden, ist ihre Aufmerksamkeit oft dezentriert.
Das heißt, zur Verfolgung ein und desselben Ziels werden mehrere Aktionsketten am Leben erhalten,
wobei je nach Erfordernissen der jeweiligen Situation von einer zu der anderen Aktionskette gewech-
selt wird. Das führt bei Polen zu einer starken Herabsetzung der Störanfälligkeit, wenn sie in einer
Aktionskette unterbrochen werden.
Der Personenbezug kann bei Polen bedeuten, dass man manchmal etwas nur einer anderen Person
zuliebe (und nicht gerade der Aufgabenstellung zuliebe) tut.
2.4 Privates vs. Berufliches

Auch das Angehen an die private und berufliche Sphäre und deren Trennung weist deutliche Un-
terschiede zwischen Polen und Deutschen auf. Während für Deutsche Trennung von beiden Le-
bensbereichen und Distanz zum Kommunikationspartner charakteristisch sind, zeichnet sich die
polnische Verhaltensweise durch eine Vernetzung des Privatem mit dem Beruflichen sowie durch
eine Vermischung von formellen und informellen Strukturen aus.
In Deutschland wird man nur ausnahmsweise als Geschäftspartner nach Hause eingeladen, was in
Polen noch vor ein paar Jahren häufiger der Fall war. Dieser Faktor unterlag jedoch in Polen in der
letzten Zeit Änderungen; die Trennung zwischen der beruflichen und der privaten Sphäre wird
immer strenger beachtet. Trotzdem wird man in Polen immer noch häufiger als in Deutschland als
Berufskollege von Privatangelegenheiten informiert.
Mit der Distanzhaltung zum Geschäftspartner verbindet sich beispielsweise in der deutschen
Korrespondenz die Anwendung der eigentlich schon bedeutungsleeren Floskel „Mit freundlichen
Grüssen“, die bei ganz offiziell und ziemlich direkt geschriebenen Mahnungen für Polen über-
raschend klingen kann. In den polnischen Briefen hält man sich in solchen Fällen an eine Formu-
3
Währendessen bedient man sich in der polnischen Korrespondenz häufiger der subjektiv geprägten Argu-
mente.
186 IWONA SZWED
lierung, die als „Hochachtungsvoll“ übertragen werden kann (was man aber unter dem situa-
tionsbedingten Aspekt etwas anders als in den deutschen Briefen verstehen wird – nämlich weniger
offiziell) und wohl weniger kohärenzverletzend ist.
Am Rande sei nur kurz bemerkt, dass ich in meinen Untersuchungen zum Schluss gekommen bin,
die deutschen Briefe bleiben trotz solcher bedeutungsleeren Floskeln kohärent, weil solche
Ausdrucksweise als kulturimmanent bezeichnet werden kann und von Kommunikationsteilnehmer
nicht als störend empfunden wird.
2.5 Grundsätze der Zusammenarbeit – Teamgeist vs. Individualität

Die obige Gegenüberstellung stellt immer noch einen ziemlich großen Unterschied in den deutsch-
polnischen Geschäftskontakten dar. Was in Deutschland zählt, ist das Zusammenarbeiten mit an-
deren, Einbezogenwerden in Entscheidungen (an die man sich dann auch streng hält), Teamsitzungen
und Besprechungen, sowie partizipativer Führungsstil. Die Vorliebe zum gemeinsamen Ausarbeiten
von Entscheidungen spiegelt sich auch auf der sprachlichen Ebene wider, u.a. durch eine Vielzahl
von Bezeichnungen für eine Zusammenkunft der Mitarbeiter verbunden mit der Klärung von
bestimmten Fragen, wie: Besprechung, Arbeitstreffen, Teamsitzung, Meeting, Beratung, Verhandlung,
Interview, Anhörung, Rücksprache, Meinungsaustausch, Gedankenaustausch, Auseinandersetzung,
Unterredung, Befragung, Debatte, Diskussion, Streitgespräch, Absprache, Gespräch, Termin,
Verabredung, Tagung, Konferenz, Versammlung, Vollversammlung, Hauptversammlung. Wer seine
Fähigkeit verbessern will, die Besprechungen abzuhalten, der kann sich immer auf Ratgeber zu einer
effektiven Planung und Durchführung von Besprechungen verlassen, die nicht nur in den Buchhand-
lungen in Buchform sondern auch auf den deutschen Internetseiten stark vertreten sind4.
Mit der Vielzahl von obigen Bezeichnungen und Abgrenzung zwischen ihnen hängen gewisse
Schwierigkeiten bei der Übersetzung von solchen Termini ins Polnische, weil die polnische Sprache
in dieser Hinsicht mehr bescheidene Möglichkeiten der Wiedergabe hat. Zusätzlich werden die
Besprechungen in Polen manchmal sogar spontan einberufen, nicht immer werden sie protokolliert,
und manchmal ziehen sie sich in Länge wegen fehlender Tagesordnung bzw. wegen Nichtbeachtung
der Tagesordnung.
Der Teamgeist findet seine Widerspiegelung auch in der deutschen Geschäftskorrespondenz, in der
man sich bei der Motivierung des Partners oft auf die Prinzipien der guten (bisherigen bzw. künf-
tigen) Zusammenarbeit beruft.
Für viele Polen ist dagegen Individualität von großer Bedeutung, wovon auch die Motivierung des
Partners in der Geschäftskorrespondenz geprägt ist (s. Beispiele im Kapitel [3.3])
2.6 Selbstbewertung
Während für Deutsche ein hohes Selbstbewusstsein sowie Bereitschaft zur offenen Konflikt-
austragung kennzeichnend sind, zeigen Polen oft etwas niedrigeres Selbstbewusstsein und neigen zur
Konfliktvermeidung. In dieser Hinsicht sind aber innerhalb von den letzten 10 Jahren die Un-
terschiede etwas milder geworden, weil das Selbstbewusstsein von Polen im Kontakt mit aus-
ländischen Partnern steigt, was durch zunehmende Bereitschaft zur offenen Konfliktaustragung
begleitet wird.
4
Vgl. z.B.: http://www.arbeitsratgeber.com/besprechung_0040.html; Eismann (2006); Lencioni (2009); Mandl/-
Hauser/Mandl (2008).
3. Kulturbedingte Gestaltung der polnischen und der deutschen Geschäftskorrespondenz

Die oben dargestellten Unterschiede im Verhalten zwischen Polen und Deutschen wirken sich auf die
wirtschaftsrelevanten Kommunikationsmuster in beiden Sprachen aus. Daher wird hier auf den
Ausdruck von Intentionen in der deutschen und der polnischen Geschäftskorrespondenz näher
eingegangen.
Das Untersuchungskorpus, das die Grundlage für nachfolgende Schlussfolgerungen darstellt, setzt
sich aus insgesamt 100, d.h. je 50 polnischen und deutschen Geschäftsbriefen zusammen, die insge-
samt 58 unterschiedlichen polnischen und deutschen Firmen entstammen. Die Entstehungsjahre der
meisten Briefe liegen zwischen 2000 und 2004, unter den Sendern sind hauptsächlich Handelsun-
ternehmen, Bauunternehmen und Fertigungswerke, vereinzelt auch noch Dienstleistungsunterneh-
men, eine Bank und eine Versicherungsgesellschaft zu finden. Die Durchschnittslänge der Briefe
beträgt eine DIN-A4 Seite.
3.1 Geschäftsbrief als Kommunikationsmittel

Unter dem Geschäftsbrief wird hier eine konventionalisierte, auf Grund des Textmusterwissens der
Sprecher einer menschlichen Gemeinschaft erkennbare Brieftextsorte an sich verstanden5, die nicht
mit Hilfe eines vorab angenommenen Merkmalbündels beschrieben, sondern auf mehreren Ebenen
analysiert wird.6
Als Kommunikationsmittel zeichnet sich der Geschäftsbrief durch seine Mediumfunktion, die
bedeutet, dass das Erreichen der vielfältigen Ziele im Wirtschaftsleben ohne Geschäftsbriefe gar
nicht möglich wäre. Im Geschäftsbrief haben wir es mit dialogischer Kommunikation mit Mög-
lichkeit des Richtungswechsels zu tun. Des Weiteren ist für die Geschäftsbriefe ein starkes Zusam-
menwirken mit der praktisch-gegenständlichen Tätigkeit charakteristisch sowie die Gebundenheit an
offizielle Kontakte in der Gesellschaft.
Die steuernde Funktion ist als die dominierende Funktion im Geschäftsbrief aufzufassen. Es handelt
sich dabei um die Handlungssteuerung des Briefempfängers durch den Briefsender, die u.a. durch
einen entsprechenden Ausdruck der Intention vom Sender und deren angemessene Verständnis vom
Empfänger zu Stande kommt. Daher scheint die Analyse des Intentionsausdrucks in Geschäftsbriefen
von großem Interesse zu sein. Im Falle des vorliegenden Beitrags wurde eine solche Analyse mit den
in der Sprechakttheorie wurzelnden Methoden der Illokutionsstrukturanalyse durchgeführt, die in der
Textlinguistik zwar kritisiert wurden7, die Kritik bezog sich aber hauptsächlich auf deren Anwen-
dung bei der Analyse von literarischen Texten. Dank der Konzentriertheit der Illokutions-
strukturanalyse auf den dialogischen Sprachgebrauch sowie der modellhaft ausgearbeiteten
Zielkomponente sind die Methoden der ISA für die Analyse von dialogischen Texten mit klar
durchdachter Senderstrategie wie Geschäftsbriefe, die als Mittel der alltäglichen Kommunikation im
Beruf fungieren, gut geeignet.
3.2 Zum Illokutionsbegriff

Unter Illokution werden hier in Anlehnung an Wagner (2001: 90) „kodierte Intentionen“ verstanden,
was bedeutet, dass Illokutionen als konventionalisierte sprachliche Mittel zur Verwirklichung von
5
Zur Definition und textlinguistischen Zuordnung des Geschäftsbriefes vgl. auch Szwed (2010).
6
Zum Mehrebenen-Modell der Beschreibung und Zuordnung von einzelnen Textsorten vgl. z.B. Heine-
mann/Viehweger (1991) oder Heinemann/Heinemann (2002).
7
Zur Kritik der Illokutionsstrukturanalyse vgl. z.B. die Bemerkungen in Heinemann/ Heinemann (2002: 86)
über die „Atomisierung“ von Textganzheiten in der illokutiven Textauffassung oder die Ausführungen in
Brinker (2000: 172) zu Abgrenzungs- und Klassifikationsproblemen bei Texten, die in Einzelillokutionen auf-
gelöst wurden.
188 IWONA SZWED
Sprecherintentionen aufzufassen sind. In die Analyse wurden vor allem direktive Illokutionstypen
wie Bitten und Aufforderungen mit einbezogen.
3.3 Ausdruck von Intentionen in der Geschäftskorrespondenz – Auswertung der Analyse

Im Allgemeinen kann in Folge der Analyse festgestellt werden, dass die Direktheit des Ausdrucks
sowohl in den polnischen als auch in den deutschen Geschäftsbriefen eher zu Ausnahmen gerechnet
werden soll. Dabei ist der Anteil von implizit ausgedrückten Intentionen in Aufforderungen in beiden
Sprachen auffallend hoch.
Die Folge des impliziten Ausdrucks von bestimmten Illokutionen für die sprachliche Kommuni-
kation ist die entscheidende Rolle der kontextuellen Indikatoren für die Deutung der dominierenden
Illokution (darunter v.a. der situationsbedingten und konventionellen Faktoren) sowie die
abstützende und „erklärende“ Rolle der subsidiären Illokutionen.
Die Unterschiede zwischen der polnischen und der deutschen Geschäftskorrespondenz können
hauptsächlich im Einsatz von unterschiedlichen Mitteln zur Abstützung der dominierenden Illokution
in Aufforderungen und Bitten festgestellt werden. So bedient man sich in der polnischen Korres-
pondenz bei der Begründung mehr subjektiv geprägter Argumente, wie Verweis auf eigene bishe-
rige/künftige (meistens positive) Handlungen des Textverfassers. Als Beispiel kann hier der folgende
Satz aus dem polnischsprachigen Korpus angeführt werden:
„Dokonaliśmy na Państwa prośbę pilnych wysyłek z pominięciem oczekiwania na przedpłatę.

/Wir sind Ihrer Bitte gefolgt, indem wir den Versand mehrmals dringend vorgenommen haben, ohne auf
die Vorauszahlung gewartet zu haben“./8
Begründet wird auch in der polnischen Geschäftskorrespondenz mit Verweis auf Pflichten des
Geschäftspartners, auf Pläne des Textverfassers bzw. auf die eigenen Meinungen und Gefühle des
Textverfassers bzw. seine Schwierigkeiten. Überraschend wirkt in der polnischen Geschäfts-
korrespondenz die Begründung der dominierenden Illokution mit einem Vorwurf an den Empfänger,
die zwar selten anzutreffen ist, jedoch viel häufiger als in der deutschen Korrespondenz.
Für die Begründungen werden hingegen in den deutschen Briefen mehr objektive Faktoren he-
rangezogen, z.B. Schilderung der Lage oder Verweis auf ein Dokument, wie im unten angeführten
Beispiel aus dem deutschsprachigen Korpus:
„…als Anlage zu diesem Schreiben übersenden wir Ihnen unsere oben genannten Nachforderungs-
rechnungen von heute nebst den dazugehörigen Statistiken zu Reparaturen, welche über das vereinbarte
Ausfalllimit hinaus durchgeführt werden mussten.
Wir bitten um Prüfung und möglichst baldigen Ausgleich (…)“
Zur Abstützung der dominierenden Illokution dienen bei Motivierung, gemäß den Analyseergeb-
nissen, in den polnischen Briefen mehr subjektiv gefärbte Motivationsargumente, während in den
deutschen Geschäftsbriefen in analogen Situationen hoher Wert auf „Teamgeist“ und mögliche
Alternativlösungen sowie Bereitschaft des Briefverfassers zum Mitwirken gelegt wird.
4. Implikationen für Übersetzer

Im obigen Beitrag wurde auf Unterschiede in der Geschäftskommunikation zwischen der polnischen
und der deutschen Sprache hingewiesen, die zu Störungen in der Kommunikation führen können.
Was resultiert daraus für Übersetzer, die jeden Tag mit solchen Unterschieden konfrontiert werden?
8
Die Übersetzungen der angeführten Beispiele aus dem Polnischen ins Deutsche entstammen der Autorin des
Beitrags.
Sie sind nämlich nicht nur als Sprachmittler sondern in erster Linie als Kulturvermittler zu verstehen.
Daher sollten sie im Stande sein, Sprache als Träger von kulturgebundenen Inhalten zu begreifen und
zu gebrauchen, und somit sie nach fremden Kulturmustern zu verarbeiten. Für solche Aufgabe sind
die Übersetzer besonders zu sensibilisieren.
Die Ausgangskultur und die Zielkultur sind nämlich „die entscheidenden Determinanten eines Texts
und seiner Übersetzung“ (Kussmaul, 2009: 89). So wie der Sender eines Textes in seiner spezifi-
schen sozialen und historischen Situation Teil einer Kultur ist, so ist auch der Empfänger des Textes
in seinem Wissen und seinen Erwartungen von seiner Kultur geprägt, was Auswirkungen sowohl auf
die Verfassung als auch auf das Verstehen des Textes haben kann. Daher muss der Übersetzer oft
dazu fähig sein, sich von der eigenen Kultur abzuheben, um den von ihm zu übersetzenden Text dem
Leser aus einer anderen Kultur unter Anwendung der dem Leser verständlichen sprachlichen Mittel
näher zu bringen.
Literatur
Berdychowska, Z. (2005), „Interkulturalität in der Entwicklung translatorischer Fertigkeiten in der Lehreraus-
und -fortbildung“. In: Grucza, F./ Schwenk, H-J./ Olpińska, M. (Hrsg.): Germanistische Erfahrungen und
Perspektiven der Interkulturalität. Warszawa: Wyd. Euro-Edukacja, 293-300.
Breckle, M. (2003), „Die Deutschen sind direkt – die Schweden sind indirekt? Zur unterschiedlichen
Verwendung von Höflichkeitsstrategien in der deutsch-schwedischen Wirtschaftskommunikation.
Ergebnisse von Interviews“. In: Reuter, E./ Piitulainen, M-L. (Hrsg.): Internationale Wirtschaftskom-
munikation auf Deutsch. Frankfurt/ Main: Peter Lang, 299-319.
Brinker, K (2000), „Textstrukturanalyse“. In: Brinker, K./ Antos, G./ Heinemann, W./ Sager, S. F.: Text- und
Gesprächslinguistik. Berlin/New York: Walter de Gruyter, 164-175.
Eismann, V. (2006), Erfolgreich in Besprechungen. Berlin: Cornelsen.
Heinemann, M./ Heinemann, W. (2002), Grundlagen der Textlinguistik. Interaktion – Text – Diskurs.
Tübingen: Niemeyer.
Heinemann, W./ Viehweger, D. (1991), Textlinguistik. Eine Einführung. Tübingen: Niemeyer.
Kussmaul, P. (2009), Übersetzen – nicht leicht gemacht. Berlin: Saxa Verlag.
Lencioni, P.M. (2009), Tod durch Meeting: Eine Leadership-Fabel zur Verbesserung Ihrer Besprechungs-
kultur. Weinheim: Wiley-VCH Verlag.
Mandl, C./ Hauser, M./ Mandl, H. (2008), Die schöpferische Besprechung: Kunst und Praxis des Dialogs in
Organisationen. Bergisch Gladbach: Edition Humanistische Psychologie – EHP.
Schroll-Machl, S./ Wiskoski, K. (1999), „Typisierte polnisch-deutsche Kulturunterschiede: Welche business-
relevanten Werte, Grundhaltungen und Grundeinstellungen sind zwischen Polen und Deutschen
verschieden?“ In: Rösch, O. (Hrsg.): Interkulturelle Kommunikation mit polnischen Partnern in Wirtschaft
und Wissenschaft. Berlin: News and Media, 55-63.
Seo, Min-Soon (2003), Direkt und indirekt. Analyse des interkulturellen argumentativen Gesprächs zwischen
Deutschen und Koreanern. Frankfurt/ Main: Peter Lang.
Szwed, I. (2010), „Zur Kennzeichnung des Geschäftsbriefes als eine Textsorte“. In: Bilut-Homplewicz, Z./
Mac, A./ Smykała, M./ Szwed, I. (Hrsg.): Text und Stil, Frankfurt/Main: Peter Lang, 233-244.
Wagner, K.R. (2001), Pragmatik der deutschen Sprache. Frankfurt/Main: Peter Lang.
190
191
Section V:
Literary Translation
192
VOICE(S) IN A TRANSLATED LITERARY TEXT

Isabel Fernandes Silva
Department of Modern Languages and Translation
Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa, Portugal
Abstract: Considering that translating a text encompasses more than translating its words, this
paper aims to describe and analyse the steps, difficulties and strategies used to translate/re-
create a literary text from English into Portuguese in an academic context, using a collabora-
tive technique and focusing on the communicative and functional aspect of translation.
The two editions of the Specialization Course in Literary Translation at Universidade Autóno-
ma de Lisboa focused on translating/re-writing “In My Sister’s Shoes and From Here to Mater-
nity” by Irish writer Sinéad Moriarty. These were real context projects, as the students’ trans-
lations would be published. Therefore, emphasis was given to the function the text would fulfil
on the intended audience, the cultural scripts with which the audience would identify, besides
the interplay between theoretical approaches and practical aspects of translation.
The feminist approach to translation was one of the theoretical approaches used, as the groups
included only women students and teachers and the target audience were women in their late
twenties, early thirties. Furthermore, a collaborative process of translation and revision was
chosen, since the constant negotiation it required ensured that each translator’s individual
voice was not imposed on the target text.
1. Introduction
Translating a text encompasses much more than translating its words; it entails interpreting and com-
municating it in another language/culture. This process implies accounting for the context in which
the translation takes place, as well as the place the source and the target texts hold within the literary
scene of the two cultures.
Thus, this paper aims to describe and analyse the steps, difficulties and strategies used to translate/
re-create a contemporary literary text from English into Portuguese in an academic context, using a
collaborative technique and focusing on the communicative and functional aspect of translation.
After a brief introduction on the theoretical approach(es) and translation/revision/negotiation pro-

cesses used, there will follow a description of the course, its organisation, objectives and metho-
dology, as well as an analysis of the difficulties faced and the chosen strategies to overcome them,
with examples taken from the translation of the novels In My Sister’s Shoes (IMSS) and From Here to
Maternity (FHTM), by Sinéad Moriarty.
2. Feminist and post-colonial theories on translation

At the core of both feminist and post-colonial theories on translation are power relations between the
two texts. A writer does not just write in a vacuum: he or she is the product of a particular culture, of
a particular moment in time, and the writing reflects factors such as race, gender, age, class, and
birthplace as well as the stylistic, idiosyncratic features of the individual (Bassnett and Lefevere,
1998:136). Thus, the translation of a text reflects not only the writer’s circumstances but also the
translator’s circumstances.
From a feminist perspective, translation has perpetuated a vision of the world that is solely masculine
and which has, therefore, excluded women. Gender studies do not defend that gender makes women
more competent translators but that, considering a text reveals social, cultural and sexual differences
in terms of language, attention should be drawn to how these differences can be transferred to other
languages. While, on the one hand, feminist theories have posited gender as a unifying principle that
connects all women in a common experience of oppression, the experience of translation has
194 ISABEL FERNANDES SILVA
revealed the great diversities of culture and politics which separate women from each other (von
Flotow, 1997: 86).
As the groups involved in these two translation courses/tasks included only women, students and
teachers, the source text had been written by a woman, and the target audience were women, the
feminist approach to translation was a perspective to be taken into account considering its author-
centeredness and its view of the translator as a re-producer of texts. Hence, a collaborative process of
translation and revision was chosen, as the constant negotiation it required ensured that each trans-
lator’s individual voice was not imposed on the target text.
From a post-colonial point of view, the role of translation in the colonization process (Munday, 2001:
134) has been of extreme importance as it portrays a certain image of the colonized and perpetuates
the colonizer’s point of view. The relevance of this theoretical approach is made evident by the fact
that Anglo-American culture has a prevailing role in Portugal. In fact, though the English people
have been our political allies for many centuries, culturally, we have had a stronger link with France
until the last decades of the 20th century. However, nowadays, as everywhere else in the world, the
influence of Anglo-American culture and of the English language is unavoidable and overwhelming.
3. The texts
Therefore, the language of our source texts is that of a powerful culture, one we Portuguese view as
dominant, one which represents an image we feel we know from television and cinema. And though
the writer is Irish, i.e., neither American nor British, she belongs to what we perceive as the Anglo-
American world. From a post-colonial perspective, English may be viewed as the colonizer and
Portugal and the Portuguese language the colonized. This influence is felt in the number of words of
English origin that are common in Portuguese everyday speech and further made visible in many
idioms whose direct translation into Portuguese are idioms as well.
However, there are themes and perspectives in terms of habits, living conditions, and the role of
women in society, to mention a few, which are very different in Portugal from what is portrayed in
the novels. In fact, in both these books, a woman’s most important role is that of a mother and to
have a job is secondary and optional, whereas in Portugal most women need to have a job and juggle
work and family on a daily basis. Men’s role in the novels is also clearly defined as the provider, and
in Portugal, it is more usual for both men and women to contribute financially for the family’s
income.
In IMSS and FHTM, the themes and the register used are markedly feminine, as the titles indicate.
Since translators are responsible for the meaning conveyed, it seemed relevant that the life expe-
rience portrayed in the book be translated taking into consideration the life experience of target read-
ers (Portuguese women in their late twenties, early thirties) and, thus, the life experience of the trans-
lators (Portuguese women as well).
The two editions of the Specialization Course in Literary Translation at Universidade Autónoma de
Lisboa focused on translating/re-writing the already mentioned novels, which would later be pub-
lished. As a real context project, emphasis was given to the function the text would fulfil on the
intended audience and the cultural scripts with which the audience would identify, as well as to the
interplay between theoretical approaches and practical aspects of translation.
4. The project
This project integrates a practical real-life experience in literary translation within an academic/
learning/teaching environment; the university provides students with the learning-teaching expe-
rience, but, as the course results from a partnership with a translation company and a publishing
company, emphasis is given to the practical aspects of a translation project. In this work context, the
publishing company proposed the texts, bought the translation and publishing rights and ultimately
decided on the title1 and the dates the books would be released. As in a professional translation pro-
ject (though this is more common in technical than in literary translation), the book would be divided
among several individual translators and final revision and editing would focus on providing textual
cohesion.
The first course took place in 2008 and was attended by eight students, all women, of different age
groups, some with experience in translation and others with no experience at all; the second course
took place in 2009 and the class included six students, all women as well and with different levels of
experience in translation. The publishing company, Mercado de Letras, is owned by a woman, the
target readership was women and the themes of the books included career, marriage, children, love,
and family matters, all commonly related to the feminine realm. The teachers and revisers/ editors
were also women: the manager and owner of the translation company and also a translator, and
myself, a university professor of translation. Finally, the methodology used in the course focused on
a collaborative technique, group and pair work, peer-revision and sharing of experience.
The course was organised so as to include only five classroom meetings and be mainly followed by
means of Internet connection and the use of the university’s elearning platform. The two initial
sessions were dedicated to practical aspects of translation, as well as translation and revision tech-
niques. These were followed by a month of translation and revision/editing of about half of the book
divided among pairs of students. Each student had to translate around twenty pages and then send her
translation to the other member of the pair for revision. After introducing the alterations each consid-
ered relevant, the pair would then send their forty pages to another pair for a second revision, after
which they would again introduce the changes they believed necessary – this technique of
negotiation was crucial from the point of view of teachers as exchange of opinion and experience as
well as negotiation were core goals. When this process was complete, there was a plenary session to
discuss what had been done so far in terms of the difficulties encountered, the doubts arisen and the
solutions found. As the students’ complete body of work had been uploaded to the elearning
platform, all those involved knew the different versions of the translations. Besides, a forum had
been created where students exchanged ideas and comments, shared resources, and discussed
translation techniques and strategies.
In the first plenary session one of the issues discussed was punctuation, more specifically, how direct
speech should be punctuated, since there are differences between English and Portuguese. If one
browses through novels translated from English into Portuguese, direct speech punctuation remains,
in many cases, exactly as in English. This has led Portuguese readers (and translators) to view the
English punctuation system as acceptable in terms of translated texts.
5. Examples and discussion

As you may realize from the examples below, the Portuguese punctuation system not only is dif-
ferent but requires more space, leads to a longer novel, implies more expenses in printing and, sub-
sequently, a higher end-price. After some debate, the group decided that they opted for the Portu-
guese punctuation system, but as this was a decision that required the publisher’s agreement, further
negotiation ensued. An email was sent to the publishing company with the proposal, which was
accepted, and the two novels follow Portuguese rules in terms of punctuation system.
1
The groups debated possible titles and sent a list of selected proposals to the publishing company.
Example 1
I decided not to tell her what I thought Nigel needed to toughen him up, and went over to the boys.
“OK, guys, it’s time to go home.” Two little tearstained faces turned towards me. I threw my arms
round the boys and they let me hug them – which was rare as they normally squirmed when I showed
them affection. “Hey, it’s OK, don’t mind Mrs Foley. I think you’re the best boys in Ireland.”
Resolvi não lhe dizer o que pensava que o Nigel precisava para deixar de ser um mariquinhas e dirigi-
me aos miúdos.
- Pronto, meninos, são horas de ir para casa.
Duas carinhas sulcadas de lágrimas voltaram-se para mim. Deixaram que os abraçasse – o que era
muito raro, pois normalmente estrebuchavam quando eu me mostrava carinhosa.
- Pronto! Está tudo bem, não liguem à sra. Foley. Eu acho que vocês são os miúdos mais fixes da
Irlanda.
IMSS, Chapter 21
Example 2
Lucy told her that she would love to be her surrogate big sister and she could call her any time about
anything. Annie hugged her and said she’d never forget today and how Lucy had been so good to her.
When Lucy dropped her back to school, Annie leant over and kissed her. “You’re amazing, Lucy. I’m
so glad Donal met you.” It was Lucy who was in tears as she drove out of the school gates.
A Lucy disse-lhe que adoraria ser a sua irmã emprestada e que ela lhe podia telefonar em qualquer
altura e em qualquer situação. A Annie abraçou-a e disse-lhe que nunca iria esquecer aquele dia e o
quanto a Lucy tinha sido boa para ela. Quando a Lucy a deixou de novo no colégio, a Annie inclinou-se
e beijou-a.
- És incrível, Lucy. Estou muito feliz por o Donal te ter conhecido.
E a Lucy não conteve uma lágrima.
FHTM, Chapter 25
Another issue discussed was the way parents and children address one another. In Portuguese people
may be addressed formally (você) and informally (tu), which has linguistic implications, as the verb
forms vary depending on the choice. Moreover, there are differences in terms of age and social class;
older middle- and upper-middle-class people would address their parents and siblings using “você”
(formal address); younger people in general use “tu” (informal). After some discussion and negotia-
tion, the group decided that the family in the novels would use “tu”2 as both the characters and the
target readership were young adults and, thus, would more easily identify with an informal address.
Example 3
- Olha, pai, acho que não estás em situação de te armares em moralista. Acabei de te apanhar de calças
na mão, em cima da minha professora de ginástica. Há quanto tempo é que isto dura?
IMSS, chapter 16
Example 4
- O quê? – articulou a mãe olhando para mim. – Ela está a brincar? Estás? – de repente fui invadida pela
emoção ao ver lágrimas a brotarem dos olhos da minha mãe.
- Emma… – disse, tentando agarrar-me para me abraçar. - Que surpresa maravilhosa, há quanto tempo
sabes?
(…)
- Mãe, o Yuri será nosso filho em todos os aspectos. Adoramo-lo e não quero ouvir mais nada. Partimos
amanhã para o trazer para casa, por isso, esquece, ok?
FHTM, chapter 1
2
This is made more evident by the fact that most verbs end with –s in the second person singular form, that
which is used in informal address, as you may realize by the underlined verb forms in examples 3 and 4.
This discussion occurred in both courses but it was more controversial in the first due to the fact that
half the members of the group were older and some belonged to upper-middle-class families. In the
case of the second course, only two students were older and they were middle-class, which means
that most translators addressed family members informally and therefore opted immediately for this
form of address when they began translating the text.
In IMSS and FHTM there are several twenty-something characters who swear and use slang con-
tinuously, and in IMSS these include two male characters in their early twenties and “wannabe” rap-
pers: Derek, the main character’s brother, and Gonzo, his friend. This posed a further challenge in
terms of translation, since the translators were female and, in Portuguese culture, women should not
swear or use slang, but rather be shy and demure. Noteworthy is also the fact that the Portuguese
hear many swear words in English and American TV shows, films and songs, so their semantic
weight is lessened when compared to the equivalent swear words in Portuguese.
So as to evidence the strategies and negotiation processes, the examples include the source text and
the first proposal in terms of translation (which is then back translated) as well as the final version,
the one which was published (also back translated). In the final chapters, which were translated and
revised after the first plenary meeting, the differences between initial and final translation are less
evident, as most issues had already been discussed and strategies agreed upon.
As has been mentioned before, women, and in particular older educated women, should not swear,
which led to commonly translating the source text using “lighter” equivalents in Portuguese. In fact,
most expressions which included the f word or a derivative of that word were replaced not by their
direct translation – also a word beginning with f (foda-se, for instance, is equivalent to ‘fuck’) – but
by a functional equivalent which is considered acceptable in Portuguese culture in terms of female
speech.
The following examples include the f word in English but not in Portuguese:
Example 5
Source Text (ST): Who’s being a pain in the arse? (IMSS, Chapter 9)
Initial Translation (IT): Quem é que está a ser uma dor de cabeça?
Back Translation 1 (BT 1): Who’s being a pain in the neck?
Final Version (FV): Quem é que está a ser uma dor de cabeça?
Back Translation 2 (BT 2): Who’s being a pain in the neck?
Example 6
ST: Fuck you. (IMSS, Chapter 11)
IT: Vai-te lixar!
BT 1: Bugger off!
FV: Vai-te foder.
BT 2: Fuck you
Example 7
ST: Tell him to fuck off. (IMSS, Chapter 19)
IT: Diz-lhe que se vá lixar.
BT 1: Tell him to bugger off.
FV: Diz-lhe que se vá lixar.
BT 2: Tell him to bugger off.
Example 8
ST: DAMNBOLLOXWANKERSONOF A BITCH (IMSS, Chapter 25)
IT: DIABOBOLASESTUPORDEUMFILHODAMÃE...
BT 1: DAMNBOLLOXWANKERSONOFA...
FV: BOLASCARAÇASESTUPORDEUMFILHODAMÃE
BT 2: DAMNBOLLOXWANKERSONOF A...
Example 9
ST: A bunch of cheating bastards. (IMSS, Chapter 28)
IT: Uma cambada de aldrabões filhos-da-p...
BT 1: A bunch of cheating sons of …
FV: Uma cambada de aldrabões filhos da puta.
BT 2: A bunch of cheating sons of bitches.
In fact, only in example 6 is the ‘lighter’ version changed so that in the printed text the f word is pre-
sent. In example 8, a lighter functional equivalent to ‘son of a bitch’ was used, as in Portuguese you
have two possible functional equivalents and the closest to the English version is considered rather
vulgar language (filho da puta). Finally, in example 9 you can even see how the expression ‘filhos-
da-p...’(‘sons of bitches’) was left incomplete in the initial version (not to be as explicit and as
strong) and only in the final version, after further debate, it was written in full.
In FHTM, example 10 evidences how swearing is now more acceptable and common, for the f word
was initially used to translate a rather innocuous expression in English (Bloody hell!). However, in
the final version, and as means of providing coherence to the text, this translation was changed and
the equivalent chosen was closer to the source text (‘merda’ – ‘piece of crap’).
Example 10
ST: Bloody Hell! (FHTM, Chapter 5)
IT: Foda-se!
BT 1: Fuck it
FV: Que merda!
BT 2: What a piece of crap!
Example 11 reveals the strategy mentioned earlier – opting for a ‘lighter’ swear word in Portuguese
though maintaining functional equivalence and pragmatic effect. In example 12, this lighter version
was changed and in the final version the translation is closer to the source text.
Example 11
ST: You fucking moron! (FHTM, Chapter 11)
IT: Seu parvalhão de merda.
BT 1: You bloody moron.
FV: Seu parvalhão de merda.
BT 2: You bloody moron.
Example 12
ST: I’ve never heard such horseshit in my life. (FHTM, Chapter 15)
IT: Nunca ouvi tanta treta.
BT 1: I’ve never heard such nonsense...
FV: Nunca ouvi tanta merda.
BT 2: I’ve never heard such horseshit...
Though there were novels published in the end of the 1990s by young Portuguese female writers
which contained and were promoted due to their unconventional portrayal of female characters (they
spoke about sex and used slang and swear words abundantly) as well as the themes included (love,
marriage and sex), these texts were heavily criticised and not considered ‘real’ literature.
In fact, as previously stated, Portuguese women are expected to be shy, demure and conventional,
and sex-related vocabulary is also not commonly used in everyday speech. Therefore, this was
another challenge the group had to meet and decide upon in terms of translation strategies and textual
coherence.
In IMSS, the difficulty was increased by the existence of the young male characters mentioned
earlier, whose speech was rather crude and laden with sexual connotations, both implicit and explicit.
In Portuguese, this type of oral interchange is acceptable but, as the translators were women and
many over fifty years old, they felt rather reluctant to use such vocabulary and, ultimately, some
were not even sure of the functional equivalent to the source text.
As in the previous examples on swear words, most sex-related expressions were translated into
Portuguese bearing in mind functional equivalence, cultural acceptance and reader identification.
Therefore, the expressions used were, in most cases, lighter than their English counterparts (though
some were replaced by a closer equivalent in the final and printed version of the novel, as is the case
of example 14).
Example 13
ST: Are you getting any? (IMSS, Chapter 7)
IT: Há quanto tempo dura isto?
BT 1: How long has this been going on?
FV: Tens tido actividade sexual?
BT 2: Have you had any sex lately?
Example 14
ST: we’re fuck-buddies. (IMSS, Chapter 9)
IT: Somos amigos coloridos.
BT 1: a ‘lighter’ equivalent.
FV: Somos amigos da queca.
BT 2: we’re fuck-buddies.
However, in the chapters translated after the first plenary session, the changes were minimal, for the
translators, considering the characters were male and this type was speech was acceptable and
expected, used functional equivalents closer to the source text.
Example 15
ST: He’s fucking someone else. (IMSS, Chapter 23)
IT: Ele anda a foder outra.
BT 1: He’s fucking someone else.
FV: Ele anda a foder outra.
BT 2: He’s fucking someone else.
Example 16
ST: Chicks get really horny. (IMSS, Chapter 31)
IT: A gajas ficam cá com uma tusa.
BT 1: Chicks get really horny.
FV: As gajas ficam cá com uma tusa.
BT 2: Chicks get really horny.
In the translation of FHTM this was not an issue since, as one may realize from the following
examples, the changes introduced in the final version were slight and the initial versions already
included sex-related vocabulary in Portuguese.
Example 17
ST: It’s my boobs in the pump, my cracked nipples and my sore fanny. (FHTM, Chapter 21)
IT: São as minhas mamas na bomba, os meus mamilos gretados e a minha passarinha ferida e
dorida.
BT 1: It’s my boobs in the pump, my cracked nipples and my sore fanny.
FV: São as minhas mamas na bomba, os meus mamilos gretados e a minha passarinha ferida e
dorida.
BT 2: It’s my boobs in the pump, my cracked nipples and my sore fanny.
Example 18
ST: ...or for a woman who’s gagging for a shag. (FHTM, Chapter 22)
IT: … ou para uma mulher que quer dar uma queca.
BT 1: ... or for a woman who’s gagging for a shag.
FV: … ou para uma mulher que quer dar uma queca.
BT 2: ... or for a woman who’s gagging for a shag.
Finally, there were two other major issues in terms of translation and meaning that were discussed
and negotiated: slang and idioms. The reasons underlying the debates were very different. As far as
slang was concerned, and again also due to the gender and age of the characters in the novel and that
of the translators, there were translation difficulties and challenges. In IMSS, as mentioned earlier,
the two young male characters were wannabe rappers and therefore used slang constantly, and these
slang expressions had to be translated so as that they would sound real in a Portuguese context. The
challenge was twofold: on the one hand, the characters were rappers and they should read as closely
as possible to wannabe rappers in Portuguese but they should also be understood by the target
readership (women in their late twenties, early thirties). In the next examples, you may see how this
was achieved, again through sometimes using a less slangy expression in Portuguese, as rap is not as
mainstream as in the English speaking world
Example 19
ST: Hey, sis, whazzup? (IMSS, Chapter 4)
IT: Oi mana, na boa?
BT 1: similar to English, an expression very common in teenage/young adult informal speech
FV: Oi mana, na boa?
BT 2: similar to English, an expression very common in teenage/young adult informal speech
or, as rap is originally an American genre, the translation is the English word with a Portuguese
spelling.
Example 20
ST: Yo, Derek (IMSS, Chapter 17)
IT: Iô, Derek
BT 1: the exact same words/sounds but Portuguese spelling
FV: Iô, Derek
BT 2: the exact same words/sounds but Portuguese spelling
The initial translated version of the source text already attempted to use slang words/phrases in
Portuguese. However, in some cases, today’s teenagers and young adults would never say those
words, which were slang a few decades ago and are now a dated words/phrases. In examples 21 and
22, the changes introduced in the final version reflect that; the word garinas was slang a few decades
ago, and was replaced by gajas, a word which earlier was considered extremely rude but which is
now used to mean ‘chicks’, and the expression muit’a nice, which was slang a decade ago but not
anymore.
Example 21
ST: I thought chicks really dug it (IMSS, Chapter 19)
IT: Julguei que as garinas gramavam.
BT 1: garinas is a dated slang expression
FV: Julguei que as gajas gramavam.
BT 2: I thought chicks really dug it.
Example 22
ST: Cool, huh? (IMSS, Chapter 15)
IT: Muit’a nice, não é?
BT 1: similar to ST but using a dated expression
FV: Muita fixe, não é?
BT 2: Cool, huh?
As far as FHTM, the changes were, once again, very slight as the translators’ age is closer to that of
the characters and of the target readership. Translators used current slang expressions in their initial
translated version of the text and, thus, as in the examples below, no changes were introduced,
though some expressions were discussed and negotiated, for the older translators were reluctant to
agree with the use of certain words/phrases they believed were inappropriate in female speech. That
is the case of the word prenha in example 23, a word which, a few years ago, was only used to
describe pregnancy in animals.
Example 23
ST: Emma’s preggers. (FHM, Chapter 1)
IT: A Emma está prenha.
BT 1: Emma’s preggers.
FV: A Emma está prenha.
BT 2: Emma’s preggers.
Example 24
ST: I’m skint. (FHTM, Chapter 31)
IT: Estou lisa.
BT 1: I’m skint.
FV: Estou lisa.
BT 2: I’m skint.
The discussion as far as idioms were concerned was rooted in a completely different issue. Some
idioms from English have been translated or have been so often heard (in music, films, the Internet,
etc.) that they now exist in Portuguese. They are, however, more widely accepted among younger
Portuguese, as middle-aged and older Portuguese people have not been so influenced by Anglo-
American culture. As such, many of the examples presented below were discussed in the plenary
sessions, some having been replaced by a Portuguese idiom:
Example 25
ST: I decided I needed some Dutch courage before calling Dad. (IMSS, Chapter 4)
IT: Decidi que precisava de alguma “coragem de holandês”
BT 1: a direct translation of the English idiom
FV: Decidi que precisava de arranjar coragem no fundo de um copo.
BT 2: replaced by a Portuguese idiom with a similar functional meaning to that of the ST
Example 26
ST: James was like a cat on a hot tin roof. (FHTM, Chapter 14)
IT: O James estava como gato em telhado de zinco quente.
FV: O James estava em pulgas.
BT 2: replaced by a Portuguese idiom with a similar functional meaning to that of the ST
whereas others were directly translated into Portuguese and are widely used today
Example 27
ST: Fiona thought she had died and gone to heaven (IMSS, Chapter 2)
IT: Fiona pensou que tinha morrido e ido para o céu.
FV: Fiona pensou que tinha morrido e ido para o céu.
Example 28
ST: Doesn’t seem to be lighting your fire, though. (IMSS, Chapter 31)
IT: Mas não te acende a chama.
BT 1: a translation of the English idiom
FV: Mas não te acende a chama.
BT 2: a translation of the English idiom
and a few were not replaced by an idiom but their meaning was translated into Portuguese.
Example 29
ST: They should lock him up and throw away the key. (FHTM, Chapter 18)
IT: Deviam trancá-lo e deitar fora a chave.
FV: Deviam trancá-lo e nunca o soltar.
BT 2: replaced by a Portuguese expression (not an idiom) with a similar functional meaning to
the idiom in the ST
Translation is a never-ending process (Bhabha, quoted in Simon, 1996: 152) and in the two courses
described there was constant negotiation and debate between the source and the target texts and
among the translators, the teachers, and the publishing company, so as to re-create and give the texts
a voice, one which is not an individual translator’s voice or that of the group of translators but rather
the one which arises from the new text created by all involved. This new text includes the source text
(the one produced by the writer) the translation (the one produced by the translator or translators)
and, ultimately, the text produced by the reader.
References
Bassnett, S., and A. Lefevere (1998), Constructing Cultures:Essays On Literary Translation. Clevedon: Mul-
tilingual Matters.
Hatim, B., and I. Mason (1997), The Translator As Communicator. London and New York: Routledge.
Hatim, B. (2001), Teaching And Researching Translation. Harlow, England: Pearson Education.
Katan, D. (2004), Translating Cultures. Manchester: St. Jerome Publishing.
Moriarty, S. (2006), From Here To Maternity. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.
Moriarty, S. (2007), In My Sister’s Shoes. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.
Moriarty, S. (2008), Amor E Santos Altos. Lisboa: Mercado de Letras Editores.
Munday, J. (2001), Translation Studies, Theories and Applications. London and New York: Routledge.
Nord, C. (1997), Translating as A Purposeful Activity: Approaches Explained. Manchester: St Jerome.
Simon, S. (1996), Gender in Translation: Cultural Identity and the Politics of Translation. London and New
York: Routledge.
Snell-Hornby, M. (1988), Translation Studies: An Integrated Approach. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
von Flotow, L. (1997), Translation and Gender: Translating in the ‘Era of Feminism’. Manchester: St Jerome.
FIGURES DE CONSTRUCTION DES TEXTES POETIQUES

FRANÇAIS ET HONGROIS
Annamária Kabán
University of Miskolc, Miskolc, Hungary
Abstract: Two parallel Hungarian translations of Paul Verlaine’s poem entitled “Mon rêve
familier” are going to be analysed, primarily with respect to the features of text and sentence
structure. The comparative analysis will focus on parallel syntactic structures and the
variations of word order in them as well as topic-focus divisions, dependent on the syntactic
potentials of the two languages and thus indicative of the typological differences between them.
1. Nous savons qu’il n’y a pas de traduction parfaite; toute traduction n'est qu'une approche. Traduire
revient à (més)interpréter. Quant à traduire des poèmes, c'est justement l'une des tâches les plus
difficiles. Conformément aux règles établies, les traducteurs hongrois de poésie doivent rester
absolument fidèles au schéma rythmique aussi. Cependant, il se pose la question de savoir si la
fidélité rythmique stricte ne mène pas au renoncement à d'autres éléments importants de la structure
d'un poème. Et quand les systèmes poétiques sont différents, toute fidélité rythmique absolue est
illusoire.
Nous examinerons deux traductions hongroises mises en parallèle du poème intitulé "Mon rêve
familier" de Paul Verlaine en nous concentrant surtout sur les particularités des structures textuelle et
phrastique. Dans cette analyse comparative, nous nous proposons d'étudier les parallélismes de la
structure syntaxique et la variation de l'ordre des mots, les structures topique-focus qui dépendent des
possibilités syntaxiques des deux langues et qui signalent également, par là, les différences
typologiques du français et du hongrois (Kabán, 2002, 2005).
2. Verlaine publia ce poème en 1866, à l'âge de 22 ans dans son recueil intitulé Poèmes saturniens.
Endre Ady le traduisit sous le titre de Álom ("Rêve") et le publia en 1905. Plus tard, il l'inclut dans
son recueil Új versek (Nouveaux poèmes), dans le cycle Daloló Páris (Paris chantant) comme sa
propre œuvre, sous le titre de Paul Verlaine álma (Le rêve de Paul Verlaine). Cela nous prouve que
le poète s'identifie parfaitement à l'expérience exprimée dans le poème. Árpád Tóth le traduisit sous
le titre de Az én meghitt álmom ("Mon rêve intime") et le publia en 1917.
2.1. Le poème français est un poème à forme fixe: un sonnet en alexandrins. Ady le traduit en
utilisant l'alexandrin ïambique hongrois, à l'exception du deuxième vers du premier tercet ainsi que
du premier et du dernier vers du deuxième tercet. Dans ces vers, la métrique quantitative se
transforme en versification syllabo-tonique. Quant à Árpád Tóth, il utilise dans sa traduction des vers
ïambiques de structure 6//6, 7//6, 6//7 et 7//7, baptisés justement d'après lui dans la littérature sur la
versification hongroise ("vers d'Árpád Tóth").
Le texte original utilise le schéma de rimes abba, abba, ccd, ede, Ady le change en abba, cddc, eee,
fef. Árpád Tóth change le schéma du deuxième tercet en eed (Mózes, 2006).
2.2. Le titre du poème indique ce sujet avec précision: il s'agit du rêve familier, intime du poète. Des
deux traductions, c'est celle d'Árpád Tóth qui rend fidèlement le sens du titre. Le poème français est,
en accord avec le titre, entièrement déterminé par un ton onirique, un peu flou, distant, indécis et
résigné qui exprime sans doute une expérience passive à lui seul:
204 ANNAMÁRIA KABÁN
Je fais souvent ce rêve étrange et pénétrant

D’une femme inconnue, et que j’aime, et qui m’aime,
Et qui n’est, chaque fois, NI TOUT À FAIT la même
NI TOUT À FAIT une autre, et m’aime et me comprend.
Le premier quatrain est une seule phrase complexe à plusieurs propositions. La conjonction et,
reprise cinq fois, a pour fonction de créer une impression de flottement tout en établissant un tissu de
relations étroites. Le poète l'ajoute aux pronoms relatifs que/qui introduisant les quatre propositions
relatives. La structure de la phrase initiale suggère déjà cette ambiance. Dès le début de la phrase,
l'accent tombe sur le complément circonstanciel de temps souvent, faisant allusion d'une part au titre
(il s'agit d'un rêve familier, fréquent), d'autre part au retour, à la répétition, à l'infinité. Le poète
commence alors à caractériser le rêve. Il utilise deux épithètes: étrange et pénétrant. La construction
flottante des phrases est aussi caractérisée par une sorte de retardement, comme si le poète voulait
mettre du temps à nommer l'objet de ce rêve. De quoi ou de qui rêve-t-il: cela reste un secret tout au
long du premier vers. À cause de l'enjambement, nous n'apprenons qu'au début du deuxième vers
qu'il rêve d'une femme inconnue. Placés au début du deuxième vers, ces mots sont mis en relief. Le
retardement et la position tonique au début du deuxième vers ont pour rôle d'attirer l'attention.
En comparant les deux traductions, nous pouvons nous rendre compte que celle d'Árpád Tóth reste
plus fidèle à la version française :
E furcsa álom gyakran s mélyen talál sziven

Egy ismeretlen nőről, kit szeretek s szeret,
S kit ízig UGYANEGYNEK sohasem ismerek,
És soha csupa másnak, s szeret s megért hiven.
(Tóth Árpád)
Il est le seul à traduire le complément circonstanciel de temps souvent, placé en position de focus et
ayant ainsi un rôle important accentué. Cependant, bien que ce mot reste en position de focus dans la
traduction d'Árpád Tóth, son rôle accentué est moins important. Il y a deux raisons pour cela.
Premièrement, dans la traduction, il y a deux mots en position de focus au lieu d'un seul (gyakran s
mélyen − souvent et profondément); du coup, le mot gyakran (souvent) perd l'accent unique.
Deuxièmement, son caractère accentué diminue aussi à cause de sa position: il ne se trouve pas au
début du vers (et de la phrase). Le texte français commence par le syntagme verbal tandis que la
traduction met en positon topique l'élément connu depuis le titre: E furcsa álom (Ce rêve étrange).
C'est-à-dire que dès le début, le poète traducteur dépeint ce rêve tout en gardant le vocabulaire
original. Par contre, la deuxième épithète du rêve est traduite par une construction verbale: mélyen
talál sziven (me touche au fond du cœur). Contrairement au ton passif et distant du poème français,
les mots d'Árpád Tóth expriment beaucoup d'émotion. Dans le deuxième vers, il traduit l’original
quasiment mot à mot.
Ady emploie une procédure inverse:
Álmodom egy nőről, akit nem ismerek,

Forró és különös, áldott, nagy Látomás.
Aki SOHASEM egy s aki SOHASE más,
Aki engem megért, aki engem szeret.
(Ady Endre)
Tout au début du poème, dès le début du premier vers, le poète nomme l'objet de son rêve. À cause
de cette révélation, l'ambiance floue et onirique du texte original disparaît. En plus, il met en
évidence la caractérisation de la femme rêvée en utilisant une proposition relative (akit nem ismerek
− que je ne connais pas) à la place de l'épithète du texte original (inconnue). Les deux verbes à la
première personne du singulier (Álmodom, nem ismerek – Je rêve, je ne connais pas) signalent la
mise en premier plan du poète. Ady découpe la première phrase du texte original en trois, en
multipliant ainsi les accents de phrase et en rendant le texte plus dynamique. Par contre, il ne traduit
pas du tout le complément circonstanciel de temps en position de focus, souvent. Bien sûr, la forme
verbale Álmodom (Je rêve) exprime dans sa traduction aussi une sorte de continuité. En plus, le com-
plément d'objet egy nőről (d'une femme) du verbe Álmodom (je rêve − je rêve de quelque chose, de
quelqu'un) suggère aussi la continuité mais reçoit en même temps le sens du 'désir'. Ady ne
commence à caractériser ce rêve qu'au deuxième vers. Il construit des phrases nominales fonction-
nant comme appositions détachées. Des deux épithètes du texte français (étrange et pénétrant) Ady
fait quatre: Forró és különös, áldott nagy Látomás (Vision fervente et étrange, bénie et grande).
Nous pouvons donc constater que parmi les épithètes originales, le poète ne retient qu’étrange et il
en ajoute trois autres, ce qui dynamise et intensifie le poème. Cette intensification ainsi que la
création d'un vers à part sont les moyens de la création d'une vision – tellement caractéristique de la
poésie d'Ady – à laquelle le poète attire même notre attention en écrivant le mot Vision avec
majuscule.
À partir du milieu du deuxième vers, Verlaine nous présente la femme rêvée. Ce sont les traits
spirituels qu'il met en évidence. Les caractéristiques physiques, corporelles de la femme sont à peine
présentes, elles sont floues et insignifiantes. Dans le deuxième vers, le poète nous présente la femme
en deux propositions relatives brèves: et que j’aime, et qui m’aime. La répétition de la conjonction et
a pour fonction de créer − comme nous l'avons déjà indiqué − une impression de flottement tout en
établissant un tissu de relations étroites. La caractérisation continue aux troisième et quatrième vers.
Le poète exprime le flou du rêve à l'aide de formules particulières. Le verbe accentué est suivi de
deux mots ayant un rôle de quantificateur, qui sont répétés et sont, par conséquent, encore plus
accentués. La première strophe se termine par deux brèves propositions relatives, le mot aime est
répété comme une sorte d'épiphore mais il est encore intensifié par le verbe comprend: et m’aime et
me comprend. Les deux verbes portent l'accent.
Les mots d'Árpád Tóth (s kit ízig UGYANEGYNEK sohasem ismerek,/ És soha csupa másnak) sem-
blent être plus proches de ceux de Verlaine mais la description passive, onirique est brisée par la pré-
sence du verbe ismerek (je connais) et par le fort accent focal de l'adverbe jamais. Ady ne traduit
même pas la deuxième moitié du deuxième vers. Le flou onirique du texte français s'amplifie, chez
lui, en un antagonisme se présentant presque comme une absurdité grâce au double emploi du
quantificateur SOHASEM (JAMAIS): Aki SOHASEM egy s aki SOHASEM más (Qui N'est JAMAIS la
même et qui N'est JAMAIS différente).
2.3. Le deuxième quatrain s'attache au premier d'une façon artistique, en répétant les derniers mots
du vers précédent (me comprend). Cela accentue encore davantage ces mots qui portent l'accent
principal:
Car elle me comprend, et mon cœur, transparent

Pour elle seule, hélas! cesse d’être un problème,
Pour elle seule, et les moiteurs de mon front blême,
Elle seule les sait refraîchir, en pleurant.
La femme de rêve est la seule à comprendre le cœur du poète, elle seule peut le rendre heureux. Les
rapports des accents des phrases de cette partie ont pour rôle de rendre ce message plus évident. Si
nous examinons les accents focaux de cette partie, nous pouvons constater qu'après l'accent du
premier vers frappant le verbe me comprend, c'est elle seule qui est employé dans la fonction
accentuée du focus. L'accent des mots devient plus marqué grâce à leur position: ils se répètent au
début des vers d'une manière anaphorique et deviennent par là la force organisatrice principale de la
strophe.
La première proposition de cette partie est une affirmation brève et ferme: Car elle me comprend.
Au début de la strophe, la dernière phrase de la partie précédente est répétée comme une sorte
d'explication, comme une évidence. Des propositions coordonnées copulatives en développent la
teneur. Au début de la deuxième proposition, dans la deuxième moitié du premier vers, ce sont le
sujet grammatical et son épithète placés après la conjonction de coordination et qui se trouvent en
position topique inaccentuée, pour que le groupe pour elle seule, au début du deuxième vers, se
trouvant ainsi en position de focus, en soit mis en relief encore davantage. Cet ordre des mots permet
au poète d'insister sur le sujet et son épithète qui se trouvent ainsi en position topique au début de la
phrase. Nous pouvons sentir la différence en changeant cet ordre.
Le focus de la phrase est repris mot à mot au début du troisième vers, en tant que complément
postposé de la deuxième proposition, et son contenu en devient plus accentué. Cette insistance sur le
focus revenant pour la deuxième fois est rendue plus évidente par la pause relativement plus longue
qui le suit. La structure de la troisième proposition, introduite elle aussi par une conjonction de
coordination, ressemble à celle de la précédente. Nous trouvons en position de topique inaccentuée
un groupe nominal étendu assez long, en fonction de sujet grammatical : les moiteurs de mon front
blême, et ensuite, au début du quatrième vers, elle seule se répète pour la troisième fois, de nouveau
en position de focus. Se répétant anaphoriquement trois fois au début des vers, toujours en position
de focus, ces mots font du texte de cette strophe une sorte de litanie, accentuant l'unicité de la femme
rêvée. La répétition en position tonique a aussi pour effet naturel l'intensification.
Cette fois-ci, Ady traduit mot à mot les deux premiers vers de cette strophe, pourtant, nous dé-
couvrons quelque différence entre la structure des phrases:
Mert ő megért. Neki, óh, jaj, csupán neki,

Bús, áttetsző szivem többé már nem talány,
Sápadt homlokomnak verejték-patakán
Frissítve omolnak az ő szent könnyei.
(Ady Endre)
Chez lui, nous trouvons un point après la première proposition. Ce point marque une pause plus
longue et accentue davantage le caractère évident du contenu de la phrase. L'articulation des phrases
est également différente chez Ady. Les focus fortement accentués règnent dans le texte original, ils
se trouvent au début de trois vers, ils ont donc un rôle de structurant de texte très important. À la
différence du texte original, le deuxième vers ne commence pas, chez Ady, par un topique inaccentué
mais par un fort accent focal: Neki.... (Pour elle...), répété encore une fois après l'interjection et ayant
encore un accent plus fort grâce au mot csupán (seulement). Il entend récupérer la répétition
beaucoup plus accentuée en position anaphorique du texte original.
Par contre, les deux derniers vers de la strophe, composés d'une seule unité de phrase, gardent le
groupe nominal étendu en position de topique inaccentuée du texte original mais le transforment en
une image métaphorique: Sápadt homlokomnak verejték-patakán (sur le ruisseau de sueur de mon
front blême). Le focus de la phrase n'est pas elle seule, comme dans le texte français, mais l'adverbe
frissítve (d’une façon rafraîchissante). La construction frissítve omolnak met l'accent sur l'effet des
larmes de la femme, capables de soulager le cœur du poète. La ligne mélodique de la construction
szent könnyei (ses larmes saintes) met l'accent sur le mot szent (saintes). Cela souligne le contenu
spirituel du texte original.
La traduction d'Árpád Tóth diffère de l'original au niveau du vocabulaire et au niveau de l'articu-

lation des phrases à la fois:
Óh, ő megért hiven s csak ő látja, igen,

Hogy átlátszó szivemben zord talány nem mered,
Óh, jaj, csak ő, s könnyétől, mely lassan megered,

Izzadt és halvány orcám megfrissül szeliden.
(Tóth Árpád)
Elle commence par une interjection et non par la conjonction explicative du texte original. Ainsi, au
lieu de l'explication distante et rationnelle, elle utilise un ton subjectif marqué. Le complément
circonstanciel de manière hiven (fidèlement) ne se trouve que dans la traduction mais il est répété en
reliant ainsi deux vers qui se succèdent. La deuxième proposition commence, chez Árpád Tóth − tout
comme chez Ady − par un focus, sans pour autant présenter la répétition (la gémination) de celui-ci;
en revanche, le mot igen (oui) exprimant l'approbation y est chargé d'un rôle d'accentuation. La
proposition du texte original est coupée en trois chez Árpád Tóth: csak ő látja, igen,/ Hogy átlátszó
szivemben zord talány nem mered (c’est elle seule, oui, qu’il ne s’érige pas d’énigmes mornes dans
mon cœur transparent). Le deuxième vers continue par une proposition subordonnée après látja (elle
le voit) et le igen d'approbation. Le début du troisième vers répète le focus csak ő (elle seulement) en
le postposant et, par là, en l'accentuant. De ce point de vue-là, Árpád Tóth respecte le texte original
mais il évite, ici aussi, la répétition anaphorique des débuts de vers. Enfin, il y a un vers et demi qui ne
fait qu'une phrase étendue en français. Árpád Tóth la découpe en deux propositions. La structure de
cette phrase est également différente. Dans le texte original, l'équivalent de egyedül ő (elle seule)
occupe la position de focus pour la troisième fois. Dans la traduction d'Árpád Tóth, cette expression
disparaît totalement et la phrase est introduite par un topique volumineux en lequel s'insère même
une proposition subordonnée relative: könnyétől, mely lassan megered,/ Izzadt és halvány orcám...
(de par ses larmes qui commencent à couler lentement, mon visage blême en sueur…), enfin, l'accent
phrastique tombe sur le prédicat verbal: megfrissül szeliden (se rafraîchit doucement). Sur ce point,
le traducteur se rapproche de la traduction d'Ady.
2.4. Le premier tercet essaie d'évoquer les caractéristiques de la femme de rêve mais elles semblent
être tellement insignifiantes pour le poète qu'il ne se les rappelle pas exactement :
Est-elle brune, blonde ou rousse? – Je l’ignore.

Son nom? Je me souviens qu’ il est doux et sonore
Comme ceux des aimés que la Vie exila.
Barna, szőke, vörös? Óh, nem tudom én, nem.

A neve? Emlékszem: lágyan zendül, mélyen,
Mint kedveseinké ott lenn, a sírba, lenn.
(Ady Endre)
Óh, barna? szőke? vagy vörös tán? – nem tudom.

S neve? – emlékszem erre, zengő, és lágy nagyon,
Mint bús kedveseké, kiket száműz az Élet;
(Tóth Árpád)
La strophe est composée de questions et de réponses. Tout au début de cette partie, nous trouvons
trois questions courtes portant sur la couleur des cheveux de la femme. Les traducteurs choisissent un
style nominal. La réponse est brève et très ferme: Je l’ignore. Cette réponse brève indique également
l'insignifiance de la question. Árpád Tóth traduit fidèlement le texte. Ady, par contre, y met beau-
coup d'émotion: óh, nem tudom én, nem (oh, je ne sais pas, moi, non). Il résulte de la présence de
l'interjection óh et de la répétition du mot de négation nem (non) un certain sentiment de résignation
et de tristesse. Le poète ressent de la peine car il ne se souvient pas de la couleur des cheveux de la
femme. Dans la version originale, par contre, la brièveté de la réponse exprime que la question n'est
pas d'importance. Dans le deuxième vers, c'est le contraire. Là, la question est brève mais la réponse
est d'une longueur de presque deux vers. Cela nous indique que le poète accorde plus d'importance
au nom. Il n'a gardé mémoire que de la sonorité du nom (doux et sonore). Il exprime cela à l'aide
d'une comparaison artistique qui accentue encore plus l'éloignement de la femme aimée. Árpád Tóth
reste parfaitement fidèle à la structure et à l'ambiance suggérée par le texte original. Ady change la
structure originelle. Il transforme l'adjectif épithète sonore en verbe et apporte encore une fois du
dynamisme à la description statique: lágyan zendül, mélyen (elle résonne doucement, gravement). Il
rend les souvenirs presque présents, c'est le contraire des images vagues du texte original. Par contre,
la comparaison développée dans le dernier vers est plus passive chez Ady, parce que le verbe actif
manque.
Le deuxième tercet met l'accent sur les traits les moins physiques de la bien-aimée: le regard et la
voix.
Son regard est pareil au regard des statues,

Et pour sa voix, lointaine, et calme, et grave, elle a
L’inflexion des voix chères qui se sont tues.
Nézése hallgatag szobrokénak mása,

Szava messziről jőn, komoly, bús, fénytelen:
Mint elnémult drága szavak suhanása.
(Ady Endre)
Nézése úgy borong, mint szobrok hűs szeme,

S bús hangja mintha halkan, távolból zengene,
Mint lágy szók reszketése, mik már hallgatni tértek.
(Tóth Árpád)
Quant au regard, le poète ne remarque qu'une chose: il ressemble à celui d'une sculpture. Une simple
affirmation pour avouer qu'il ne lui reste de cette femme rêvée qu'une image qui ressemble à une
image capturée d'un film. L'accent tombe sur la partie nominale du prédicat. De ces deux traductions,
celle d'Ady est plus fidèle à la version originale, il garde le rôle accentué du prédicat nominal mása
(son double), il y ajoute l'épithète hallgatag (taciturne) créant une synesthésie. La traduction
d’Árpád Tóth diffère et dans le vocabulaire et dans la structure des phrases. La phrase est coupée en
deux propositions, dans la proposition principale, l'accent focal tombe sur le mot úgy (borong −
assombri comme...), prêtant à l'expression une plus forte coloration émotive.
Les deux derniers vers caractérisent la voix de la femme: lointaine, et calme et grave. Il est inté-
ressant de remarquer qu'après le nom, c'est la voix de la bien-aimée qui reçoit le plus d'épithètes. La
traduction d'Ady rend dynamique ici aussi la présentation statique en coupant la phrase en cinq
unités et en faisant de l'épithète messzi (lointain) un complément circonstanciel de lieu messziről (de
loin) en position de focus accentué. Des deux autres épithètes (calme, grave), il ne garde que komoly
(‘sérieux’, pour grave) et introduit deux nouvelles: bús, fénytelen (triste, terne). Les trois épithètes
coordonnées remplissent la fonction de trois phrases nominales. Le mot suhanása (son glissement),
évoquant un effet sonore et comportant, dans son sens, la représentation abstraite d'une action, assure
une fonction évocatrice à la comparaison qui clôt le poème. Árpád Tóth traduit les deux derniers
vers, lui aussi, d'une façon originale. Lui aussi, il coupe la phrase en trois unités, grâce à cela, les
constructions verbales donnent plus de dynamisme à l'image statique, et le mot zengene (sonnerait)
prête de la musicalité à la description. Nous ne trouvons qu'une seule épithète chez lui, qui est, elle
aussi, différente de celle du texte français. Au lieu d'utiliser plusieurs épithètes, nous trouvons chez
lui des adverbes en position de focus tonique: halkan, távolból (doucement, de loin).
3. Pour conclure, nous pouvons constater que la traduction d'Ady est plus originale. Il assouplit la
structure fermée du poème français, il modifie l'ordre et la structure des phrases, il abandonne les
mises en relief anaphoriques répétitifs; les descriptions statiques et calmes deviennent plus dyna-
miques et plus énergiques grâce aux moyens comme l'utilisation fréquente de verbes, le découpage
des phrases longues en phrases plus petites, les accents d'insistance focaux, le cumul des épithètes,
l'amplification ou les interjections. La traduction d’Árpád Tóth, en général, semble être plus fidèle à
l'original; en réalité, elle ne suit pas strictement la structure du sonnet de Paul Verlaine.
Bibliographie
Genette, G. (1966), Figures. I. Paris: Seuil.
Gibbs, R. (1994), The poetics of mind: figurative thought, language, and understanding. Cambridge: Uni-
versity Press.
Kabán, A. (2002), “Semiotic problems in text linguistics”. In: Annales Universitatis Scientiarium Buda-
pestinensis de Rolando Eötvös nominatae. Sectio Linguistica. Tomus XXV. 111−114.
Kabán, A. (2005), Szövegek színeváltozása. Szórend és értékszerkezet. Miskolc: Bíbor.
Mózes, H. (2006), A kötöttség körei. Állandóság és változás egyidejűsége a versben. Kolozsvár: Koinónia.
210
WHEN METAPHORS SURFACE AS METONYMIES:

FREE TRANSLATION IN POETRY
Krzysztof Kosecki
Abstract: The present paper examines the role of metaphor and metonymy in the translation of
poetry. It analyses translations of poems from English into Polish, German into English and
Polish, and from Czech into Polish. It is argued that gradation and continuity between meta-
phor and metonymy exists in literary translation, and that both these conceptual mechanisms
can be used as functional equivalents of each other.
1. Metaphor, metonymy, and Cognitive Poetics

Lakoff and Johnson (1980) reintroduced metaphor and metonymy into linguistic discourse. Over the
thirty years that have passed since the publication of their book, metaphor and metonymy have been
interpreted and reinterpreted by various scholars (Kövecses 1986, 2002; Taylor 1989, Sweetser 1990,
Gibbs 1994, Grady 1997, Gibbs and Steen 1999, Radden and Kövecses 1999, Fauconnier and Turner
2002). However, the most important elements of the original framework remain the same.
1.1 Metaphor
Metaphor is a conceptual mechanism which involves two distinct domains: the abstract domain is
called target while the physical and experiential domain is called source. The mapping between the
domains means that the structure of the source is mentally imposed on the target, thus giving it
conceptual shape and projecting its reality among users of language (Lakoff and Johnson 1980: 3-6).
The structural metaphor LOVE IS A JOURNEY (Lakoff and Johnson 1999: 64) well illustrates the
point:
1. Look how far we’ve come

2. It’s been a long, bumpy road
3. We may have to go our separate ways
4. The marriage is out of gas
5. Our relationship is off the track
6. We’re trying to keep the relationship afloat
7. We may have to bail out of this relationship.
In all these expressions, various aspects of love such as its development, difficulties, and necessity to
end it, are all understood in terms of various elements of journey, thus giving the concept a structure
motivated by physical and cultural experience.
Many classifications of metaphors have been advanced (Lakoff and Johnson 1980, 1999; Lakoff
1987b, 1987c, 1993; Grady 1997, Kövecses 2002), but most analyses still rely on the original triad of
orientational, ontological, and structural metaphors. Image or one-shot metaphors are also included
in analyses of both everyday and literary texts (Lakoff and Turner 1989).
1.2 Metonymy
A popular definition of metonymy was advanced by Lakoff (1987a), who connected this conceptual
mechanism with the concept of ICMs, that is, “highly abstract” and “relatively stable mental
representations that represent theories about the world” (Evans and Green 2006: 169, 270). In a
version elaborated by Radden and Kövecses (1999: 21), the definition runs as follows:
“Metonymy is a cognitive process in which one conceptual entity, the vehicle, provides mental access
to another conceptual entity, the target, within the same idealized cognitive model”.
212 KRZYSZTOF KOSECKI
It can be illustrated by the following examples of expressions, all from Kövecses (2002: 143-56) or
based on his analyses:
8. They never went to America again

9. I have to grade hundreds of papers
10. Take the pill rather than get pregnant
11. Schwartzkopf defeated the Iraqi army
12. He married money
13. The milk tipped over
14. The ham sandwich wants a side dish of salad.
Expression (11), for example, employs the ICM of military forces, in which an army has a com-
mander, fights the enemy forces, and wins or loses. Schwarzkopf, the commander of the US forces in
the first Gulf War, stands for the army under his command. The metonymy can be formulated as
CONTROLLER FOR CONTROLLED (Lakoff and Johnson 1980: 38).
Radden and Kövecses (1999) also advanced a systematic classification of metonymy. It will largely
be followed in the analyses below. Barcelona’s (2002: 212-13) discussion of the role of metonymy in
discourse and inferencing will also be of some use.
1.3 Metaphtonymy
Goossens (1990) showed that many expressions are structured by various forms of interaction of
metaphor and metonymy. He labeled the relation metaphtonymy. One of its forms, metonymy-
within-metaphor, can be illustrated by the expression
15. She caught the Prime Minister’s ear and persuaded him to accept her plan,
adapted and discussed by Evans and Green (2006: 320). The concept of attention is accessed by the
metonymy EAR FOR ATTENTION. It employs the vehicle of body organ which makes hearing
possible. At the same time, attention has to be caught, which means that it is understood in terms of
the ontological metaphor ATTENTION IS A MOVING PHYSICAL ENTITY. Metonymy thus
functions in the target domain of the metaphor.
These ideas clearly rely on Jakobson’s (1956) observation that metaphor and metonymy are general
cognitive processes. Dirven (1993: 15-16) claims that, irrespective of the obvious differences
between the two conceptual mechanisms, it is possible to view them along a continuum, and different
levels of metaphoricity and metonymicity exist.
1.4 Cognitive Poetics

The analysis employs the methods of Cognitive Poetics. This new way of looking at the structure of
literary texts relies on the framework of contemporary cognitive linguistics. Conceptual metaphors,
metonymies, image schemata, and prototype-based categories, as well as complex relations between
them, are regarded as structuring elements of literature (Lakoff and Turner 1989, Turner 1996,
Stockwell 2002).
Cognitive Poetics assumes that everyday and literary language use the same conceptual mechanisms.
Were it not for this fact, it would be impossible to understand literary texts. The differences can be
explained largely by the complexity and higher degree of elaboration of metaphors and metonymies
in poetry nad prose. It is amply illustrated by Lakoff and Turner’s (1989) analyses of Shakespeare’s
texts.
2. Translation of poetry
Translation of poetry is a process whose complexity is heightened by the quality of artistic language.
Such language not only conveys some meaning, but also does it by means of highly elaborate forms
and concepts. The translator has to pay attention to such factors as meter, rhyme, and various figures
of thought (Lakoff 1987c), for example, metaphors and metonymies.
2.1 Free translation

Palumbo (2009: 49-50) defines free translation as one which conveys the meaning of the ST1, but
disregards its formal or structural aspects. It need not involve radical departures from the sense of the
ST, but only taking greater liberties with it. In translation of poetry, it may mean altering both the
metric properties and the conceptual elements of the text. Barkhudarov’s (1993) claim that the larger
the unit of translation, the freer the result (Palumbo 2009: 49) is fully justified in this case.
2.2 Creativity
Palumbo (2009: 29) defines creative strategy as “one that helps the translator to overcome the
problem represented by a particular ST element for which no automatic TL solution is provided.” He
quotes Kussmaul’s (1995: 42) example of the Spanish word macho being translated into German by
disregarding its feature of HUMAN BEING. The original English phrase “fanned by the flattery of
murmuring machos” was rendered as “umschmeichelt von bewundernden Blicken”, which reads in
English as “caressed by admiring looks”.
The compensation for the loss of the above-mentioned feature is based on the metonymy EFFECT
FOR CAUSE (Radden and Kövecses 1999: 38-39). There is contiguity between looks and human
beings since in such context they can only be produced by people. Creativity can thus mean
employing a common conceptual mechanism which changes a fragment of the ST into its non-literal
equivalent. Similar examples will be discussed below.
2.3 Category shift

Originally defined by Catford (1965) with respect to grammar, category shift can be extended to
cover concepts as well. Since metaphor and metonymy are, in spite of some continuity, regarded as
two distinct strategies of conceptualization (Dirven 1993), a change of a ST metaphor into a TT
metonymy or the other way round can be regarded as a category shift. In most cases, it is also
accompanied by changes in traditional grammatical categories, such as parts of speech or clauses.
Translation of poetry often involves both kinds of shift, which will be illustrated by some examples
below.
3. The analysis of texts

The present section analyses selected translations of poetic texts. They all illustrate the shifts of
conceptual categories where metaphor in a ST is rendered as metonymy in a TT or the other way
round, or a given metaphor is rendered as an entirely different metaphor. Some translations involve
loss of metonymy in the TT, its emergence in the TT, or employ more complex conceptual shifts
based on metaphtonymy.
All the TTs are good illustrations of various translators’ conceptual creativity. They will be discussed
in the chronological order related to the lives of their authors.
1
ST is an abbreviation that stands for source text, TT stands for target text, and TL for target language.
3.1 William Shakespeare

Shakespeare’s first text is Macbeth’s well-known final monologue from Act V, Scene 5, translated
by Jerzy Pietrkiewicz (1987: 52-53):
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time . . .
Jutro, znów jutro i nic, tylko jutro –

Wciąż drepcze w ciasnym kręgu od dnia do dnia,
Do ostatniego tętna w pulsie czasu [Eng. to the last beat of time’s pulse] . . .
In the last line of the ST, time is conceptualized as consisting of a finite number of discrete units
being syllables, hence by means of the metaphor TIME IS LANGUAGE. No formal equivalent of it
is present in the TT. However, Pietrkiewicz employed a metaphor which preserves the idea of time’s
divisibility into a finite number of discrete parts following one another. Time’s units are
conceptualized as successive beats of heart. When the last beat is over, time comes to an end. The
general metaphor TIME IS A LIVING ORGANISM is instantiated here as PASSAGE OF TIME IS
BEATING OF HEART.
As Lakoff and Turner (1989: 34-49) showed, time is often understood in terms of the general
personification metaphor TIME IS A CHANGER. It has many potential versions, in which time is
conceptualized as a destroyer, a devourer, an evaluator, etc. However, there is no evidence that time
in the TT is personified – beating of heart is a property of many different organisms. Even if it was
personified, it would still not be an agent. Like a reified time in the ST, it is an entity affected by
change – the former is recorded while the latter undergoes life processes.
The fact that in both metaphors time consists of a finite number of discrete units and is a patient
means that the relation between the cognitive topology of their source domains and the structure of
their target domains is similar. Lakoff’s (1990; 1993: 215) Invariance Principle has thus been
preserved on the level of translation, which makes for sense equivalence in the TT. After all, both
TIME IS LANGUAGE and TIME IS A LIVING ORGANISM are ontological metaphors.
Metonymy is lost in two lines of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 55, translated by Stanisław Barańczak (1993:
82-83):
When wasteful war shall statues overturn,

And broils root out the work of masonry . . .
Niech wojenne zniszczenie posągi obali,

Niech gmach [Eng. edifice] zrównają z ziemią batalie najkrwawsze – . . .
In the ST the concept of edifice is accessed by means of the metonymy PART OF A THING FOR
THE WHOLE WHOLE THING (Radden and Kövecses 1999: 31) – masonry is usually a part of a
building. The TT preserves the meaning, but employs the Polish equivalent of edifice, that is, gmach.
Such translation involves a conceptual shift from a non-literal concept to a literal one.
The final couplet of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 98, again translated by Barańczak (1993: 124-25), well
illustrates the reverse process:
Yet seemed it winter still, and, you away,

As with your shadow I with these did play.
Świat bez ciebie wciąż zdał się skuty gołoledzią

[Eng. the world without you seemed black ice-bound];
Wszelka w nim wiosna – echem twym lub zapowiedzią.
On the lexical level, the concept of winter in the ST is accessed by means of the concept of black ice
in the TT. The shift is based on metonymy since black ice is only an aspect of winter. The metonymy
can again be formulated as PART OF A THING FOR THE WHOLE THING. However, since black
ice can be regarded as a symptom of winter, an alternative formulation of the metonymy is possible,
that is, SYMPTOM FOR SEASON OF THE YEAR.
Metonymy is, however, present in both texts on the level of discourse. Like the whole poem, the
couplet deals with an emotional relationship between two persons.2 Absence of a friend causes a
negative feeling of sadness, which is conceptualized by means of the metaphor SADNESS IS COLD.
In both the ST and the TT, the source domain concept is accessed metonymically: the former
employs the metonymy SEASON OF THE YEAR FOR TEMPERATURE or simply WINTER FOR
COLD; the latter accesses the season of the year by means of one of its symptoms, which results in
what Fass (1997: 73) calls a simple metonymic chain: SYMPTOM FOR SEASON OF THE YEAR
FOR COLD or simply BLACK ICE FOR WINTER FOR COLD.
Barańczak’s translation of the following line from the second stanza of Sonnet 138 again illustrates
the strategy of omitting the metonymy present in the original text:
Simply I credit her false-speaking tongue . . .
Skłania, bym prostodusznie wierzył jej wymowie . . .

[Eng. . . . Makes me simple-heartedledly believe in her speech . . .]
Shakespeare employs the metonymy BODY PART FOR ABILITY, which is common in everyday
English. Tongue is associated with the ability to speak or its lack, which can be illustrated by the
following examples of expressions: “to have lost one’s tongue”, “to find one’s tongue”, or “to hold
one’s tongue”. Most of them have counterparts in Polish, but the literal concept of speech has been
used by the translator.
In turn, the same author’s translation of the following line from the same poem is another example of
metonymy replacing a literal expression:
And age in love loves not to have years told.
A metryk studiowanie przynosi jej szkody.

[Eng. Studying birth certificates is harmful to love.]
The idea of “studying birth certificates” stands for “having one’s years told” because such documents
are sources of information about how old one is. The TT equivalent is thus based on a conceptual
shift within an ICM of age, and the underlying metonymy can be formulated as STUDYING BIRTH
CERTIFICATES FOR LEARNING THEIR CONTENTS or simply BIRTH CERTIFICATE FOR
ITS CONTENTS.
Shakespeare’s line also contains the metaphor in which age is conceptualized as a person that can
like or dislike something. No equivalent concept is present in the TT – instead, love is rendered as a
2
In this context, Sonnets 97 and 98 should be read and analyzed together.
person to whom harm can be done. The ST metaphor AGE IS A PERSON has been replaced by
LOVE IS A PERSON in the TT.
3.2 John Donne

The first stanza of Donne’s poem “Song” (1633) was translated by Barańczak (1984: 8-9) in the
following way:
Go, and catch a falling star,

Get with child a mandrake root,
Tell me, where all past years are,
Or who cleft the devil’s foot . . .
Ten, kto gwiazdę w locie schwyta,

Sprawi dziecko mandragorze,
Wie, skąd diabeł wziął kopyta,
Albo czemu gasną zorze . . .
[Eng. Why afterglows fade . . .]
Not only does the TT change the order of the last two lines, but it also replaces a common metaphor
of time by a much less common metonymy of time. The ST expression “past years” involves the
MOVING TIME metaphor (Lakoff and Johnson 1999: 141-45). In the TT it is replaced by
metonymy which conceptualizes the lapse of time as fading of light in the west after sunset, hence as
the end of day. The ST metaphor thus surfaces as metonymy which can be formulated as EVENT
FOR PASSAGE OF TIME or simply EVENT FOR TIME (Lakoff and Johnson 1999: 154-55).
3.3 Lord Byron

The poem “So, we’ll go no more a-roving” (1817) is one of the best known short poems by Lord
Byron. Translation of its third stanza by Juliusz Żuławski (1954: 162) preserves the ST metaphor of
MOVING TIME, but pairs it with a metonymy:
Though the night was made for loving,

And the day returns too soon,
Yet we’ll go no more a-roving
By the light of the moon.
Więc choć noc kochania uczy

I zbyt wcześnie wraca brzask –
[Eng. And the dawn returns too soon –],
Nie będziemy się już włóczyć
W księżycowy blask.
In the TT it is dawn that returns and breaks up the spell of the night. The metonymy can be
formulated as FINAL SUBEVENT FOR WHOLE EVENT (Radden and Kövecses 1999: 32-33) –
dawn is only the early stage of day when light reappears. The translator thus employed two distinct
conceptual mechanisms to render the line.
The following stanza from Canto II of Don Juan (1819-24), translated by Pietrkiewicz (1987: 158-
59), is a good example of how one metaphor can substitute for another metaphor:
Well – well, the world must turn upon its axis,

And all mankind turn with it, heads or tails,
And live and die, make love, and pay our taxes,
And as the veering wind shifts, shift our sails;
The king commands us, and the doctor quacks us,

The priest instructs, and so our life exhales,
A little breath, love, wine, ambition, fame,
Fighting, devotion, dust, – perhaps a name.
Tak, tak – świat musi kręcić sie na osi.

W dół – w górę. Ludzkość z ziemią się obraca
I żyje, kocha, mrze, podatki znosi,
I jak wiatr wieje, tak żagle swe zwraca.
Król rozkazuje, ksiądz kazania głosi,
Szarlatan doktor mami. Świat to raca –
[Eng. The world is a firework]
Gaśnie jak miłość, sława, walk igrzysko . . .
[Eng. It goes out like love, fame, fighting . . .]
I cóż zostaje? Proch – czasem nazwisko . . .
In the ST the passage of human life is conceptualized in terms of life of an organism which runs its
cycle until it exhales the last breath and dies. The metaphor LIFE IS A LIVING ORGANISM is
combined here with the general metaphor LIFE IS A CYCLE (Lakoff and Turner 1989: 86-89). In
contrast, the TT presents life as a firework whose going out maps onto the end of life. It thus
employs the metaphor LIFE IS A FIRE or LIFE IS A FLAME, which, however, also is combined
with the metaphor LIFE IS A CYCLE (Lakoff and Turner 1990: 30-31; 86-89).
The essence of cycle is that it begins, reaches the point of highest intensity, and subsides (Johnson
1987: 119-22). The cycle metaphors of life are so common in poetry because they preserve the
topological structure of life, which itself is a cycle: the criteria of Lakoff’s (1990) Invariance
Principle are thus fulfilled. It is the main reason for which Pietrkiewicz’s translation, in spite of
employing a different metaphor, is a good sense equivalent of the ST.
“Stanzas written on the road between Florence and Pisa” (1821) is another short poem by Lord
Byron. Its translation by the Polish romantic poet Stefan Garczyński (Żuławski 1954: 177) not only
introduces a new metaphor, but also involves metaphtonymy. The second stanza runs as follows:
What are garlands and crowns to the brow that is wrinkled?

‘Tis but a dead-flower with May-dew besprinkled:
Then away with all such from the head that is hoary!
What care I for the wreaths that can only give glory?
Na czole pomarszczonym czymże wieniec świeży?

Jakby na zeschłym kwiecie maju rosa lśniała;
Precz więc z laurem, gdy głowę późny wiek ośnieży:
[Eng. Away with the garland, when old age covers head with snow:]
Tylko z kwiatu młodości rośnie szczera chwała.
Both in the ST and the TT, the concept of old age is accessed by one of its most salient symptoms,
that is, grey or even white hair. The lines contain the metonymy SYMPTOM FOR CONDITION,
which functions within the ICM of age.
However, in the TT the metonymy-related concept of white hair is expressed in a conceptually more
complex way. First, unlike in the ST, hair becomes white as a result of the action of old age, which is
personified as an agent. The metaphor can be formulated as OLD AGE IS AN AGENT (A
CHANGER). Secondly, the whiteness of hair itself is conceptualized as snow. The image or one-shot
metaphor (Lakoff 1987b) WHITE HAIR IS SNOW thus makes the metonymy SYMPTOM FOR
CONDITION possible. Such interplay of the two conceptual mechanisms can be classified as
metaphor-within-metonymy (Goossens 1990: 335).
3.4 Lord Tennyson

Final lines of Tennyson’s “Ulysses” (1833), translated by Pietrkiewicz (1987: 210-13), run as
follows:
. . . that which we are, we are;

One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
. . . – jesteśmy
Sobą w serc spójni heroicznej, które
Los sterał; wola w nich wciąż silna – każe
[Eng. {hearts} Weakened by fate; their strong will orders {us}]
Walczyć i szukać – i nie ustępować.
[Eng. To strive, to seek, and not to yield.]
The third line of the TT presents human will as a strong person. It thus employs the conceptual
metaphor HUMAN WILL IS A PERSON absent in the ST. This line also does not mention time as a
factor weakening people – the mentioning of fate makes its role implicit. The last line, in turn, does
not repeat all the verbs used in the ST. In English, they are short, monosyllabic words – it might not
be possible to render them in Polish as such without affecting the metre of the poem. The verb to find
is absent in the TT – its sense can, however, be recovered from the context provided by the use of the
verb to yield.
Not mentioning time and one of the verbs in the final line rests on the strategy of translation by
omission (Baker 1992: 40-42). Neither element is necessary to maintain the original sense in the TT.
Some loss in translation is clearly present, but it does not make the the TT non-equivalent.
In the present case, the strategy of omission involves formal metonymy paired with discourse
metonymy. The former was discussed by Radden and Kövecses (1999: 28; 36); the latter by
Barcelona (2002: 212-13), who draws on the findings of Lakoff (1987: 78-79) and Gibbs (1994:
Chapter 7). The last two lines involve two scenarios: the working of fate and the achievement of
purpose. Mentioning some aspects of the scenarios metonymically activates the omitted aspects,
which makes the translation complete on the level of sense, though not on the level of form. The
metonymy PART OF A FORM FOR THE WHOLE FORM (Radden and Kövecses 1999: 36), which
functions within the ICM of form, is motivated by the discourse metonymy EFFECT FOR CAUSE:
for fate to act, time must pass, and not yielding entails finding.
3.5 Thomas Hardy

The last stanza of Hardy’s poem “In Time of ‘The Breaking of Nations’” (1916), also translated by
Pietrkiewicz (1987: 250-51), contains metaphors and metonymies not present in the ST.
Yonder a maid and her wight

Come whispering by:
War’s annals will cloud into night
Ere their story die.
Oto dzieczyna z swym jedynym
Szepcząc przechodzi obok tuż.
Głos wojny skona w mroku sinym

[Eng. The voice of war will die in the thick darkness]
Prędzej niż szept tych dwojga dusz.
[Eng. Sooner than the whisper of their two souls.]
The third line of the TT personifies war. The metaphor WAR IS A PERSON ascribes to war the
human ability to speak. It is metonymically accessed by the concept of voice, which itself is
personified – the ability to die is its property. The source domain of the personification metaphor is
thus based on the metonymy SYMPTOM FOR ABILITY, and the combination of the two me-
chanisms can be called metonymy-within-metaphor (Goossens 1990: 333-35). In turn, the fourth line
of the TT contains the metonymy SOUL FOR PERSON, functioning within the ICM of person. The
love between the boy and the girl, representative of love in general, is conceptualized in it as
exchange of thought and feelings between them, hence via another metonymy, which can be
formulated as COMMUNION FOR RELATIONSHIP. The line is thus conceptually more complex
than its ST counterpart, which involves neither of the metonymies.
3.6 Gilbert Keith Chesterton

Chesterton’s poem “Gold Leaves” (1900), again translated by Pietrkiewicz (1987: 258-59), also
contains a metaphor not present in the ST. In this case, the metaphor is used to express the concept of
quantity. The first stanza runs as follows:
Lo! I am come to autumn,

When all the leaves are gold,
Grey hairs and golden leaves cry out
The year and I are old.
Patrz! Już doszedłem do jesieni,

[Eng. Look! I have already come to autumn,]
Nade mną złotych liści deszcz.
[Eng. Above me there is a rain of gold leaves.]
Włos siwiejący i liść złoty
[Eng Hair turning grey and the golden leaf]
Mówią: rok stary i ty też!
[Say: the year is old and so are you!]
Chesterton’s quantifier all is rendered as deszcz in Polish [Eng. rain]. Since rain consists of a large
number of drops, the concept suggests a large quantity of gold leaves. The metaphor LARGE
QUANTITY IS RAIN is quite conventional in Polish – its source domain suggests a large number of
some entities, e.g. of awards, praise, etc. In English, both rain and shower can serve as the source
domain, e.g. one can shower insults upon a person or rain honours on them.
In turn, LARGE QUANTITY IS RAIN is related to two other metaphors: LIFE IS A JOURNEY
(Lakoff and Turner 1989: 18), present in the first line, and A LIFETIME IS A YEAR (Lakoff and
Turner 1989: 27-28), present in both the first and the second line. The second metaphor sees human
life as a year cycle, and LARGE QUANTITY IS RAIN is built into its source domain. This results in
the relation of metaphor-within-metaphor, supported by the conventional association of autumn, rain,
and falling leaves. Both these metaphors are correlated with the common metonymy SYMPTOM
FOR CONDITION, in which hair turning grey is a sign of old age. The TT is thus more complex
conceptually than the ST – it uses three metaphors and a metonymy, with two metaphors being
interdependent.
3.7 William Butler Yeats

Yeats’s poem “An Irish Airman Foresees His Death” (1819), translated by Pietrkiewicz (1987: 262-
63), was dedicated to Major Robert Gregory, an Irish pilot who was shot down on the Italian front in
World War I. It contains a metonymy and a metaphor absent in the ST:
I know that I shall meet my fate

Somewhere among the clouds above;
Those that I fight I do not hate,
Those that I guard I do not love;
My country is Kiltartan Cross,
My countrymen Kiltartan’s poor . . .
Znam los mój, stromą wśród chmur drogę,

Lecz nie znam, walcząc twarzą w twarz,
Co to nienawiść – i nie mogę
Kochać tych, którym daję straż.
Kiltartan Cross jest moim domem,
Rodakiem – kiltartański głód . . .
[Eng. My countryman – Kiltartan’s famine . . .]
In the last line the translator used the association between poverty and famine, which may have been
motivated by his knowledge of the Irish famine of the 1840s. It made the people poor and caused
around one million of them to die. Many Irishmen held Britain responsible for their situation (Palmer
1977: 164-65). The TT equivalent of Kiltartan’s poor is thus based on the metonymy CAUSE FOR
EFFECT, which functions within the ICM of Irish famine.
Such method of translation has the effect of placing the poem in the wider context of Anglo-Irish
relations. Apart from the conceptual mechanisms that make it possible to achieve equivalence on the
sense level, the strategy is also justified by the third line of the stanza: “Those that I guard I do not
love” presumably refers to the English (Jeffares 1984: 344).
What is more, the translation of the line involves grammatical recategorization. First, the substitution
of the ST Kiltartan’s poor by the TT kiltartański głód (Eng. Kiltartan’s famine) changes the number
of the noun from plural into singular. It also entails the change of the ST plural expression My
countrymen into TT singular expression Rodakiem (Eng. My countryman). At the same time, the
element in question is a subject in the ST whereas its TT equivalent is a subject complement. Since
the singularized subject complement is still animate and human, the famine is personified. The TT
thus employs the metaphor FAMINE IS A PERSON, which is the second conceptual mechanism not
present in the ST. Once again, the TT is conceptually more complex than the original.
3.8 Herman Hesse

“The Lament” is the first of Joseph Knecht’s poems in the novel Das Glassperlenspiel (2007: 439)
by the Swiss-German writer Herman Hesse. Its third stanza was translated into English (Hesse 1987:
399) and Polish (Hesse 1993: 583)3 in a way that illustrates how metaphor and metonymy can
interact. The ST and its renderings into English and Polish are as follows:
Wir wissen nicht, wie Gott es mit uns meint,

Er spielt mit uns, dem Ton in seiner Hand,
3
The English and Polish titles of the novel are, respectively, The Glass Bead Game and Gra szklanych paci-
orków.
Der stumm und bildsam ist, nicht lacht noch weint,

Der wohl geknetet wird, doch nie gebrannt.
What god would make of us remains unknown:

He plays; we are the clay to his desire.
Plastic and mute, we neither laugh nor groan;
He kneads, but never gives us to the fire.
Nie wiemy, jaką rolę Bóg nam przyznać raczył,

Igra z nami, jesteśmy gliną w rękach Pana,
Niemą, podatną, co ani się śmieje, ani płacze,
Gnieciona, chociaż w piecu już nie wypalana.
The whole stanza conceptualizes human existence as clay and the process of shaping it as baking,
hence in terms of the ontological metaphor HUMAN LIFE IS A CLAY.
This metaphor is preserved in both the English and Polish texts, but they differ with respect to the
way its source domain is expressed. The German and Polish texts are alike in that they mention the
very process of baking. In the English text, the process is accessed via the CAUSE FOR EFFECT
metonymy – giving to the fire is a precondition for baking. Alternatively, the metonymy could be
formulated as SUBEVENT FOR THE WHOLE WHOLE EVENT (Radden and Kövecses 1999: 32-
33) – giving to the fire precedes baking. The English line is thus an instance of metonymy-within-
metaphor – a complex mapping that underlies many different metaphors (Goossens 1990: 333-35;
Barcelona 2003; Radden 2003).
3.9 Jaroslav Seifert

The last poem to be discussed is “Sklenĕný džbán” by the Czech Nobel Prize winner Jaroslav Seifert.
It was translated into Polish by Adam Włodek (1990: 142-45) as “Szklany dzbanek” [Eng. “Glass
jug”]. The first two lines of the first stanza run as follows:
Když je nám teprv deset let

či dvanáct – to je jak by smet . . .
[Eng. When we are ten or tvelve
years old – it is like a thirst . . .]
Gdy mamy dziesięć lat zaledwie,

czas w całkiem innym świecie biegnie.
[Eng. When we are only ten years old,
Time runs in a completely different world . . .]
The second line of the TT text departs from the ST in that instead of the metaphor DESIRE IS
THIRST it employs the metaphor of MOVING TIME. The new concept, however, fits the sense of
the whole poem, which deals with time’s passage and the way it shapes people’s expectations of life.
Accordingly, two other stanzas beginning in a similar way also contain the new metaphor.
In addition, the translator employed the strategy that Baker (1992: 40-42) calls translation by o-
mission. The ST mentions being ten or twelve years old as representative of very young age – the TT
mentions only being ten years old, but the sense is fully preserved. The strategy, as in the case of
Tennyson’s poem discussed above, is based on the metonymy PART OF A FORM FOR THE
WHOLE FORM. The TT omission is again justified by the need to preserve the metric system of the
poem.
4. Conclusions
The fact that metaphor and metonymy can be viewed as two contrastive mechanisms, which, res-
pectively, involve conceptualization across two domains or only one domain (Ruiz de Mendoza
Ibáñez 1997, Ruiz de Mendoza Ibáñez and Díez Velasco 2003), appears to be of much lesser
consequence when it comes to finding sense equivalents in poetry. The possibility of conceptual shift
along the metaphor-metonymy continuum can be regarded as a strategy making the rendering of
literary texts possible.
It is enough to return to Kussmaul’s (1995: 42) example discussed in section 3.2 above, which
involves the metonymy EFFECT FOR CAUSE absent in the ST. Since “admiring looks” stand for
“people who give them”, the feature of HUMAN BEING is neither lost nor disregarded, but
expressed indirectly, which is the essence of metonymy. Metonymy thus appears where it previously
had not been, which fully illustrates how free translation and creativity complement each other in
rendering poetic texts.
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224
225
Section VI:
Lexicology / Terminology
226
IMPROVING SPECIALISED TRANSLATION DICTIONARIES

ON THE BASIS OF A STUDY OF TERMINOLOGICAL VARIATION
Koen Kerremans
Centrum voor Vaktaal en Communicatie
Departement Toegepaste Taalkunde
Erasmushogeschool Brussel
Abstract. Previous studies have pointed out that specialised dictionaries only partially meet the
requirements of translators because they very often lack a specification of how a term is really
used in specialised discourse (Collet, 2004a). Terms may vary depending on the type of text, the
intended readership, the register, etc. (Freixa, 2006). For translators, it is important to be aware
of the different factors that have an impact on term choice. They need to know what terms in the
source language are commonly used to address a concept in specific communicative settings
and how these terms can be translated.
This article summarises an ongoing project which examines and compares terminological va-
riation in source texts and translations. The aim of the project is to find out whether certain pat-
terns or tendencies can be derived from this comparative study and to reflect on how the results
of the study can contribute to the compilation of specialised translation dictionaries.
1. Introduction
This article summarises an ongoing project which examines and compares terminological variation
in source texts and translations. The project aim is to find out whether certain patterns or tendencies
can be derived from a comparative analysis of terminological variation in source and target texts and
to reflect on how the results of the study can contribute to the compilation of specialised translation
dictionaries.
Terminological variation in specialised source texts is likely to be reflected in translations. Support

for this hypothesis can be found in studies of universal features of translation (Blum-Kulka, 1986;
Baker, 1993; Toury, 1995; Laviosa, 1998; Tirkkonen-Condit, 2002; Mauranen, 2004). For instance,
Toury (1995)'s law of interference states that elements of the source text tend to be transferred to the
target text during the process of translation. This influence of the source language system is not only
noticeable on the syntactic level but also on the lexical level: i.e. translators propose terminological
equivalents in the target text based on term choices that were made in the source text.
Given the close intertextual relation between a source text and its translation, it seems reasonable to
expect that a set of source language terms is replaced by a set of conceptually equivalent target
language terms. However, Rogers (2004) showed that this is not necessarily so. She observed that the
translation of terms is linguistically more creative than often assumed and argued that his may be due
to the polysemy and synonymy of terms which establish complex relations between forms and
meanings. She also observed that phraseological contexts in which terms are embedded may vary
cross-linguistically and that these contexts may have a perspectivising role. This means that it is not
always possible for translators to translate a source language term consistently, i.e. by means of the
same translation equivalent. I believe it is therefore important to represent the different termino-
logical variants and translation options – as they appear in specialised texts – in specialised trans-
lation dictionaries.
This project combines the onomasiological approach in terminological analysis – which takes the
concept as the starting-point in the analysis of source language terms and their translations – with a
textual and contrastive analysis of actual term use. This means that terminological variants in the
source language are clustered, not necessarily on the basis of semantic and conceptual equivalence
228 KOEN KERREMANS
but on the basis of their co-referential status in a specialised text (Rogers 2007). Translation
equivalents are retrieved from translation correspondences found in parallel texts.
Section 2 is a brief discussion of the research framework in which the current project is to be situa-
ted. In section 3, I will present the research methodology that has been worked out for studying ter-
minological variation in source texts and translations. What follows in section 4 are some examples
of how results from the analysis can be presented and studied in more detail. In section 5, a con-
clusion is drawn.
2. Research framework
The topic of variation was for a long time obscured in terminology research (Lerat 1995). Since one
of the main functions of terms is to facilitate specialised communication and knowledge transfer, it
was proclaimed in traditional terminology theory that only one term should be assigned to a concept
and vice versa (Wüster, 1979; Felber, 1981):
“Using terms in LSP communication is thought to render texts more precise and systematic, aesthetical-
ly neutral and economical in expression (although sometimes more monotonous).The avoidance of lexi-
cal variation such as synonymy and homonymy [...] is thought to facilitate the understanding of texts as
part of the translation process.” (Gerzymisch-Arbogast, 2008: 16).
In more recent years, this principle of univocity has been questioned in several descriptive termi-
nology approaches (a.o. Cabré, 2000; Temmerman, 2000; Gaudin, 2003; Desmet, 2007; Diki-Kidiri,
2007). The critique has led to shifts, both theoretically and methodologically, in the study of ter-
minology (Temmerman and Kerremans, 2003). As a result, the notion of variation has taken up a
more central position in descriptive terminology research and is now studied at different linguistic
levels of specialised language (e.g. morphological, syntactic levels).
Despite these shifts, I observe that the principle of univocity still has a major impact on the way
many terminological resources are being compiled today, on what information is selected and on
how it is presented to the users. Many specialised dictionaries are designed to provide general in-
formation about the important concepts that constitute a specific subject field or knowledge area
(Pearson, 1998; Collet, 2004a). Many specialised dictionaries are therefore ‘knowledge-oriented’: i.e.
they focus on how a subject field is structured and what important concepts can be discerned
(Fuertes-Olivera and Arribas-Baño, 2008). The concept – which is the starting-point of the termi-
nological analysis – is identified by means of an ‘official’ or ‘original’ term and its definition (Collet,
2004a:248).
Previous studies have pointed out that specialised dictionaries only partially meet the requirements of
translators. Translators consult dictionaries to acquire a better understanding of particular concepts or
the subject field, but also to familiarise themselves with the terminology and to look up possible
translation equivalents of terms they encountered in the source text. Many specialised dictionaries
lack ‘communication-oriented’ information: i.e. a specification of how a term really ‘behaves’ in
specialised discourse or when to use what expression (Collet, 2004a; Fuertes-Olivera and Arribas-
Baño, 2008). Questions such as ‘are there any collocational restrictions?’ or ‘what term fits best in
the translation context?’ remain very often unanswered. One explanation for this is that in specialised
dictionaries it is very often neglected that terms not only have a referential function (i.e. they point to
domain-specific concepts), but also fulfill additional roles in specialised discourse. Seen from a
textual perspective, for instance, Collet (2004b) observed that terms also contribute to text coherence.
This explains why in specialised texts, authors sometimes deviate from the traditional view of using
only one term consistently throughout the text to refer to a particular concept. From a communicative
point of view, terms are used in specialised discourse to transfer thoughts from sender to receiver and
each expression is adapted to the specific communicative situation (Cabré, 1995:8). This explains
why in certain communicative situations a lexical variant may be preferred over a term that appears
in a specialised dictionary.
What follows from this is that terminological variation is often motivated (Freixa, 2006). Ignoring
variation in specialised translation may in some cases be problematic, as Bowker and Hawkins
argued with respect to medical translations: “Translators may actually over-standardize, creating
consistency in places where the use of variants was deliberate and well reasoned” (2006:80). For a
translator, who works within the reality of specialised discourse, it is important to know what source
terms are commonly used to address a concept in a specific communicative setting and how these
terms can be translated.
3. Research methodology
In what follows I will report on a comparative analysis of the patterns of variation in a multilingual
parallel corpus (English, Dutch and French) of specialised texts on environmental issues. An existing
glossary is used as a starting-point for setting up a list of terms and clusters of terminological variants
(section3.1). This list is further extended with terms and variants that are manually extracted from the
English-language source texts. By means of the extended term list, all term occurrences in the source
segments of the aligned corpus are automatically annotated (section 3.2). For each annotated unit in
the source segments, a translation equivalent is manually highlighted in the corresponding target
segments (section3.3).
3.1 Research material

The corpus consists of 43 English source texts (108,243 tokens) related to environmental issues (e.g.
air pollution, climate change, invasive species, etc.) and their translations into Dutch (118,985
tokens) and French (131,721 tokens). All texts were aligned on sentence level, wherever possible.
The texts in the corpus were collected from several (mainly European) sources. Several parameters
or dimensions were taken into consideration in order to reach some variation in the corpus texts: e.g.
the source (e.g. European Environment Agency), the text types (e.g. legal vs. non-legal) or the
subject field (e.g. climate change, invasive species). It is hypothesised that these factors will have an
impact on the degree or types of variation encountered in the source and target texts.
In order to carry out a comparative study of terminological variation in the environmental domain, it
was decided to first set up a check list of terms based on the Environmental Terminology and
Discovery Service of the EU’s European Environment Agency (EEA).1 This multilingual termi-
nology base contains around 10,000 environment-related terms originating from different sources.
The resulting term list is used to automatically find and annotate exact matches in the source
language documents of the parallel corpus.
3.2 Analysis of source language terminology

Seen from a textual perspective, the unit of understanding is the starting-point in the analysis of
terminological variation in a source text. The notion of unit of understanding (UoU) was introduced
in sociocognitive terminology theory in order to clarify the inadequacy of classical concept theory
for the conceptual structure of most specialised fields (Temmerman, 2000). As in traditional
terminology theory a ‘concept’ is by definition clearly delineated and preferably referred to by one
term only, the term ‘concept’ is avoided in the remainder of this article. Instead the term ‘unit of
understanding’ is used which allows for prototypically structured understanding, i.e. fuzziness and
multiple ways of lexicalisation.
1
See: http://glossary.eea.europa.eu/
230 KOEN KERREMANS
In order to cluster the different terminological variants that refer to the same unit of understanding or
UoU, a unique label or ‘UoU label’ had to be created. For instance, the UoU label ‘DO-
MESTIC_BIODIVERSITY’ is used to cluster the terms ‘agricultural biodiversity’, ‘agrobiodi-
versity’, ‘domestic biodiversity’ and ‘farmland biodiversity’. The cluster of terminological variants
may eventually consist of various types of terminological variation (e.g. orthographic variation,
lexical variation, morphological variation, reduction, permutation, etc.).
A textual perspective is adopted to search for terminological variants that have co-referential status
in a text. These variants are found by analysing lexical chains. According to Rogers (2007: 17), a
lexical chain consists of “cohesive ties sharing the same referent, lexically rather than grammatically
expressed”. I will show by means of two text samples how such analysis is carried out and what
terms are considered part of the lexical chain. In these two text samples, all underlined terms refer to
a unit of understanding labelled in English as ‘invasive alien species’. Invasive alien species are alien
species that enter a new habitat, manage to thrive there until they become a real threat for the
endemic fauna and flora.
The first text sample is taken from the European Commission’s staff working document about
invasive alien species:
"Invasive Alien Species" are alien species whose introduction and/or spread threaten biological
diversity [...]. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment revealed that IAS impact on all ecosystems [...].
The problem of biological invasions is growing rapidly as a result of increased trade activities. Invasive
species (IS) [...] negatively affect biodiversity [...]. IS can cause congestion in waterways, damage to
forestry, crops and buildings and damage in urban areas. The costs of preventing, controlling and/or
eradicating IS and the environmental and economic damage are significant. The costs of control,
although lower than the costs of continued damage by the invader, are often high.”
(Commission of the European Communities, 2008a: 2).
The lexical chain drawn from this text sample is: ‘invasive alien species – ias – invasive species (is)
– is – is – invader’. The longer string ‘alien species whose introduction and/or spread threaten
biological diversity’ also refers to the unit of understanding ‘INVASIVE_ALIEN_SPECIES’ but is
disregarded because it is a paraphrase or short description. The hypernym ‘alien species’ in this
description is left unmarked because it refers to a different i.e. a hypernymic unit of understanding.
The second text sample is taken from the communication of the European Commission on invasive
alien species:
“In some instances these new arrivals are so successful that they are no longer a biological curiosity but
a real threat, causing serious damage not only to ecosystems but also to crops and livestock, disrupting
the local ecology, impacting on human health and producing serious economic effects. Non-native
species that have such a negative impact are known as Invasive Species or IS [...].”
(Commission of the European Communities, 2008b: 2).
The expressions ‘new arrivals’, ‘invasive species’ and ‘is’ have been underlined. The longer string
‘non-native species that have such a negative impact’ is not considered because it is a paraphrase.
Also in this fragment, the hypernym ‘non-native species’ was not selected because it refers to a
different unit of understanding. Note that in this second text sample the unit of understanding is also
referred to by ‘they’ in the first sentence. This word is not considered as part of the lexical chain
because it is a grammatical expression.
Based on a qualitative analysis of the texts, new terms are added to the existing term list of source
terms and UoU labels. Each term extracted from the source texts, is also automatically saved to a
separate data file together with its corresponding UoU label, the lemmatised form, the context in
which the term appears as well as a reference to the exact location of the occurrence in the source
text. An output sample is shown in Table 1. Information about the starting positions and lengths of
contexts and term occurrences are left out in this example. The first column shows the Segment ID,
i.e. the position of the text segment in the text. The second column shows the context from which the
term occurrence in the fifth column was extracted. The third column shows the UoU label, the fourth
column the lemma.
Table 1: Sample of a data file for source texts
It should be noted that although the annotation of the source language terminology was automatically
performed, a manual analysis is currently still required to verify whether all source language terms
were correctly annotated. Problems obviously occur in the case of terms that are used in different
clusters, such as hypernyms.
3.3 Analysis of translation equivalents

The results in the data file are used to search for translation equivalents in the aligned texts. The
starting point in this contrastive analysis is the unit of translation, i.e. a text segment which is treated
by the translator as one single cognitive unit. Units of translation have been studied at the level of the
text, paragraph, sentence, phrase or word (Zhu, 1999). In this study, the unit of translation is defined
as the combination of a source language term – of which examples were shown in the previous
section – and its equivalent in the target text. This is shown in Table 2.
Table 2:. Lexical chains (English – Dutch – French)
Note that all plural forms extracted from the text samples were turned into the singular form in this
table. The first column presents the lexical chain derived from the analysis of the first text sample in
the previous section. The second and third columns in this table list the translation equivalents
encountered in the Dutch and French translations, respectively, of the English version of the
European Commission’s staff working document about invasive alien species (Commission of the
European Communities, 2008a).
This table only shows how the terms in the English lexical chain have been translated into Dutch and
French. The result does not necessarily correspond with the actual lexical chains in Dutch and
French. For instance, the last sentence of the English text sample – “The costs of control, although
lower than the costs of continued damage by the invader, are often high” – was translated into French
as “Les coûts de la lutte contre les EE sont souvent élevés, même s'il revient encore plus cher de
232 KOEN KERREMANS
laisser l'envahisseur provoquer des dégâts.” In the French translation ‘costs of control’ has been
turned into ‘coûts de la lutte contre les EE’. The French translation explicitly mentions that it is the
costs of control of invasive species. In the English source segment this information is left implicit.
An analysis of the lexical chain in the French text sample would consequently show one term more
as compared to the English lexical chain.
This table shows some deviations in the translations of the source language terms. The English
lexical chain consists of 5 unique terms to express the unit of understanding ‘INVASIVE_ALIEN_
SPECIES’: ‘invasive alien species’, ‘IAS’, ‘invasive species’, ‘IS’ and ‘invader’. The Dutch sample
lists 4 unique terms: ‘invasieve uitheemse soort’, ‘IUS’, ‘invasieve soort’ and ‘IS’. The French
translation lists 4 terms: ‘espèce exotique envahissante’, ‘espèce envahissante’, ‘EE’and ‘envahis-
seur’. There are two occurrences where the Dutch translation seems to deviate from the original text.
In the first occurrence, the abbreviated form ‘IUS’ is added to the full form ‘invasieve uitheemse
soort’. This is probably due to the fact that in the original version the term ‘invasive alien species’ in
the first sentence is followed by its abbreviated form ‘IAS’ in the second sentence. By adding the
abbreviation ‘IUS’ to the full form, an explicit link is established between the first and the second
sentence in the Dutch translation. In the English version, the link between the two sentences is less
clear. In the French translation, the term ‘IAS’ is not translated. Instead, the full form ‘espèce
exotique envahissante’ is also repeated in the second sentence.
The second and final occurrence where the Dutch translation deviates from the original text is in the
translation of ‘invader’. The abbreviated form ‘IS’ is encountered instead of the more direct equiva-
lent ‘indringer’.
With respect to the translation equivalents, it should be noted that there are no restrictions as to the
types of utterances extracted from the target language texts. If a term in the source language is for
instance translated as a pronoun or a longer description, the equivalents are regarded as relevant data.
The fact that a translator has translated a terminological variant as a personal pronoun could be a way
for him/her to disregard the terminological variation occurring in the source text.
Analysing translation equivalents is carried out semi-automatically. Source terms and translations are
added to a translation dictionary. If a translation equivalent of a given source term is found in the
translation dictionary, the translation is automatically saved to a new output file, together with the
context line in the data file of the source text (section 3.2). New translations are manually highlighted
and then automatically added to the dictionary file and to the new output file. The output file takes as
input the results from the analysis of source language terminology (section3.2) and also shows the
lemma, the occurrence and the context of the translation equivalent. An example is shown in Table 3.
Table 3: Sample of corpus data

This output format makes it possible to derive conclusions with respect to both intra- as well as
interlingual terminological variation. The data in this output format can be queried in different ways
(section 4).
4. Examining results
In this section, different examples will be discussed to show what information can be retrieved from
the resulting corpus data. Section 4.1 looks at variation in clusters. Sections 4.2 and 4.3 show
examples of how intra- and interlingual terminological variation is compared, respectively in a text
and in the corpus.
4.1 Variation in clusters

As terms in the source language and translation equivalents have been assigned unique UoU labels, it
becomes possible to retrieve all expressions for a given unit of understanding. One way to compare
clusters of intralingual variation between English, Dutch and French is to list all terms in a table,
together with their frequencies in the corpus. This is shown in Table for the unit of understanding
‘EMISSION_CEILING’. This unit of understanding restricts (or puts a ‘ceiling’ on) the total amount
of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions that can be released into the athmosphere. The unit of
understanding was found 18 times in the corpus of source texts materialised in 5 different terms:
‘cap’, ‘ceiling’, ‘emissions ceiling’, ‘emission standard’ and ‘limit’. More variation was found in the
translations: 7 terms for French and 9 for Dutch.
The degree of terminological variation is measured on the basis of the Type Token Ratio or TTR, a
measure which is normally used to study lexical diversity or richness in a corpus. Note that in this
case ‘token’ stands for the total number of single- or multiword terms extracted from the corpus texts
and ‘type’ means the unique term occurrences in source and target texts. In this particular example,
the TTR for English is 0.27. Note that the TTR for French is the result of dividing the 7 unique terms
by 17 occurrences (as opposed to 18 for Dutch and English) as the symbol ‘Φ’ in the French column
indicates that there was one instance where the English term was not translated. For Dutch the TTR
is much higher: i.e. 0.50. One can also find examples of free translation in the Dutch results: the verb
‘beperken’ (i.e. to limit), for instance, or the general word ‘doelstelling’ (i.e. ‘aim’ or ‘purpose’) as
translations of limit (cf. Section 4.2).
Table 4: Comparison of intralingual variation
4.2 Comparing intra- and interlingual variation in a text

Apart from comparing variation in clusters, one can also reconstruct the lexical chains for given units
of understanding in a source text based on the segment ID (cf. Section3.2) and the position of each
term in the segment and see how the different English terms have been translated into the two target
languages.
234 KOEN KERREMANS
Table 5: lexical chain of EMISSION_CEILING
Table 5 shows the English lexical chain for EMISSION_CEILING taken from a chapter on air pol-
lution in the European Environment Agency’s Signals publication of 2009, an annual publication of
the EEA on key environmental issues facing Europe. 2
Lexical chains are particularly useful to examine how a given unit of understanding evolves
throughout a text. This sample shows that ‘ceiling’ is the most frequent term in the English lexical
chain. The full variant ‘emissions ceiling’ appears as second occurrence but is then followed by the
abbreviated form or by the lexical variant ‘limit’. This is also reflected in the Dutch and French
translations, with the exception of two deviations. French deviates from the English lexical chain in
the fourth occurrence where the English term ‘limit’ is translated as ‘limite d’émission’, which may
be an example of explicitation. Also in Dutch one deviation is found, i.e. in the final occurrence
where ‘limit’ is translated as ‘doelstelling’ (i.e. ‘aim’ or ‘purpose’), which is a more free translation.
By comparing lexical chains in different texts for a given unit of understanding, it becomes possible
to study correlations between the occurrence of a given term and its position in the text. Moreover,
depending on other parameters, such as text type or source, one might also detect certain tendencies
with respect to the translation of given terms.
Lexical chains are good representations for comparing source terms and translations in one given
text. Translation tendencies can also become clear by transferring data from lexical chains into tables
showing the different translation pairs (i.e. a term and its translation equivalent) together with their
corresponding frequencies in a text. Table 6 shows the different source terms and French and Dutch
translations of the unit of understanding ‘GREENHOUSE_GAS_EMISSION’ in an opinion on
climate change published in 2007 by the Committee of the Regions.3 The unit of understanding
refers to the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, causing global warming.
2
See: http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/signals-2009
3
See: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:52007AR0110:EN:NOT
Table 6: Translation pairs for ‘GREENHOUSE_GAS_EMISSION’
The results in this table show a preference for the shortened form ‘emission’ – as was also the case in
the previous example of ‘EMISSION_CEILING’. The term ‘emission’ appears 6 times in this text
(in the context of ‘GREENHOUSE_GAS_EMISSION’). This term is followed by its full form
‘greenhouse gas emission’ with a frequency of 4 occurrences, then ‘ghg emission’ with a frequency
of 3 occurrences and, finally, ‘CO2 emission’, which appears only once and which would normally
be considered a hyponym of the term ‘greenhouse gas emission’.
The French results show, on the one hand, a tendency towards consistency (i.e. each source term is
translated by means of one French equivalent only) and, on the other hand, a tendency towards
reducing variation: there is no direct translation for ‘ghg emission’. Instead, the direct translation of
‘greenhouse gas emission’ (i.e. ‘émission de gaz à effet de serre’) is used. In contrast to French,
Dutch shows more variation in this example. The variation is due to morpho-syntactic variation (e.g.
‘CO2-uitstoot’ and ‘uitstoot van CO2’) and the alternation between ‘uitstoot’ en ‘emissie’, resulting
in variants such as ‘uitstoot van broeikasgassen’ and ‘broeikasgasemissie’.
Apart from having more intralingual variants, Dutch shows less consistency with respect to the
translation of 3 of the 4 source terms. The most frequent translation of ‘emission’ is ‘uitstoot’ (3
occurrences), followed by ‘emissie’ (1 occurrence) and ‘CO2-uitstoot’ (1 occurrence). Note that 1
occurrence of emission was not translated. This is indicated by the symbol ‘Φ’. Just like the French
translation, Dutch does not provide a direct equivalent for ‘ghg emission’ in this example (e.g. ‘bg-
uitstoot’ or ‘uitstoot van bg’). The source term is translated three times different: ‘broeikasgasemis-
sie’, ‘emissie’ and ‘uitstoot van broeikasgassen’. Finally, interlingual variation is also found in the
way ‘greenhouse gas emission’ is translated: 3 times as ‘uitstoot van broeikasgassen’ and 1 time as
‘broeikasgasemissie’.
4.3 Comparing intra- and interlingual variants in the corpus

Based on the corpus data, it is also possible to compare the distribution and frequency of occurrence
of different intra- and interlingual variants in the corpus (cf. Table 7). In this particular example, a
comparison is shown between ‘alien species’ and ‘non-native species’ (in the context of the unit of
understanding ‘ALIEN_SPECIES’) and their translations into French.
This table shows that in 7 texts, either one of the two or the two English terms were encountered.
There are four texts that are published by the European Commission. These texts are initiated by
236 KOEN KERREMANS
‘EC’. The text ‘EC-COM789’ is a communication from the Commission to the Council and the
European Parliament which discusses the EU strategy on invasive species.4 The text ‘EC-STAFF-
2886’ is a Commission staff working document that contains an annex to the ‘EC-COM789’ text.5
‘EC-COM-DC0216’ is another communication from the Commission. It discusses how the EU
should halt the loss of biodiversity by 2010.6 The final text of the EC is ‘EC-KH-558’ which is a fact
sheet on invasive alien species published in 2009.7 The text ‘EEA-SIG-SLUG’ comes from the
European Environment Agency and is also a chapter from its Signals report of 2009 (cf. Section 4.2).
The ‘EESC-OP-IS’ text is an opinion related to invasive species, published by the European and
Economic Social Committee (EESC)8. Finally, ‘GRE-BIOD-FOLD’ refers to a text on biodiversity
published by Greenfacts, an independent non-profit organization with the aim to bring complex
scientific consensus reports on health and the environment to the reach of non-specialists.9 Together
with the text published by the EEA, this text is a scientific summary, while the other texts in this
table belong to the EU legal framework.
Table 7: Translations of ‘alien species’ and ‘non-native species’
The table shows that despite the fact that ‘non-native species’ more frequently appears in the corpus
than ‘alien species’, the latter is much more distributed as it appears in 6 of the 7 texts (as compared
to the presence of ‘non-native species’ in 4 texts). The overall higher frequency of ‘non-native
species’ is due to its frequency of occurrence in the ‘EC-COM789’ text. The EC’s communication
mentions ‘alien species’ only once – as part of the longer string ‘alien and locally absent species’ –
as compared to the 11 times that ‘ALIEN_SPECIES’ is referred to by ‘non-native species’. Term
consistency is exactly what you would expect in a text that is part of the European legal framework.
The Joint Practical Guide of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission for persons
involved in the drafting of legislation within the Community institutions10, published in 2003,
addresses the issue of term consistency in chapter 6, section 6.2:
4
See: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:52008DC0789:EN:NOT
5
See: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:52008SC2886:EN:NOT
6
See: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2006:0216:FIN:EN:HTML
7
See:
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/pubs/pdf/factsheets/Invasive%20Alien%20Species/Invasive_Alien_EN.pdf
8
See: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2009:306:0042:01:EN:HTML
9
See: http://www.greenfacts.org/en/biodiversity/biodiversity-foldout.pdf
10
See: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/en/techleg/pdf/en.pdf
“Consistency of terminology means that the same terms are to be used to express the same concepts and
that identical terms must not be used to express different concepts. The aim is to leave no ambiguities,
contradictions or doubts as to the meaning of a term. Any given term is therefore to be used in a uni-
form manner to refer to the same thing and another term must be chosen to express a different concept.”
Despite this observation, the annex to this document ‘EC-STAFF-2886’ two times mentions the term
’alien species’ instead of ‘non-native species’. The term ‘alien species’ is also preferred in the EC’s
communication ‘EC-COM-DC0216’. The EESC’s opinion, however, which explicitly refers to the
‘EC-COM789’ text, does mention the term ‘non-native species’. The two texts that are not part of the
EU legal framework – i.e. ‘EEA-SIG-SLUG’ and ‘GRE-BIOD-FOLD’ – prefer the use of the term
‘alien species’. In the EEA text, the term ‘non-native species’ only appears once whereas in the text
by Greenfacts, this term does not appear at all.
Table 7 also shows the different French translations of ‘alien species’ and ‘non-native species’ in the
corpus, together with their frequencies. Three translations were found for ‘alien species’: ‘espèce
allogène’, ‘espèce étrangère’ and ‘espèce exotique’, the latter being the most common translation of
the English term. ‘Espèce exotique’ is also found once as a translation of ‘non-native species’, more
specifically in the EC’s factsheet ‘EC-KH-558’. The more common French translation of ‘non-native
species’ is ‘espèce non indigène’.
The term ‘espèce étrangère’ only appears once in the corpus as a translation of ‘alien species’, more
specifically in the scientific summary published by Greenfacts. The term ‘espèce allogène’ also
appears only one time in the corpus, more specifically in the EC communication ‘EC-COM-
DC0216’. The reason why this term appears in that text also follows the principle of term consis-
tency. The word ‘allogène’ appears 7 times in the text: 5 times in ‘espèce allogène envahissante’ (i.e.
‘invasive alien species’), 1 time in ‘génotype allogène’ (i.e. ‘alien genotype’) and 1 time as ‘espèce
allogène’.
This type of representation will make it possible to study correlations between a text or a group of
text types and given term use within the same language or across different languages.
5. Conclusion
Corpora can contribute significantly to the creation of specialised translation dictionaries which
better reflect inter- as well as intralingual terminological variation. Many approaches have been
worked out in order to automatically obtain different data from corpus texts, such as terms (e.g. Le
Serrec et al., 2010), semantic or conceptual relations (e.g. Lapshinova-Koltunski 2010) or definitions
(e.g. Westerhout, 2009). Also approaches have been described for automatically extracting synonyms
(e.g. van der Plas en Tiedemann 2010) or translations from corpus texts (e.g. Lefever et al., 2009).
Some of these approaches rely on the construction of linguistic patterns (e.g. Barrière and Agbago,
2006), whereas others rely on statistical measures (e.g. Kaji et al. 2010). In all these approaches,
frequency is an important factor to determine the relevance of the extracted data. Although frequency
is a good indicator for translators to determine the validity of certain translation candidates, it is
certainly not the only criterium that they take into consideration when trying to find a suitable
solution to a given translation problem. The fact that a specific translation equivalent only appeared
one time in the corpus of translated texts – e.g. in a context which is very similar to the context in
which (s)he is translating – may be reason enough for the translator to ‘reuse’ the equivalent in
his/her own translation.
The combination of onomasiological (i.e. starting from a unit of understanding) and textual per-
spectives (i.e. identifying terms having co-referential status) will have an impact on the treatment and
representation of terminological variants in specialised translation dictionaries. Although the
dictionary’s macro-structure will still be determined by the units of understanding that constitute a
238 KOEN KERREMANS
given domain, the actual clusters of terminological variants will not necessarily be confined to lists
of terms having the same meaning. In some clusters, also conceptually related terms may be regarded
as terminological variants, depending on whether these variants occurred as co-referents in the
corpus. Consider for instance the term ‘CO2 emission’ as part of ‘GREENHOUSE_GAS_EMISSION’
in Table 6 of Section 4.2.
For translators, it is important to adopt this textual perspective in the analysis of terminological
variation. They need to know what variants can be used, in what types of texts these variants
frequently occur, etc.: “Term descriptions on a systems level (as terminology in Wüster’s sense) need
to be complemented by contextual data of their possible and likely contaminations or frequency of
‘constellations’ and would then be of great practical help for LSP translators in all phases of the
translation process […]” (Gerzymisch-Arbogast, 2008:25).
The presentation of different English, French and Dutch terms referring to ‘EMISSION_CEILING’
in section 4.1 gives translators an overview of possible terms and variants in the source language and
translations in the target languages for a given unit of understanding. Tendencies can also be shown
with respect to the position of a given terminological variant in the text (section 4.2) or the
correlation between the type of text and a given term in the source language or a given translation
(section 4.3). Results can be used to acquire better insight in occurrences of terminological variation
and in translation tendencies (in individual texts or clusters of texts).
This article presents work in progress. In the next phase of the project, possible correlations will be
examined between the occurrence of certain terminological variants and the types of texts in the
corpus and correlations between the adoption of particular translation techniques and parameters
such as the text, text type, source, linguistic context (collocations), etc.
Acknowledgements
This research project is financed by the Free University of Brussels and the Erasmus University
College Brussels. I wish to thank prof. dr. Rita Temmerman (Department of Applied Linguistics,
Erasmus University College Brussels) for her comments and feedback on a previous version of this
article.
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240
DEVELOPING TECHNICAL TERMS IN THE INDIGENOUS SOUTH

AFRICAN LANGUAGES:
BORROWING A FACT OR FICTION?
Koliswa Moropa
Department of Linguistics, University of South Africa (UNISA)
Abstract: This paper seeks to explore about thirty technical terms selected from the Multilingual
Information Communication Technology Terminology List (2008). The terminology list is meant
to promote communication in technical fields and specialized areas in the ICT environment.
Since African languages do not have equivalents for these new concepts, the aim of this article
is to establish how borrowing has been used in creating terms. Can therefore the frequent use of
this term formation process be viewed as an effective way of developing technical terminology
in the indigenous South African languages?
1. Introduction
Before 1994 the official languages of South Africa were English and Afrikaans although the speakers
of these two languages comprise about ten percent of the entire population. The indigenous
languages have hardly ever been used in technological, scientific and other related fields. This
neglect has resulted in a lack of relevant terminology and has caused some scholars to declare that
technical translation into African languages is not practical, despite the translations that are produced
regularly. The lack of translational and terminological resources for the South African translator who
translates from English into an African language has been described by Gauton and De Schryver
(2004: 148) as “the single biggest problem that translators have to contend with” as these languages
are short of terminology in the majority of specialized fields. The few bilingual dictionaries that exist
in these languages hardly contain any scientific or technical terms. The problem is currently being
addressed by National Language Service (NLS) within the Department of Arts and Culture as a
number of terminology lists are being developed and published by the aforementioned department.
The National Language Service also plays an indispensable role in making government publications
available to the wider public in the nine indigenous languages which are IsiZulu, IsiXhosa, Siswati,
IsiNdebele, Setswana, Sepedi, Sesotho, Tshivenḓa and Xitsonga. The terminology lists can be
downloaded from the departmental website and printed for personal use, but the copyright remains
with the Department of Arts and Culture.
2. A brief overview of the multilingual terminology lists

The National Language Service (NLS) is the Chief Directorate of the National Department of Arts
and Culture and it has a broad task of “meeting constitutional obligations on multilingualism by
managing language diversity through language planning, human language technologies and
terminology projects ….” The Terminology Coordination Section (TCS) within the NLS is
responsible for all terminology related projects. The NLS has set guidelines for Terminology Co-
ordination and Management. The Guidelines provide information regarding:
• needs assessments,
• planning terminology projects,
• constituting terminology committee
• dealing with various tasks that lead to the finalization of the terminology lists
• the role and duties of the different role-players in the terminology production network
(http://www.dac.gov.za/chief_directorates/NLS/list.htm)
In preparation for the development of a multilingual glossary, the NLS forms terminology working
groups for the various target languages i.e. nine African languages and Afrikaans. Each group
242 KOLISWA MOROPA
comprises a chairperson, coordinator, secretary, linguists, lexicographers and members of the National
Language Bodies (NLBs). The following is a list of some Multilingual Glossaries published by NLS:
1. Multilingual Parliamentary/Political Terminology List

2. Multilingual Terminology for Information Communication Technology
3. Multilingual Soccer Terminology List
4. Multilingual Soccer Terminology
5. Multilingual Natural Science & Technology Dictionary
6. Multilingual Natural Science & Technology Dictionary
7. Multilingual Mathematics Terminology List
8. Multilingual Bricklaying Terminology List
9. Multilingual Carpentry Terminology List
10. Multilingual Weather Terminology List.
Regarding the development of the Multilingual Information Communication Technology Termin-

ology List (2008), on which the analysis is based, the terms were first defined. The collaborators saw
it imperative to define the terms first as the definitions would assist in creating or finding terms in the
target language. Online dictionaries were used in the writing of the definitions. The aim of this term
list is an “attempt to promote communication in technical fields and domains of specialized activity
in the ICT environment.”
(http://www.dac.gov.za/chief_directorates/NLS/list.htm).
It is worth noting that institutions of higher learning such as Universities of South Africa and
Stellenbosch are also involved in the development of multilingual glossaries for tuition. The aim is to
promote the goal of offering undergraduate programmes in the indigenous languages. For example
the University of Stellenbosch has already developed five subject-specific terminology lists which
are:
Sociology (344 entries)

Social Work (325 entries)
Psychology (514 entries)
Law (283 entries)
Economics and Management Sciences (1846 entries) which comprises:
− Accounting,
− Business Management,
− Economics,
− Industrial Psychology,
− Information System,
− People Management,
− Public-Development Management, and
− Statistical Methods
According to Sibula of the Stellenbosch University Language Centre, these term lists were compiled
with first-year students in mind whose first language is IsiXhosa. The aim is to assist them to
understand Afrikaans and English terms in the selected fields of study. The term lists are also aimed
at widening the scope of understanding, by affording the students the opportunity to learn the
technical terms through their mother-tongue.
3. Borrowing as a term formation process

Crystal (2010: 48) describes borrowing as “a natural and universal process, and people borrow words
to meet their communicative needs – in particular to fill a lexical gap in their language …”. As
languages grow, words are being added and every time new inventions come into existence new
words must be created in order to identify the new items. According to Aitchison (1994: 145), most
of the words used today in English were adopted or derived from foreign languages and they have
been anglicized to a degree that they no longer seem foreign. He further mentions that one of the
reasons why English borrowed words was that the foreign word signified an object or a concept
that did not exist in English like the Latin words; pope, font, school. In his discussion he gives a
brief history of some words which entered the language as a result of cultural contact and exchange,
for example the Anglo-Saxons and the Vikings from around the year 900. Words such as loyal,
royal, voyage victory are French words that entered English after 1066 which were imposed on the
language as part of the process of linguistic and cultural imperialism. These words have been
completely absorbed into English that their foreign origins are usually forgotten. Crystal (2010: 48)
supports this opinion as he says that according to etymologies in the Oxford English Dictionary,
English has taken words from over 350 languages and he cites examples of words like computer and
hamburger which are not etymologically English at all. In the case of indigenous languages words
are taken mainly from English. Although these languages have a rich cultural heritage they have not
been immune from loaning as some foreign concepts were introduced into the languages. Pahl (1978:
253) writes:
“Oku kuthinjwa nokuguquguquka kwamagama athatyathwa esiBhulwini kude kube ngaphezulu

esiNgesini kusaqhubeka nakalokunje, kuba njengokuba engekho la magama ezinto ezifikayo
esiXhoseni nakwezinye iilwimi zesiNtu, kunyanzelekile ukuba kwamkelwe igama lasemzini kunye
nento leyo yalathwa lilo”.
[The capturing and changing of words taken over from Afrikaans and even more from English is still
continuing and since there are no words of the new concepts in IsiXhosa and other indigenous
languages, it is compulsory that a foreign word be accepted together with the object referred to.]
Cluver (1989: 270) identified borrowing as a distinct term formation process in which technical
languages can develop their vocabularies and this leads to an internationally accepted terminology
which makes technical communication across language boundaries fairly easy. One of the conditions
which is necessary for borrowing to take place is cultural and technological inequality (in this case,
English and African languages). Due to lack of equivalents in the receiving language, the language
takes over the imported technology and its terminology from the donating culture (Cluver 1989: 267-
268).
4. Analysis of borrowing patterns

Some of the borrowing strategies which are used frequently by translators have been identified by
Moropa (2007: 191-192) in the parallel corpus of English-Xhosa texts as:
• An indigenized loan word

• An indigenized loan word preceded by explanation
• A pure loan word
• A pure loan word preceded by an explanation
Some of the strategies listed above are noticeable in the analysis that follows. The analysis is based
on thirty computer and internet terms selected from the ICT terminology list (cf. Annexure). The
borrowing patterns employed by the terminologists are the following:
244 KOLISWA MOROPA
4.1 Indigenizing the source language (SL) term

Indigenization of loan words refers to the elimination of foreignness in the spelling of a borrowed
word. Some of the strategies used by the terminologists are discussed below:
4.1.1 Inserting a prefix or terminative vowel

In the examples below a prefix /i/ is added in IsiXhosa, Siswati and IsiNdebele. A terminative vowel
characterizes the majority of words in African languages, hence the addition of a terminative vowel
to the SL final consonant.
SL final [C] becomes TL [CV]

/l/ in aerial > li /le/la
/t/ in internet > thi/te/the
/p/ in laptop > po/pho
SL aerial
IsiXhosa ieriyali
Siswati i-eriyali
Setswana eriele
Sepedi eriele
Sesotho eriele
Tshivenḓa eriyaḽa
SL internet
IsiXhosa i-intanethi
IsiZulu intanethi
Siswati inthanethi
IsiNdebele i-inthanethi
Setswana inthanete
Sepedi inthanete
Sesotho inthanete
Tshivenḓa inthanethe
Xitsonga inthanete
SL laptop
Setswana lepothopo
Sepedi lepthopo
Sesotho lepthopo
Tshivenḓa ḽeputhopho
4.1.2 A single syllable becoming two syllables

A syllable is described by Jackson and Stockwell (2011: 23) as “a unit of phonological organization
smaller than a word” and has a vowel as its central element. A single syllable in the source language
is changed into two syllables, and this pattern is observed all the target languages.
cable: /ca > /khe/yi/ in IsiXhosa and IsiNdebele

/
> /khe/i/ in Sepedi, Sesotho and Setswana
/ble/ > /bhu/li/ in IsiXhosa

> /bu/li/ in IsiZulu and Siswati
> /bo/le/ in Setswana and Sepedi
> /bu/lu/ in Southern Sotho and Tshivenḓa
> /bhu/lu/ in Xitsonga
database: /da/ > /dei/ in Setwana

/ba/ > /bhe/yi/ in IsiXhosa
/be/i/ in Setswana and Tshivenḓa
satellite: /lli/ > /la/yi/ in Siswati and IsiNdebele

> /la/e/ in Setswana, Sepedi and Sesotho
SL cable
IsiXhosa ikheyibhuli
IsiZulu ikhebuli
Siswati ikhebuli
IsiNdebele ikheyibuli
Setswana kheibole
Sepedi kheibole
Sesotho kheibulu
Tshivenḓa khebuḽu/khevhele
Xitsonga khebhulu
SL database
IsiXhosa idathabheyisi
Siswati idathabhesi
Setswana deithabeisi
Tshivenḓa databeisi
SL satellite
IsiZulu isathelathi
Siswati isathelayithi
IsiNdebele isathelayithi
Setswana sathalaete
Sepedi sathalaete
Sesotho sathalaete
Tshivenḓa satheḽaithi
In African languages in general, the common syllable is a consonant plus a vowel [CV] or a vowel
[V].
4.1.3 Forming new consonant combinations/clusters

New speech sounds are adopted in the target language, for example the /r / sound is a foreign letter in
IsiXhosa, IsiZulu and Siswati. Crystal (2010: 48) says “a foreign letter can creep into an alphabet.”
The pattern in the following examples is [CCV] instead of the regular [CV].
SL printer
pr/phr
IsiXhosa iprinta
IsiZulu iphrinta
Siswati iphrinta
Sepedi printhara
Tshivenḓa phirinthara
Xitsonga pirintara
It is worth noting that in Xitsonga the [CV] syllable in /pi/ri/nta/ra/ has been maintained.
246 KOLISWA MOROPA
SL intranet
tr/thr
IsiXhosa i-intranethi
Siswati i-inthranethi
IsiNdebele i-inthranethi
Setswana interanete
Sepedi inthranete
Sesotho intranete
Tshivenḓa inthranethe
In Setswana the [CV] syllable in i/nte/ra/ne/te/ has also been preserved.
4.1.4 Inserting the terminative vowel [a] in verbs

Most verbs in the African languages take the terminative vowel [a]
SL e-mail (verb)
Siswati imeyila
Setswana imeila
Sesotho imeila
Tshivenḓa imeiḽa
Xitsonga imeyila
SL (to) program
Sepedi go prokrema
go phrokrema
Tshivenḓa u phurogirema
4.2 Retaining the SL abbreviation

Moropa’s observation (2007: 193) is that in translation, acronyms and abbreviations are mostly
retained in their original form in the target language and the SL pronunciation does not change. In
Siswati, IsiNdebele and Xhosa a prefix followed by a hyphen is inserted to the abbreviation.
CD > i-CD (Siswati and IsiNdebele)

SMS > i-SMS (Siswati and IsiNdebele)
DVD > i-DVD (Siswati and IsiNdebele)
www > i-www (IsiXhosa and Siswati)
In other languages the abbreviation is kept in its original form.
CD > CD (Setswana, Sepedi, Tshivenḓa and Xitsonga)

SMS > SMS (Setswana, Sepedi, Tshivenḓa and Xitsonga)
4.3 Changing the SL abbreviation into a TL word

The SL abbreviation is changed into a word in IsiZulu and IsiXhosa by adding a prefix and inserting
vowels between consonants. The same pattern of inserting vowels between consonants is observed in
Xitsonga.
CD > isidi (IsiZulu and IsiXhosa) [CC> V/CV/CV]

DVD > idividi (IsiZulu, IsiXhosa and IsiNdebele) [CCC>V/CV/CV/CV]
DVD > divhidi (Xitsonga) [CCC>/CV/CV/CV]
The half closed vowel [i] has been inserted between the consonants in all the examples.
4.4 Paraphrasing characterised by borrowing

In cases where compounding or paraphrasing is used, traces of borrowing are noticed. In the ex-
amples listed below internet and computer form part of the explanation. Paraphrase seems to be
guided by the definitions which informed the term creation process.
SL cyberspace
IsiXhosa uvimba wolwazi olukwi-intanethi (resource of information in the internet)
Setswana sebakabaka sa inthanete (space of internet)
Sepedi sebakabaka sa inthanete (space of internet)
Sesotho sepakapaka sa inthanete (space of internet)
Tshivenḓa tshikhala tsha inthanethe (space of internet)
Xitsonga vuvandla bya inthanete (space of internet)
SL desktop
IsiXhosa ubuso bekhompyutha (face of a computer)
IsiZulu ubuso bekhompuyutha (face of a computer)
Sepedi sefahlego sa khomphyutha (face of a computer)
Tshivenḓa khomphyutha ine ya vhewa kha desike (a computer that is put on a desk)
SL server
IsiXhosa ikhompyutha engundoqo wothungelwano (a computer supplying data by
network)
Setswana khomphiuthatheo (computer centre)
Sepedi sekgokaganyadikhompiutha (linkage of computers)
Xitsonga xiphamela-tikhomphyutha (dishing out for computers)
SL software
IsiXhosa iiprogram zekhompyutha (computer programs)
Sepedi mananeotiriso a khomphyutha ( computer programs)
5. Standardization of terms
Although loaning is an important method of expanding the vocabulary of a developing language,
even loan words need to be standardized so as to allow for the total assimilation of such words in the
lexicon of a language (Moropa 2004: 169). In order to make the use of technical language effective,
the created terms need to be standardised. Concerning the South African situation, Fourie (1994) states
that prescriptive terminology policies of the apartheid era have been problematic with regard to
African languages, because African governments in pursuit of language policies failed to recognize
the relationship between the socio-economic upliftment of the indigenous populations on the one
hand, and the corpus development of indigenous languages on the other (Moropa 2005: 195). Some
loan words need to be standardized, for example in Sepedi where more than one spelling has been
provided for terms such as cable, computer, data, desktop etc., the national language body and other
relevant stakeholders should decide if the two spellings ought to be maintained.
cable > kheibole/ kheipole [b] or [p] bilabial plosives

computer > khomphiutha/ khomphyutha vowel [i] or semi-vowel [y]
data > datha/deitha [a] or [ei]
desktop > teskthopo /deskthopo [d] or [t] alveolar plosives
The degree of standardization demanded of technical languages is far greater than it is in general
language use as these terms belong to language for special purposes (LSP).
248 KOLISWA MOROPA
6. Concluding remarks
Borrowing words from English for items which were foreign to the African culture is not new. It has
been happening since these languages appeared in print in the 1880s. Here are some random
examples of loan words referring to communication¸ writing and finance:
envelope > imvulophu (IsiXhosa), imvilophu (IsiZulu), omfolopo (Sepedi)

stamp > isitampu (IsiXhosa), isitembu (IsiZulu), sitempe (Sepedi)
post office > iposi/iposofisi (IsiXhosa), iposo/iposihovisi (IsiZulu), poso (Sepedi)
bank > ibhanki (IsiXhosa), ibhange IsiZulu, panka (Sepedi)
cheque > itshekhi (IsiXhosa), isheki (IsiZulu),tsheke (Sepedi)
desk > idesika (IsiXhosa), idesiki (IsiZulu), teseke (Sepedi)
pencil > ipenisile (IsiXhosa), ipensele (IsiZulu), phensele (Sepedi)
These words have been absorbed into the lexicon of the languages to an extent that the speakers no
longer see them as loan words as they have been in existence for.decades. In this brief study, it has
been observed that all languages opted for a loan term for terms such as airmail, computer, internet,
cable, e-mail. For terms such as aerial, cellphone, intranet, website, satellite, printer, eight or seven of
the nine languages used borrowed terms and abbreviations were retained by most languages (cf.
Annexure). The notion of purity in language is disputed by (Crystal 2010: 48-49) as he says “for no
language has ever been found where all the words come from a single source… Every language is a
patchwork-quilt of loanwords.” Therefore borrowing should not be viewed as a threat to purity of the
language but as a means to meet a real need, i.e. to describe something that has not existed before in
that particular culture or language and which could not be expressed accurately by using existing
words. What is important is to take into consideration the morphological and phonological rules of
the target language, i.e. words should be spelt according to the orthography of the receiving language
so that they can be easily pronounced by the target readers. Developing technical terminology in the
indigenous South African languages is very urgent and cannot be postponed any longer, as these
languages are envisaged as languages of business and tuition in future.
7. References
Aitchison, J. (1994), Guide to Written English. London: BCA.
Cluver, A.D. de V. (1989), A Manual of Terminography. Pretoria: Human Sciences Research Council.
Crystal, D. (2010), The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of Language. 3rd edition. New York: Cambridge University
Press.
Department of Arts, Culture & Technology.2008. Multilingual Information Communication Technology List.
http://www.dac.gov.za/chief_directorates/NLS/list.htm).
Fourie, D.J. (1994), “The rejection of terminology: Observations from the African languages”. South African
Journal of Linguistics 12(1), pp.11-15.
Gauton, R and G.M. De Schryver (2004), “Translating Technical Texts into Zulu with the Aid of Multilingual
and/or Parallel Corpora”. In Alet Kruger (ed.), Corpus-Based Translation Studies: Research and
Applications, special issue of Language Matters, Studies in the Languages of Africa 35(1), pp. 148–61.
Jackson, H. & P. Stockwell (2011), An introduction to the nature and functions of language. Second edition).
Great Britain: Continuum.
Moropa, K. (2004), “A parallel corpus as a terminology resource for Xhosa: A study of strategies used to
translate financial statements”. Language Matters 35(1), pp.162-178.
Moropa, K. (2005), An Investigation of Translation Universals in a Parallel Corpus of English- Xhosa
Texts, Unpublished D.Litt et Phil. Thesis, Pretoria: University of South Africa.
Moropa, K. (2007), “Analysing the English-Xhosa Parallel Corpus of Technical Texts with ParaConc: A Case
Study of Term Formation Processes”, South African Linguistics and Applied language Studies 25(2), pp.
183–205.
Pahl, H.W. (1978), IsiXhosa. King William’s Town: Thandpers.
Appendix
Selected terms from the Multilingual Information Communication Technology Terminology List
(2008)
250 KOLISWA MOROPA
TERMS IN THREE PERSPECTIVES

Pius ten Hacken
Swansea University
Abstract: Translators, terminologists, and linguists have different views of what is a term. For a
translator working with CAT tools, terms are expressions to be put in the termbase. For a termi-
nologist, a term is a standardized expression used in specialized communication. The reason
that these sets of expressions tend to coincide is that a translator is expected to translate stan-
dardized expressions consistently and if the termbase contains them, this is easier to achieve.
The reason that the translator tends to put more expressions in the termbase is that the term-
base offers a convenient way of speeding up the translation of common expressions which can
be translated without further context. From a linguistic point of view, the most interesting as-
pect is their special status as linguistic objects. Semantically, whereas words have a prototype
structure, terms with standardized definitions do not. The standardization process results in an
abstract object that is not tied to any speaker’s competence. Knowledge of this object is part of
the pragmatic competence of specialist speakers. The set of terms for which abstract objects
exist is smaller than the set of standardized terms, which is again smaller than the set of term-
base items specified by a translator.
1. Introduction
We can consider terms from different perspectives and in each perspective discover different in-
sights. The most prominent perspective is without any doubt that of the terminologist. Terminology
has for a long time remained the exclusive territory of specialists, either domain specialists or
specialists in terminology. Although terminology is a phenomenon of language, there seems to be a
consensus among terminologists as well as linguists that terminology and linguistics are entirely
separate. Terminologists tend to consider linguistic theory irrelevant to terminology and linguists
tend to consider terminology irrelevant to linguistics. Nevertheless, it is an interesting question what
kind of linguistic objects terms are.
A third perspective is that of the translator. Translation has always been concerned with terminology,
but translation studies much less so. The reason is that translation studies has traditionally
concentrated on the study of literary translation, where terminology plays at most a minor role. The
insight that technical translation is an interesting domain of theoretical study is only slowly
emerging. For many translators whose work is largely or exclusively in this domain, working with
terms is an essential component of their profession.
In this article, I intend to bring together the perspectives of the translator, the terminologist, and the
linguist. For each perspective, I will argue for a particular concept of term that fits the relevant
background. In the conclusion I will relate these different concepts to each other.
2. Translators
The use of computers by translators has changed their way of working quite radically, although not
all translators make full use of the possibilities offered. Somers (2003) calls the computational
working environment designed for translators a translator’s workstation. The translator’s work-
station includes a range of generic functions as well as some tools specifically designed for trans-
lators, in particular the Translation Memory and the Termbase. As their names indicate, a Translation
Memory is the place to store translation segments, whereas the Termbase is intended for terms.
Heid (2006: 98) observes that the expressions identified as terms by translators are quite different
from the expressions identified as such by terminologists and domain experts. That this should be the
252 PIUS TEN HACKEN
case is not because translators are bad terminologists, but because translators have their own goals in
using the Termbase of a Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) tool.
In general, the goals of technical translators can be summarized as maximizing the quality and
efficiency of their work. The use of the Termbase function of a CAT tool can contribute to both of
these goals. The most obvious reason for a translator to use a computer is to boost efficiency. In the
case of terminology, efficiency gains compared to paper-and-pencil methods can be achieved in two
ways. First, the translator using a computer can avoid the duplication of effort involved in looking up
the same term more than once. Of course, this presupposes that the translator invests time in entering
the term and its translation in the Termbase. Secondly, recognition by a computer is faster than
manual lookup. Any CAT tool can be set up so as to recognize, and if desired pre-translate, terms in
the Termbase.
As an example, let us consider the translation of a text on building or repairing violins. The part of
the instrument across which the strings are stretched is called the bridge. In Italian, it is called
ponticello, in French chevalet, in German Steg, in Spanish puente, and in Dutch kam. Like most vio-
lin terms, the Italian name is the original one, designating a particular type of bridge. The French and
German names are also special types of bridges, whereas the Spanish one is more general, like the
English. The Dutch name means ‘comb’ and is entirely separate. Once a translator has found out this
type of information, the Termbase can avoid the need to look it up again and speed up the retrieval
process.
Whereas the responsibility for the quality of the information in the Termbase cannot be delegated to
the computer, the Termbase can contribute to the quality of the translation by enhancing consistency.
The consistent use of a term throughout a text is essential for its professional usability. Arguably, a
translation of a text about violins into Dutch with all occurrences of bridge consistently translated as
brug (‘bridge’) will be more usable than one where the correct translation of kam alternates with the
incorrect brug.
The goals of quality and efficiency converge systematically, because the same functions that are used
in one are also used in the other. By recognizing an expression in the source text as a term in the
Termbase and proposing a translation, the CAT tool speeds up translation while at the same time
facilitating the maintenance of terminological consistency. However, this convergence is not a
necessary condition for the proper use of the Termbase. This can be illustrated with the examples in (1).
(1) a. Please read through the Frequently Asked Questions before sending us an email.
b. The Terms and Conditions vary according to the country where your billing ad-
dress is located.
The examples in (1) are typical phrases that can be found on websites. They contain expressions that
are frequent and far from straightforward to translate, Frequently Asked Questions in (1a) and Terms
and Conditions in (1b). Even if these expressions are not technical or legal terms, a translator will
tend to put them in the Termbase. The main consideration here is efficiency. Once a good translation
has been found, the considerations leading up to it need not be rehearsed when the Termbase
proposes it at the next occurrence.
The Termbase is a better place to store the expressions used in (1) than the Translation Memory
(TM). The TM works on translation segments and although it is true that the expressions often occur
as headings, the sentences in (1) demonstrate that this is not always the case. DéjàVu X, the CAT
tool marketed by Atril, includes a Lexicon, which is separate from the Termbase and is the natural
place to encode such expressions that have a consistent translation without being terms. In the
specification of the Termbase, terms are given definitions and other information, whereas items in
the Lexicon only have a translation.
In sum, the selection of terms by translators is driven by the goals of quality and efficiency rather
than by a definition of the notion of term. Therefore, it is not unexpected that the set of expressions
identified as terms differs from the set identified as such by terminologists.
3. Terminologists
The tasks of the terminologist are the identification and standardization of terms. Whereas a word
from general language can be seen as a combination of form and meaning, terms require in addition a
domain specification. This means that, for instance, the observation that compound has a different
meanings in chemistry and in linguistics leads to different analyses in lexicography and in terminol-
ogy. The word compound is polysemous, but there are (at least) two terms compound, one in chemis-
try and one in linguistics.
There is a strong correlation between standardization and identification of terms. If there is no stan-
dardization, nor any urge for standardization, it is very hard to argue for termhood. This does not
imply that all terms are fully standardized. Arntz et al. (2009) present the German data in Table (1)
as a prototypical case of terminological work in practice.
Pre-standardization names Standard

Treibkeil Einlege- Feder- Nutenkeil Achskeil Treibkeil
Keil Paßfeder keil keil Paßfeder
Feder
Gleitkeil Flachkeil Gleitkeil
Flachkeil Flachkeil
Table (1): German names for different types of wedge,

adapted from Arntz et al. (2009: 4)
The four rows in Table (1) correspond to four distinct concepts. No glosses are given, because the
translation of the German terms is far from straightforward and, for the discussion here, the con-
figuration of the terms is far more significant than their exact meaning. In the situation before stan-
dardization, eleven different names were used for the four concepts. Each concept was designated by
two to six synonymous expressions. Moreover, five of the expressions were ambiguous, referring to
two or three different concepts. Synonymy and ambiguity are problematic when precise commu-
nication is important. Therefore, terminological standardization was required. The outcome of the
standardization process is the situation in the right-most column of the table. Standardization in this
case only concerns the names, not the concepts. The four concepts are treated as given and standard-
ization does not affect their definitions.
Another example illustrating the practical significance of standardization is the situation in bio-
medicine, as described by Ananiadou et al. (2006). Biomedicine is a broad field with many over-
lapping specializations. In a typical specialization, there are research groups in various parts of the
world, each with their own particular focus. These research groups may have different working lan-
guages and may differ in some of their assumptions and quality standards. For a research team in the
field, it is impossible to keep up with all relevant research carried out elsewhere in the world. This
incomplete information leads to inconsistent naming of new concepts. Two research teams may use
different names for the same concept or use the same name for non-identical concepts without being
aware of the situation. As a consequence, they may not find each other’s research or misinterpret
each other’s conclusions.
254 PIUS TEN HACKEN
With the high number of researchers in biomedicine and the great amount of research output, it
would require an inordinate amount of time and energy to come up with a standard. Moreover, this
standard would be obsolete before it would be available because of the rapid pace of progress in the
field. Data mining based on automatic term recognition algorithms applied to large collections of
research articles can provide a good basis for qualified scientific authorities to come up with a
standard. However, people who have the expertise to propose or approve a standard are often better
employed in carrying out new research. Therefore, their time and energy should be managed
carefully.
The problem of standardizing a fast developing field such as biomedicine is to find the optimal
allocation of resources so that discoveries in the field are not held back by terminological confusion
but not too much effort is invested in standardization of concepts for which standardization is not
essential. The backlog in standardization in a field such as biomedicine is inherent and systematic,
because a certain degree of consensus is needed before a standard has a chance of imposing itself.
This point is made by Wright (2006) for a different field.
An example illustrating the interaction of discoveries and development of definitions is the history of
the term planet.1 After the acceptance of the heliocentric model proposed by Copernicus, there was a
general agreement on what the planets were, so that there was no need to discuss the exact definition
of the concept. The extensional definition in (2a) was considered equivalent to the intentional one in (2b).
(2) a. The planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.
b. A planet is a celestial body orbiting around the Sun.
The assumed equivalence of the two definitions in (2) delayed the discovery of new planets, because
astronomers were not looking for them and would interpret their observations in different ways.
When William Herschell discovered Uranus in 1781, however, the equivalence could no longer be
upheld. Terminologists generally favour intensional definitions, because they are less arbitrary than
extensional definitions. This insight is anchored in scientific tradition and it is not surprising that
when Uranus had been discovered, (2b) was retained rather than (2a), making Uranus the seventh
planet.
Once (2b) was recognized as non-equivalent to (2a), astronomers started actively looking for new
planets.2 As a result, four new planets were discovered between 1801 and 1807, Ceres, Pallas, Juno,
and Vesta. These new planets were much smaller than the ones in (2a) and they were all in the space
between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. More such celestial bodies were discovered from 1845
onwards, but astronomers grew more and more reluctant to call them planets. Instead, celestial
bodies of a much smaller size than (other) planets and whose orbit was mainly in the space between
those of Mars and Jupiter were called minor planets, planetoids, or asteroids. This was a second
revision of the definition of planet, again triggered by scientific discoveries.
As long as there were entire clusters of properties that distinguished planets from other celestial
bodies, this situation could persist. The discovery of Neptune in 1846 and of Pluto in 1930 did not
call for a revision of the definition. However, towards the end of the 20th century, two developments
caused by the increased observational power of new instruments made the definition inadequate. On
one hand, more celestial bodies were discovered in the outer ranges of the solar system and more
1
Data for this case study were taken from a variety of sources, including Taylor (1998), Schilling (2007), and
various encyclopedias.
2
The importance of this mindset is demonstrated by Taylor’s (1998:72) observation that Neptune appears on a
star chart drawn up by Galileo over 200 years before its discovery. Not expecting that it could be a planet,
Galileo did not recognize it as such.
observations of Pluto brought to light important differences from other planets. On the other hand, it
became possible to determine the presence of exoplanets, planets orbiting other stars than the Sun.3
At its highly publicized 26th General Assembly in 2006, the International Astronomical Union
adopted the definition in (3), cf. IAU (2006).
(3) A planet is a celestial body that

a. is in orbit around the Sun,
b. has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it as-
sumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and
c. has cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit.
The most discussed consequence of (3) was that Pluto is no longer considered a planet. Termino-
logically more interesting is the fact that (3) is a definition consisting of necessary and sufficient
conditions. As such it is comparable to (2b), but it reflects the progress achieved in astronomy in the
intervening period.
The three examples discussed in this section illustrate various aspects of terminological practice. In
each case, the recognition of terms and their standardization are central to this practice. However,
standardization is not an aim in itself, but a way to solve communicative problems in technical and
scientific fields. The nature of the communicative problems and of the solutions adopted in these
fields differ from those in other fields, as illustrated by the examples discussed in this section.
The example of the German words for different kinds of wedge, summarized in Table 1, illustrates
that standardization can be limited to the form and does not have to lead to standardized definitions.
This situation is typical of many technical fields, in which the concepts are not a matter of dispute,
but unambiguous names are desirable for communicative purposes.
The example of terms in biomedicine shows the opposite situation. In a fast developing field, pro-
gress is held back when a lack of standardization leads to defective communication. Insights gained
in one research group remain unknown to other research groups when the terms used to name the
relevant concepts are not recognized. In such a case, standardization is more than only selecting a
single name for generally accepted concepts, because the set of concepts is in constant flux. At the
same time, standardization should not advance beyond the knowledge about which there is a
sufficient degree of consensus. In a field like biomedicine the balance between too little and too
much standardization is a delicate one. The requirement of sufficient consensus will in any case
constrain standardization to lagging behind the frontline of research.
The case study of planet gives some insight in the details of the interaction between progress in
knowledge and in standardization. Although much more high-profile than individual terms in
biomedicine, it is likely that the process leading from the combined definition in (2) to the more
sophisticated one in (3) is typical of this interaction. The status of (3) is not in principle different
from that in (2) at the time that it was generally adopted. The definition reflects current insights and
fulfils communicative needs in the field.
3
The definition in (3) from the IAU press release does not apply to exoplanets, because clause (3a) refers to
the Sun. Wikipedia (2010) gives a more general definition in which (3a) is replaced by “orbiting a star or stel-
lar remnant”, which according to a footnote is based on “an informal working definition established by the
Union [i.e. IAU] in 2003”.
256 PIUS TEN HACKEN
4. Linguists
For the purposes of the present discussion, there are at least two relevant aspects in which linguists
are different from translators and terminologists. First, whereas translators and terminologists are
primarily concerned with solving practical problems, linguists take a scientific perspective. As scien-
tists, their principal interest is in explaining phenomena in order to get a deeper insight. Secondly,
whereas terminology is important for translators and central to terminologists, there are few linguists
with more than a marginal interest in terminology. Nevertheless, the existence of terms, their relation
to other expressions (including words), and their use in specialized communication are linguistic
phenomena and can be studied from a linguistic perspective.
As a background framework I will adopt here Jackendoff’s (2002) theory of the Parallel Architec-
ture, but in most aspects relevant here this is compatible with a wider range of theories. Thus,
Uriagereka’s (1998: 113-19) discussion of the meaning of words and terms does not make any as-
sumptions that would be strange to the Parallel Architecture, although it is couched in a Chomskyan
framework (cf. ten Hacken (2007a) for a discussion of the relationship between these two frame-
works).
In order to elucidate what makes terms special, it is useful to start by considering how general
language words are understood and used. An essential insight in the nature of our observation of the
outside world is that the input collected by our senses is interpreted by our brain in order to
contribute to what Jackendoff (1983) calls a projected world. This interaction between physiological
and mental aspects of observation is discussed in detail by, for instance, Bressan (2007) for vision
and Holley (2006) for taste. Observing, for example, a hand can be triggered by a combination of
visual and tactile inputs, but these inputs can only be combined into something meaningful because
we have a corresponding mental concept hand. This concept is flexible enough to recognize a hand
even if two fingers are missing.
It is difficult, arguably impossible, to come up with a definition of the general language concept hand
because the less typical instances gradually shade off into non-instances without any clear boundary.
Chomsky (2000: 127-28) discusses the boundary of water and tea. Whereas the chemical definition
of water as H2O is clear, actual instances always contain impurities. Assuming that tea is not water,
whether the contents of a particular cup should be called (weak) tea or (polluted) water depends on
the purpose at least as much as on the chemical analysis. It is on the basis of such observations that I
conclude in ten Hacken (2009) that definitions in a dictionary can do no more than provide infor-
mation to be interpreted by the user.
In understanding the use of words in communication, Chomsky’s (1965: 4) familiar distinction of

(linguistic) competence and performance is a good starting point. The mental lexicon, including the
words as links between form, syntactic features, and concept, belongs to competence. Performance
arises from the interaction of competence with other types of knowledge. Pragmatic competence
guides the use of linguistic competence, cf. Kasher (1991). Linguistic, pragmatic, and other types of
competence are used to set up a projected world. This projected world also interacts with the obser-
vations we make and their interpretation by determining what we expect to observe. Finally, we have
to assume that free will plays a role in monitoring the entire process, because human beings are not
just machines whose behaviour is determined entirely by their input. In communication, a word in
performance is recognized and interpreted by the use of linguistic and pragmatic competence as well
as the projected world.
A general-language word like friend and a term such as bridge in the sense of a part of the violin are
used in much the same way in communication. Both belong to the mental lexicon of certain people.
The only difference in this respect is that friend belongs to the lexicon of more people. Both concepts
have a prototype structure with a cline between more and less typical instances. Each speaker has
their own concepts, because they are realized in their mind/brain and speakers do not share (parts of)
their mind/brain. When used in performance, communication is successful to the extent that the
recipient is able to come up with a sufficiently similar interpretation in the project world to the one
intended by the sender. In cases of (full or partial) miscommunication, it is not necessarily possible
to attribute the error to the sender or the recipient. In some cases, it can only be explained by the
mismatch between their respective competence. Whereas a speaker’s competence can be used to
recognize errors in that speaker’s performance, there is no authority that can arbitrate when the
sender’s competence and the recipient’s competence diverge.
The case of planet is different. There is of course a mental concept in the competence of each speak-
er who knows the word planet. At the same time, however, there is the IAU definition in (3). For the
scientific concept of planet, the IAU definition sets a standard that is accepted in the relevant scien-
tific circles. This standard can be used not only to evaluate performance, but also to evaluate indi-
vidual speaker’s competence. The latter possibility only exists for standardized terminology. It
means that standardized terms have a special linguistic status as abstract objects.
It is worth elaborating on the status of these abstract objects. In ten Hacken (2007b) I compare the
position of terms with respect to the individual speaker and listener to that of a piece of music with
respect to a performer and listener. The similarity of the two indicates that many aspects of terms as
abstract objects are not unique. In ten Hacken (2010a, b) I discuss the creation of these objects in
scientific and legal contexts, respectively. In order to be used, the knowledge of terms has to be
distributed among the different components that contribute to performance. It is not necessary that
(3) is in the linguistic competence of speakers. Semantic or conceptual knowledge that is part of
linguistic competence does not take the form of explicit definitions. Instead, the concept of planet in
linguistic competence will contain a pointer to the place where this explicit knowledge is stored.
Pragmatic competence will use this knowledge according to the requirements of the situation.
There is also a philosophical problem to be addressed when we combine abstract concepts such as
planet as defined in (3) with a theory of perception such as advocated by Jackendoff (1983, 2002). If
we assume that we can only communicate about the projected world, how can we ever apply (3)
successfully as an objective definition? Crucial is Jackendoff’s assumption that there exists a real
world, i.e. that the object of perception that gives rise to the projected world is the same for all
human beings (and presumably other animate beings). At the concrete level, we can observe this in
the sense that when I observe a tree, you will not be able to walk through it. At the abstract level, we
can observe this in mathematics. In this respect, Brouwer’s and Heyting’s intuitionist mathematics,
as discussed by Körner (1968: 119-55) is particularly interesting. The basic assumption of intuitionist
mathematics is that mathematics is an activity of the brain rather than a collection of formulae on
paper. The formulae can be used to activate mathematical insight in someone’s brain. As such they
are similar to a musical score, as discussed by ten Hacken (2007b), or a definition such as (3). We
formulate the definition such that it produces a sufficient degree of similarity across speakers so that
the differences do not disturb successful communication.
Linguistically, then, terms are different from words only if they have a standardized definition. In
standardization, an abstract object is created that interacts with the linguistic and pragmatic
competence of individual speakers.
5. Conclusion
Having considered terms from the perspectives of translators, terminologists, and linguists, we can
now relate the individual perspectives to each other.
Terminology enters the translator’s world in two ways. On the one hand, as observed in section (2),
most CAT tools make special provisions for terms. On the other hand, the special status of terms
258 PIUS TEN HACKEN
arises through the skopos of translations (cf. Nord (1997)). The expectation of commissioners and
various types of users requires that terms are translated consistently, not only throughout the
document, but ideally also throughout the field. Standardization as performed by terminologists is the
result of such expectations, but reinforces this expectation at the same time.
On the basis of these observations, one might conclude that termbases as produced by translators
should be the same as termbases as produced by terminologists. In practice this is not the case. This
is not due to incompetence or lack of care on the part of translators, but because the skopos is not the
only factor driving professional translators’ behaviour. Translation is normally paid on the basis of
the number of words of the source text. It is therefore in the translator’s interest to optimize
efficiency. If adding an expression to the termbase increases efficiency, because it saves time to have
the translation suggested or the expression pre-translated, the termbase is improved by entering the
expression, independently of whether it is a standardized term.
There are therefore two motivations for termbase entries in a CAT tool, one based on skopos and one
on efficiency. Whereas the former tends to lead to a convergence with the set of terms proposed by
terminologists, the latter is independent of their work.
The work of terminologists can be seen as an applied science producing solutions to certain classes
of problems of communication. The central tool for these solutions is standardization of terms.
Standardization can concern only the form or also the meaning of a term. It requires a certain degree
of consensus in the field, so that it tends to lag behind with respect to the developments in the field.
How much it lags behind depends on the speed of progress in the field and the economic interest in
keeping up with it.
The type of standardization depends on communicative needs. As long as there are no conflicts about
the boundaries of the concept, standardizing the name is sufficient. Standardization of concepts arises
in particular in legal and scientific fields. The degree of detail of the definition depends on juris-
prudence and scientific progress increasing the understanding and the specification of the concept.
Linguistics is here considered as the empirical science concerned with the explanation of various
aspects of language. Both terminology and translation are at least in part linguistic phenomena, fal-
ling into the scope of linguistics. Standardization of terms does not directly affect the representation
of the form and meaning of the corresponding expressions as stored in the mental lexicon. Natural
lexical meaning is prototype-based, with fuzzy boundaries and degrees of typicality. A standardized
terminological concept with a definition consisting of necessary and sufficient conditions is an
abstract object. Conscious proper use of the term is a result of the interaction of this abstract object
with the corresponding entry in the mental lexicon. If only the form is standardized, the name is
linked to an existing, natural, prototype-based concept. The knowledge about when and how to use
the term as well as any standardized meaning is part of pragmatic competence.
In conclusion, there are three different types of term. The most restrictive is the abstract linguistic
object as used by linguists to account for terms whose meaning has been standardized. A less restrict-
ive type is the standardized expression as devised by terminologists in order to facilitate commu-
nication. The broadest is the entry used by translators in their termbases as CAT tool components.
They tend to include any expression for which a consistent translation can be given independently of
context.
For systematic reasons, the sets of terms in each of these types are in a proper inclusion relationship.
This follows from the motivation that translators, terminologists, and linguists have for treating a
particular expression as a term.
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Section VII:
Problem Solving
262
TRACING THE UNFOLDING OF METAPHORICAL PROCESSES

IN TRANSLATION:
INSIGHTS FROM AN EXPERIMENTAL EXPLORATORY STUDY
Adriana S Pagano, Igor A. Lourenço da Silva and Fabio Alves
Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil
Abstract: This paper reports on an exploratory study carried out at LETRA (Laboratory for Ex-
perimentation in Translation), Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Our proposal draws
on triangulated data collected in experimental settings by means of keylogging, eyetracking,
and verbal protocols. The aim is to model the translation process and enrich the framework of
translation process research with a systemic-functional linguistics perspective for investigating
instances of effortful text production in translation. Drawing on the concept of grammatical meta-
phor and its potential for modeling both monolingual and multilingual text production, the pa-
per examines ongoing meaning construction in translation as a special type of language pro-
cessing which involves unpacking and repacking meanings construed in the target texts upon
reading of the source text. By analyzing logs recorded through keylogging and eyetracking, we
attempt to investigate phenomena that can shed a light into human translators’ cognitive pro-
cesses and which are potential sources for modeling meaning construction inherent to transla-
tion tasks.
1. Introduction
Despite its relatively short history in comparison to the long tradition of investigation of the transla-
tion product, the study of the translation process has steadily evolved since its early approaches
relying mainly on verbal protocols in the mid-1980s. Promoting a so-called Shift in Translation
Studies (Fraser, 1996), research started focusing on the cognitive aspects underlying the translation
process, a step deemed important to understand both how translation expertise evolves and which
cognitive processes need to develop in order for a translator to achieve excellence or, at least, suc-
cessful/satisfactory translation products (Shreve, 2006).
Since the mid-1980s, several data elicitation techniques have been developed and improved in order
to obtain data of the translation process, assumed to be indirect sources of information on language
comprehension and production during translation tasks. Pioneering studies, as the seminal work by
Ericsson & Simon (1984), adopted a psychology-based approach to think-aloud protocols and later to
retrospective verbal and audiovisual protocols. Subsequent technological developments, particularly
keylogging and screenlogging, enabled researchers to record speed, pauses and duration of the
translation process (cf. Jakobsen & Schou, 1999; Alves, 2003). Data allowed for drawing inferences
on how different individuals and different profiles (e.g., expert versus novice translators) performed
a translation task, and correlating online decision making with overall success and failure of the
translation task. At that time, ongoing operations (e.g., writing, deleting, copying and pasting) within
the target text were the basic sources for building hypotheses on how translators read/processed the
source text.
In the mid-2000s, however, eyetracking technology began to be used to enable researchers to access
how translators read the source text and also how translators follow the replay of their translation
processes (cf. Jakobsen, Göpferich & Mees, 2008; Alves, Pagano & Silva, 2009). Investigations of
focus of attention through gaze plots and fixation points have, for instance, provided accounts on
elements of the source text that may draw more attention from the task performer or else that may
pose some difficulty to the translator given a certain language pair or any other translation condition
(e.g., use of translation memory systems, time pressure).
264 ADRIANA S. PAGANO, IGOR A. LOURENÇO DA SILVA & FABIO ALVES
Depending on the equipment available and also on individual interests and approaches, researchers
can now investigate a number of variables under a series of translation conditions. This in itself is a
productive source of insight but also one which can imply obtaining a large amount of data with no
or little comparability potential (Alves, Pagano & Silva, 2009). This is one of the major reasons why
the Laboratory for Experimentation in Translation (Letra) at the Federal University of Minas Gerais
has constantly endeavored to improve its methodology and promote studies with both internal con-
sistency and potential to build a corpus of translation process data (Corprat: http://letra.letras.ufmg.
br/ corprat/). These studies will eventually generate enough data to model the translation process
with a view to intelligent applications and also inform translation teaching and translator training.
For doing so, Letra builds on the social sciences’ proposal of data triangulation (Jakobsen, 1999;
Alves, 2003), whereby a given object is approached from different perspectives, aiming at comple-
menting and either corroborating or refuting the results provided by each of them. The underlying
assumption is that such a methodology helps avoid bias and premature conclusions and that a given
data-collection technique can set off the drawbacks or shortcomings of another. More specifically,
data obtained through keylogging (e.g., pauses, recursiveness, micro units, macro units), screen-
logging (online records of screen-captured behavior during performance of translation tasks), eye-
tracking (e.g., eye fixation, gaze plots, heat maps) and eyetracked verbal protocols provided upon
translation task (of the free/spontaneous type or guided type elicited by specific questions) have been
triangulated to both illuminate the translator’s behavior during task execution and identify instances
of text production that constitute translation problems (Mees, Alves & Göpferich, 2009).
Concomitantly, theory-informed text analysis (Silva, 2007; Pagano & Silva, 2008) has sought to
approach real-time text production as captured in translation tasks in order to seek possible moti-
vations for those instances of effortful production signaled by pauses and recursiveness, envisaging
an integration of particular patterns of gaze trajectory and eye fixations into the analysis. One such
theory supporting text analysis is systemic-functional linguistics (Halliday & Matthiessen, 1999,
2004), which offers a comprehensive approach to meaning making within the context of multilingual
text production, its conceptualization allowing for modeling language production in translation. In
fact, its architecture is particularly suitable to approach translation process research, since one of the
dimensions it adopts to examine language, namely the logogenetic one, contemplates the unfolding
of discourse, where local decisions are made against the background of more global orientations
taken by the translator on the basis of his/her analysis of contextual configurations.
We have been investigating a range of potential translator profiles, drawing on data obtained from
the performance by student translators, professional translators and the so-called “non-translators”,
who within our research framework in the current Brazilian context are mostly foreign language
learners and disciplinary writers or scholars (field specialists), who perform translation tasks as part
of their daily work, but neither have formal education in translation nor claim to be translators. It is
our assumption that experimental designs involving different performers of translation tasks and
controlled for particular variables can help us find indicators along the cline novice to expert.
In this paper, we report on one of the most recent studies carried out at Letra, of an exploratory
nature, aimed at building hypotheses for modeling the translation process by enriching the
framework of translation process research with a systemic-functional linguistics perspective. The aim
is to examine linguistic phenomena observable in instances of effortful translated text production as
revealed by particular patterns of pauses, recursiveness, progressive and regressive fixations within
the text, and gaze trajectory across the source and target texts seen as two distinct areas of interest.
Drawing on the concept of grammatical metaphor (Halliday & Matthiessen, 1999) and its potential
for modeling both monolingual and multilingual text production (Steiner, 2001), we aim at
examining ongoing meaning construction in translation as a special type of language processing
which involves unpacking and repacking meanings construed in the target texts upon reading of the
source text. By analyzing logs recorded through keylogging and eyetracking, we attempt to
investigate phenomena that can shed a light into human translators’ cognitive processes and which
are potential sources for modeling meaning construction at play during the translation process.
2. Theoretical Underpinnings
Within the framework of systemic-functional linguistics, logogenetic instantiation of text has been
frequently studied within monolingual text production, with particular focus on phenomena invol-
ving recapitulation of higher rank units, such as clauses, in lower rank units, such as groups and
words (Matthiessen, 1995). This is accounted for through the concept of grammatical metaphor,
which is the counterpart to the concept of lexical metaphor. Halliday & Matthiessen (1999: 232)
illustrate this with the following example:
Example 1
... applauded loudly = ... applauded thunderously
... applauded loudly = loud applause
The first set is an example of a non-metaphorical wording and its metaphorical counterpart at the
lexical level: in order to interpret “thunderously” in its co-occurrence with “applauded”, we need to
map a lexico-semantic domain onto another – in this case, volume/intensity onto weather/meteo-
rology. The second set, on the other hand, illustrates a non-metaphorical wording and its metapho-
rical counterpart at the grammatical level, i.e., a grammatical metaphor: a grammatico-semantic
domain realized by a clause is mapped onto a grammatico-semantic domain realized by a noun
group, with a consequent implicitation of meaning in that, for instance, a clause is anchored in time
and a noun group is not.
Grammatical metaphor thus names a phenomenon “whereby a set of agnate (related) forms is present
in the language having different mappings between the semantic and the grammatical categories”
(Halliday & Matthiessen, 1999: 7). This can be seen in Figure (1) below:
Fig. (1): Example of congruent and metaphorical wordings (Matthiessen, 1995: 162)
The less metaphorical wording on top “we modified an accelerator and then we investigated the
effects” construes meaning through two paratactical (coordinated) clauses, in a temporal sequence
relationship, with an explicit doer of the two actions (“we”). The meanings construed by this clause
complex can also be construed through a more metaphorical wording, through a circumstantial
adjunct, where agency is less explicit than in its more congruent wording, even though an interpre-
tation of there being a same doer for both actions could still be built. At the bottom, in the most
metaphorical wording of all, both actions in the most congruent versions are turned into nomi-
nalizations and the temporal relationship previously construed through a conjunction group (“and
then”) is now realized by the verb “precede”. Agency in the third wording is still more implicit in
that the doer of the action-turned-noun (“modification”) can no longer be solely ascribed to the doer
of the second action, now turned into a deictic (“our”). Changes in taxis, nominalization and
lexicalization of conjunctions thus pack meanings in such a way meaning needs to be brought to the
reading by the reader.
Grammatical metaphor is deployed throughout the language system and accounts for the fact that
states and events represented in texts can potentially be encoded through different wordings (a
clause, a group, etc.). The choice for a more or less metaphorical wording in turn bears an impact on
the degree of implicitness or explicitness of the meanings construed in language.
Research on grammatical metaphor as a phenomenon having an implication in translated text (Stei-

ner, 1991, Teich, 2003) has posited the hypothesis of (de)metaphorization as a process accounting for
perceived differences between non-translated and translated text. Three sources have been identified
as likely explanations for properties characterizing translated texts as opposed to non-translated text,
namely: typology, register, and understanding. The typology of the source language system may be
reflected in some of the properties of the translation; the registers of a source text and a target text for
a given context may not be the same, thus demanding decisions on the translator’s part on how to
construe meanings oriented to the contextual variables envisaged for the target text; and finally,
understanding involves relating given units of text to more explicit and more literal paraphrases and
in this sense demands decisions on the translator’s part as to how metaphorical certain wordings need
to be, can be or will ultimately have to be.
Drawing on observations of texts in comparable (translated and non-translated) samples and parallel
corpora (originals and their translations), understanding in monolingual and multilingual text
production can be modeled based on grammatical metaphor, the translator’s performance involving
relating meaningful (grammatical) units to their more or less metaphorical variants (Steiner, 2001).
When the level of metaphoricity is lower in the translated text than in the original one, explicitation
of meanings implicitly encoded in the original text is performed by the translator drawing on co-
textual and contextual assumptions. The following example, extracted from a science popularization
text in English and its published translation into Brazilian Portuguese shows an occurrence of a less
metaphorical wording in the original and a more metaphorical rendition in the translated text:
Fig. (2): Parallel example of (de)metaphorization

(Hawking, 1988 and Hawking translated by Maria Helena Torres, 1988)
The wordings underlined above show different constructions of meaning in the original and trans-
lated text. The former presents a typical causative construction in English, where there is an Initiator
“what” and an Actor “stars”.
what could have caused the stars to turn on

Initiator Process... Actor Process
As Halliday & Matthiessen (2004) state, causative constructions involve indirect agency on the part
of the Initiator. This can be seen when we compare the original clause with an alternative one:
what turned the stars on

Actor Process... Goal Process
where the Goal of the action is from an ergative perspective an agent: something turned the stars on
and the stars turned on.
In both cases, the stars have agency, the difference lying in the fact that in the causative constructions
the Initiator is not necessarily the Agent of the action. There could be a third source of agency
implicit in the meaning being construed.
In the Portuguese rendition, due to the nominal form “illumination of the stars” and the downranking
of “the stars” from a noun group to a prepositional phrase within a noun group we lose track of
agency and we are left wondering whether the stars illuminated something, or something illuminated
the stars, or still whether the stars were the source of their own illumination.
Steiner’s observations from the final output or translation product perspective have also been
confirmed in studies of the translation process drawing on the concept of micro and macro units
(Alves et al., 2010). Alves & Vale (2009: 257) state:
“A micro TU is defined as the flow of continuous TT production – which may incorporate the continu-
ous reading of source and TT segments – separated by pauses during the translation process as regis-
tered by keylogging and/or eyetracking software. It can be correlated to a ST segment that attracts the
translator’s focus of attention at a given moment. A macro TU, in turn, is defined as a collection of
micro TUs that comprises all the interim text productions that follow the translator’s focus on the same
ST segment from the first tentative rendering to the final output that appears in the TT”.
Data obtained through keylogging shows a series of micro units within one or more macro units that
encapsulate (de)metaphorization processes. In this sense, the concept of micro and macro units
(Alves & Vale, 2009) as retrievable from keylogging data allows for capturing paths of (de)meta-
phorization movements that may be or not perceivable in the final rendition output. Keylogging data
is supported by evidence obtained from eyetracking data, particularly regarding both progressive and
regressive fixations within text and gaze trajectory across areas of interest (source and target texts)
during instances of (de)metaphorization identified though macro units in task logs.
In order to illustrate the methodological steps implemented for tracking (de)metaphorization move-
ments and the analytical procedures adopted to explicate the shifts in the level of metaphoricity, this
paper examines results from an experiment involving eight Brazilian professional translators who
translated a popular science text from Portuguese (L1) into English (L2). The rationale for the
experiment is briefly described in the following section.
3. Methodological Considerations
Alves & Vale (2009) proposed a methodology for process-oriented and corpus-based studies of
translated texts to mark, annotate, extract and classify translation units (TUs) as micro and macro
translation units. The authors developed the Internet-based engine Litterae (available at
http://letra.letras.ufmg.br/litterae/index.xml), which is able to read XML files generated by Translog
2006© (a keylogging software package) and automatically provide micro units on the basis of a user-
provided pause unit (in seconds) that represents a “halt” in ongoing text production. These micro
units can be grouped into macro units and further analyzed as the user inserts annotation categories.
One such category is the phase of the translation process where each micro unit is found, that is,
whether a micro unit is located during the drafting phase (ranging from the first keystroke when the
translator starts typing until the last keystroke mapped onto the last word of a first draft of the source
text) or during the end revision phase (any keystroke activity going on after drafting phase).
Alves & Vale (2009) pursue mapping segments in target text production onto segments in source
texts as a way of defining units that on a micro perspective are sequentially located but on a macro
perspective can spread non-sequentially at different times in ongoing text production. In this paper
we draw on the conceptualization put forward in Alves & Vale (2010) to examine (de)metaphoriza-
tion processes as an exploratory path aimed at modeling language processing in translation on the
basis of grammatical metaphor with a focus on instances of effortful text production.
3.1 Sample Experimental Design

Eight Brazilian professional translators (named from BT1 to BT8) participated in an experiment
carried out in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, 2010, aimed at investigating, among others, the impact of more
or less metaphorical wordings in the source text on the rendition of the target texts. Having access to
only one electronic dictionary, they were asked to translate a text from Portuguese into English
(inverse translation task, i.e. L1 into L2). Task execution was recorded through keylogging software
and eyetracking software and hardware. Free and guided recall protocols were carried out upon task
completion, both of them being eyetracked and audio-recorded. Keylogging data was analyzed to
identify micro units within macro units. Eyetracking data was analyzed to investigate subjects’ gaze
trajectories and fixations.
Given time and space constraints and our attempt to illustrate (de)metaphorization movements in
detail, the analysis of micro units herein reported is limited to two particular macro units in the
translation process of one of the subjects, namely those concerning the first two clause complexes
translated by subject BT5 in our sample.
4. A Case in Point: Analysis and Discussion

Subject BT5 in our experiment was selected for illustrating (d)metaphorization movements in his
rendition of the following clause complexes of the source text:
Fig. (3): Clause complexes corresponding to the macro units under scrutiny
Figure (3) shows the first two clause complexes in Portuguese, the input for subject BT5’s translation
process. Back translations in English are provided, and wordings under focus in our discussion are
underlined.
Micro units in BT5’s process were mapped on the basis of keylogged data obtained through Translog
with 3-second-long pauses and grouped together into macro units. Each micro unit corresponds to a
text string found in between pauses either in the drafting phase or in the end revision phase. Figure
(4) below illustrates a macro unit that consists of 8 micro units in the drafting phase and 1 micro unit
in the end revision phase (each 3-second-long pause is represented as an asterisk; deletions are
represented as backspace symbols carrying an X inside).
Fig. (4): BT5’s micro units for the translation of clause complex 1
As seen in the log above, BT5 translated the text with little recursiveness (related to deletion of
typos), and also kept one word in Portuguese (i.e., “degustadores), which is translated in the last
micro unit in the end revision phase. The pauses seem to be related to effort: in the first micro unit,
one of the longest, as the eyetracking data show, pauses relate to the reading of the whole clause
complex; in micro units 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7, they seem to be related to trying to solve a lexical problem,
such as the search for a noun in English for “degustadores” (“tasters”); and in the ninth micro unit, a
substantially long pause as well, eyetracking data shows that this is related to look ups within the
dictionary provided. Overall, the subject took 2 minutes and 12 seconds to process the eight micro
units in the drafting phase, and 57 seconds to process the ninth micro unit in the end revision phase.
The second clause complex can be mapped onto the following micro units below:
Fig (5): BT5’s micro units for the translation of clause complex 2
Figure (5) illustrates a macro unit which consists of 11 micro units with little recursiveness (related
to deletion of typos), those units being related to choices at the group rank. Although this seems to be
a very short macro unit, lasting 1 minute and 8 seconds in the drafting phase and 1 minute and 46
seconds in the end revision phase, BT5 makes considerable changes in the end revision phase, as
shown by the occurrence of 5 micro units (45 % of the macro unit). These changes will be explained
below, as they are related to the phenomenon herein investigated.
The keylogged data reported as micro units in Figures (4) and (5) were mapped onto eyetracking data
(Figures [6] and [7] in the following pages) in order to show how gaze trajectory and eye fixations
can also evidence effort on the translator’s part to process the second clause complex. Fixations are
represented as gray circles (the bigger the circle, the longer the fixation), source text being located in
the top half and the target text in the bottom half of each frame.
In Figure (6), the eyetracking data shows considerable effort in the rendition of the macro unit
corresponding to the clause complex 2 in the drafting phase. Lines linking fixations from the source
text through the target text area of interest (and vice-versa) show the subject’s recurrent need to
process small portions of the source text in order to produce the target text (see the short distance
between lines in frames 2 and 3). Fixation also shows recursiveness in the reading of this macro unit,
there being almost one fixation per word.
In the end revision phase, as Figure (7) shows, BT5’s gaze does not show recurrent movements from
source to source text (and vice-versa). As expected for this phase in the process (Alves, Pagano &
Silva, 2009), most fixations are found in the target text area of interest.
As a joint analysis of Figures (4)-(7) shows, particular patterns of pauses, recursiveness and eye
gazing and fixations can be cross-analyzed to locate instances in the source and target texts where
effort is stronger. Let us now turn to a brief analysis of motivations for the effort invested by the
subject in terms of the constraints in the two language systems to which the translation problem
raised by the second clause complex can be ascribed.
If we have a look at the source text, there is a typological problem that exerts pressure on the
translator’s behavior. Where the source text reads
“O degustador aprecia com base em habilidades que adquire com a experiência.”
the intransitive use of the verb “aprecia” in Portuguese, back-translatable into English as “judges”,
“savors” or “tastes”, demands that the translator overcome two potential problems: one is the need to
turn this intransitive verb in Portuguese into a transitive verb in English, due to typological
constraints in the latter; and the other is to seek to avoid the repetition of “taste/r”, if the choice is for
the verb “to taste”.
The final output in BT5’s text is
“The taster ability to savor a beverage is based on his/her previous skills acquired with years of
experience.”
where we can see concurrent metaphorization and demetaphorization when compared to the source
text meanings. “O degustador aprecia” (“the taster savors”) is realized as “the taster ability to savor”,
with a metaphorization added through the noun “ability”, which offers a solution to the problem
posed by the meaning construed by the intransitivity of the verb in Portuguese. “Aprecia”
(“savors”,’”judges", “tastes”) is realized as “to savor a beverage” with a consequent demeta-
phorization through explicitation of an object selected in order to use a transitive construction in

English.
Fig. (6): Sequence of gaze plots generated by eyetracking for subject BT5
(each frame consists of 15-second-long gaze)
Fig. (7): Sequence of gaze plots generated by eyetracking for subject BT5
(each frame consists of 20-second-long gaze)
However, and this is where process data comes in to play a fundamental role in our analysis,
metaphorical shifts in the translation product may entail further metaphoricity shifts in the process.
This can clearly be seen in the micro units identified for the macro units under scrutiny.
During the drafting phase, the subject’s log shows the following interim rendition:
“The degustador taste is based on his/her skills acquired with experience.”
where the problem of the intransitive form in Portuguese finds an interim solution in English through
the selection of a copula or relational process “is based on”. This is taken up in the end revision
phase, where three attempts are made with various degrees of metaphoricity:
Fig. (8): Target text renditions during end revision phase
Shifts in levels of metaphoricity such as the ones observed in the translation log above seem to point
to a strategy implemented by the subject to deal with typological differences between the two
language systems. Interestingly enough, the subject may or may not be aware of this strategic path
taken. In the case of BT5, data from the verbal recall recorded upon task completion shows no evi-
dence of awareness on the subject’s part, as all he says in his protocol regarding his task is:
“I did a dirty translation first, using, introducing some words in Portuguese ... that I was not sure that I
could use ... taster ... and then I used degustador in Portuguese all the same ... and ... in order to later on
in the end revision ... to go back to doubts and improve the text.”
The protocol, nonetheless, confirms the subject’s self assessment of his behavior, as it shows that
most changes are introduced in the end revision phase of the process, after a so-called “quick and
dirty” drafting phase. Most significantly for the purposes of the present discussion, shifts in levels of
metaphoricity such as the ones observed in the BT5’s translation log and eyetracking data seem to
provide empirical evidence of meaning making processes at stake in translation of the kind that can
be mapped by further research with potential implications for modeling human translation processes.
5. Concluding Remarks
In this paper, we have attempted to provide a brief illustration of a methodology and analytical
procedures that can be adopted in order to explore a particular phenomenon in meaning production,
namely grammatical metaphor. Its identification in the course of task execution was clearly made
through pauses, eye fixation and gaze plots, indicators of effortful text production. The foci of atten-
tion, mapped on time and resources invested by the translator to deal with a translation problem a-
scribed to such instances of effortful production, need not find a counterpart in recall protocol data,
even though a discussion of this kind of data from an expert performance perspective would certainly
point to more expert-like behavior if evidence of meta-reflection and metalanguage can be found in
the protocols.
On the whole, our approach shows the potentiality for exploring eyetracking data to account for
higher-level cognitive processes in translation, along lines somewhat different from those in standard
psycholinguistic research which tend to focus on automatic aspects of language processing (e.g.,
reaction time to stimuli). The methodology also has implications for translation modeling through
shifts in metaphorical wording. Finally, grammatical metaphor seems to offer a productive approach
to show instances of effortful language processing in translation by mapping alignment units onto
translation units. It also highlights the need for a comprehensive theory of language for translators to
develop awareness and metalanguage to account for their choices. As sketched herein, the proposed
methodology promises to open up a new avenue for the investigation of meaning construction in
translation and should now be tested in larger samples of translation process data to be further
developed and to test hypotheses.
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yond Context, pp. 161-190. Berlin/New York: Mouton de Gruyter.
Teich, E. (2003), Cross-Linguistic Variation in System and Text. A Methodology for the Investigation of
Translations and Comparable Texts.Berlin/New York: Mouton de Gruyter.
276
METHODS FOR PROBLEM SOLVING

IN TRANSLATION AND TERMINOLOGY:
COMPONENTIAL ANALYSIS VS. LEXICAL-SYSTEM-LIKE STRUCTURES
Marcel Thelen
The Netherlands
Abstract: Translators have a wealth of information and tools at their disposal for their difficult
task of rendering as precisely as possible in language and culture B (i.e. the target text) a mes-
sage that is formulated in language and culture A (i.e. the source text). Generally, these re-
sources range from various types of dictionary (both printed and digital editions), term banks,
text books, to the internet, machine translation tools, CAT tools, localisation tools, translation
memories to personal contacts, and cover domain-specific information, general information as
well as linguistic information. The experience and maturity of the translator tends to determine
which types of resource are used, in what situations and how often. These resources may be
used to confirm or check ideas about/suggestions for translation and terminology solutions, to
look for and find such solutions, and to prove the correctness or plausibility of solutions
decided on.
In this paper, I will discuss a (cognitive-)linguistic system that may be used as a discovery pro-
cedure for terminology as well as for translation, viz. the Lexical-System-like Structure as I de-
fined it in the framework of TCM – for Two-Cycle Model of Grammar (see Thelen, 1997;
2012a).
1. Introduction
The first, and foremost basic, task of a translator is to determine the meaning of items in the source
text of language and culture (A) – next to, of course, keeping an eye to the wishes and instructions of
the client, the conventions of appropriate text linguistic options, etc. –, and to render it in language
and culture (B) while trying to keep this meaning as constant as possible. Generally, the professional
translator will not have too many problems with this because of his expertise and experience in trans-
lating texts in a particular domain. Moreover, he will generally be guided by translation memories
and term banks. In other words, he will probably have found and find his way. If problems crop up,
these may generally arise from unclear or incorrect use of language in the source text or from do-
main-specific or terminological issues.
This is different for starting translators, especially students of translation. They still have to learn the
tricks of the translation profession. More often than professional translators they will face meaning
problems for which they have to find a solution. And it is with problem solving itself that they may
have problems. This may also, but to a lesser degree, hold for starting translators.
This paper will discuss a basic strategy that may be used for problem solving related to meaning is-
sues – notably meaning determination, not in particular for each and every little problem, but for the
real difficult ones. I regard this strategy as a discovery procedure, as a guide so to say, for students to
find their way in the right direction towards a solution. Of course, this strategy may well be used by
experienced translators as well.
With this strategy I hope to contribute to a model of mental processing of meaning by the translator.
2. Determining meaning: basic steps

A useful set of basic steps for meaning determination may be the following:
278 MARCEL THELEN
1. look up the unknown item in a monolingual and bilingual (translation) dictionary;

2. analyse and compare the information given;
3. pick out (on the basis of this comparison) one equivalent from the bilingual dictionary;
4. use the equivalent found in the target language text;
5. check if the equivalent fits in the target language text.
Step (5) may be subdivided further into the following two steps:
5(a) look up the equivalent found in step (1) and decided upon in step (3) in a target language dictionary;
5(b) check the information given against the context of the target language text.
This general model, let me call it procedural model, is typically used for general language. It is in-
spired by a survey among students of translation discussed in Starren and Thelen (1990). For termi-
nological issues, the dictionaries to be consulted should preferably be domain specific dictionaries, if
at all available, and/or domain specific term banks or term lists. The procedural model for cases
where translation memories are available will obviously be different. I will not deal with these in this
paper. I will take general language as starting point, with the idea that the procedural model for do-
main specific language will basically be similar.
2.1 What may go wrong

Students of translation do not always apply this procedural model from step (1) through to step (5b);
consequently, a number of things may go wrong, resulting in an inappropriate translation. Generally,
these inappropriate translations have their origins in a misapplication and/or incomplete application
of this basic procedural model. The two most common mistakes that I have registered over the years
as a lecturer of translation and terminology are:
1. the wrong equivalent has been picked out in step (3);

2. the equivalent thus found has not been checked against the context of the target language text in step
(5b).
2.2 Possible causes

From a didactic point of view, it is interesting to know why students do not apply the procedural
model correctly or fully. This may yield clues and ideas for improvement of the curriculum. The four
most obvious causes are:
1. lack of time;
2. lack of professionalism (nonchalance?);
3. problems with analysing dictionary information;
4. problems with checking equivalents found against the context of the target language text.
A number of remedies are possible, such as giving students more time and gradually teach them how
to work under pressure, and with strict deadlines while safeguarding quality standards as much as
possible. I will not go into this any further.
2.3 Possible solutions

The general procedural model discussed can be seen as a rather general model, operating on the pe-
riphery of the problem of meaning determination. At the heart of the problem, however, is that stu-
dents do not know sufficiently well how to analyse/determine meaning. Apparently, another solution
is called for.
In what follows, I will propose two possible solutions, i.e. Componential Analysis (CA) of meaning
and compare this with the application of so-called Lexical-System-like Structures (or LS-like Struc-
tures). In Thelen (2012b) – my paper for the proceedings of the Łódź Session of this 5th International
Maastricht-Łódź Duo Colloquium on Translation and Meaning –, I will, furthermore, compare these
LS-like Structures as solutions to the meaning determination problem with WordNet and frames.
3. Componential Analysis (CA) of meaning as a discovery procedure for determining

meaning
The procedural model described above needs to be supplemented with a more detailed model, viz. a
model for analysis of meaning; let me call this a model of analysis. In this section, I will focus on
Componential Analysis. In other words, what I will propose here is a combination of the procedural
model and Componential Analysis.
3.1 Starting points for meaning determination

In my view, there are two starting points for meaning determination
1. the dictionary definition of a problematic item;

2. a problematic item’s context in text.
I will restrict myself to context in text here, and not include an item’s context outside the text1.
Context is an appropriate supplementary starting point for meaning determination in cases where
1. there are no resources available or to be found in a reasonable short period of time for the deter-
mination of the meaning of an item in isolation (i.e. out of context), or
2. no appropriate meaning information is given or can be found in resources in a reasonable short period
of time.
The dictionary definition is the appropriate starting point for meaning determination in cases where
the meaning of an item can be found without having to rely on its context, in other words for de-
termining the meaning of an item in isolation. The deciding factor between these two starting points
is time: the translator should not spend too much time on either of them with a view to keeping the
deadline set by the client. It will be up to the translator to decide whether to make use of only one of
the two, and if so which one, or of both.
There are two types of dictionary definition:
1. definition by description, and

2. definition by synonym.
Both types usually are, at least, can be supported by several types of information, such as
1. usage information (on semantic domain, style, region, etc.),

2. etymological information,
3. spelling information,
4. examples,
5. etc.
1
The context in text is similar to what Kjellmer (1971) appropriately calls context (1) (= the noun phrase to
which the problem item belongs) and context (2) (= the wider context in the text). Both context (1) and (2)
make up the text in which the item in question occurs. Context (3) is the context outside of the text, and con-
sists of “… verbal as well as non-verbal elements outside the text but relevant to the understanding of the pas-
sage in question” (Kellmer, 1971: 36).
280 MARCEL THELEN
The starting point for my discussion of Componential Analysis of meaning as a model of analysis for
meaning determination will not only be the dictionary definition, in particular both by description
and by synonym, but also context. I will combine this model of analysis with the procedural model
outlined above, As for the latter, I will focus on steps (1)-(3).
3.2 Componential Analysis of meaning

In this section, I will outline the principles by which Componential Analyysis of meaning may be
used as a model of analysis for meaning determination in combination with the procedural model
discussed above. The principles will be based on general language. Let me start with an example
sentence. This example is meant as an model and therefore it has been simplified so as to illustrate
precisely how a student of translation could go about to determine meaning. Consider the following
example sentence in English that the student has to translate into Dutch:
SLT (Source Text)2: “The Brooks lived in a comfortable house in London”
where house is italicised to indicate that this represents the problem word whose meaning is not im-
mediately clear for translation.
Presented schematically, step (1) – i.e. looking up the item in question in a monolingual and bilingual
(translation) dictionary – and (2) – i.e. analysing and comparing the information given – of the
general model together with the information provided by the dictionaries consulted would look like
the following:
2
The abbreviation used for the target text is TLT (Target Language Text).
The dictionaries used here are the monolingual English dictionary Collins English Dictionary (1991)
and the bilingual English-Dutch translation dictionary Van Dale (1989). The equivalences between
the various senses in the two dictionaries are the following:
Collins Van Dale

1 = 0.1
2 = --
3 = 0.1 where:
4 = 0.4 woning = dwelling
5 = 0.1 zaak = company, firm
6 = 0.2 + 0.3 klooster = convent
7 = 0.2 bioscoop = cinema
8 = 0.1 bordeel = brothel
9 = 0.6 woonkamer = living room
10 = 0.7 keuken = kitchen
11 = 0.1 woning = dwelling
12 = --
13 = 0.8
14 = 0.2
As can be seen, the Collins senses (2) and (12) do not have equivalents in Van Dale. The Van Dale
sense (0.9) has no equivalent in Collins. What the student does here when applying Componential
Analysis is compare the definitions given in both dictionaries. On the basis of this comparison he
may conclude that – with a little abstracting – in both dictionaries, a division can be made between
the various senses into the following more abstract categories:
1. building (irrespective of its purpose and use made of it)

2. people living in a building (irrespective of what their relation is to the building)
3. other.
The building senses clearly form the main category of senses.

Componential Analysis of meaning can also be applied to compare the various senses in these more
abstract categories. The best way to do this is to represent the senses in the form of hierarchical
282 MARCEL THELEN
structures or lexical taxonomies. While such taxonomies are in fact lexical constructs representing
relations between the items that are included in them, they may also be regarded as representations of
mental computations.
For the main category building in Van Dale – thus with a view to possible use as an equivalent in the
TLT – the lexical items representing the corresponding senses may be schematised in a taxonomy as
follows:
Componential Analysis may be applied horizontally and vertically. Both directions involve a para-
digmatic comparison. In the vertical direction, the subordinate senses woning, zaak, klooster, bordeel,
keuken, and woonkamer can be compared to the superordinate sense huis. This will yield differences
and similarities in meaning that the student can use in order to decide on using one of them as a
translation equivalent in the TLT. In the horizontal direction, the subordinate senses of co-hyponyms
can be compared to each other, also yielding differences and simularities in meaning. The taxonomy
makes clear that, in fact, the bordeel, keuken and woonkamer senses are the odd men out in this more
abstract category of building.
Another option for applying Componential Analysis is to compare senses in associative relations. For
house – huis this would come down to comparing what both are used for:
These associative relations make clear that woning can be used as equivalent of dwelling, zaak as
equivalent of company, and bordeel as equivalent of brothel; the nature of the associative relations in
these pairs is identical: both woning and dwelling are used to live/dwell in, etc. What these associative
relations alo make clear is that there is a definite difference in meaning between e.g. woning/dwelling
and bordeel/brothel: the function of the former is to live/dwell in, that of the latter usually to do
things related to relaxing in a particular way.
Summarising, Componential Analysis may be used in a variety of ways to determine meaning on the
basis of dictionary definitions:
1. comparing the various dictionary definitions in one and the same dictionary and establishing taxono-
mies on this basis;
2. comparing the various dictionary definitions between SL dictionary and TL dictionary and establish-
ing taxonomies on this basis;
3. comparing senses vertically and horizontally in taxonomies established on the basis of dictionary def-
initions;
4. comparing senses as these emerge from associative relations between senses based on/derived from
dictionary definitions.
As mentioned in section (3.1), the second starting point for meaning determination is an item’s
context in text. Also here, Componential Analysis may play a role. A clear example is given by Nida
(1975: 168), where he applies Componential Analysis not paradigmatically, but syntagmatically. In
the following series of sentences, typical contexts are represented with the term tezgüino. Tzegüino
takes up a prominent place in the culture of the Tarahumara Indians living in the highlands of
northern Mexico:
1. There is some tezgüino.

2. A jar of tezgüino is on the table.
3. You need a lot of tezgüino to get your land cleared.
4. Everyone likes tezgüino.
5. I’ll have a drink of tezgüino.
6. Tezgüino makes you drunk.
7. We make tezgüino out of corn, but we do not distil it.
(Nida, 1975: 168).
From these seven contexts, one can, according to Nida, determine that tezgüino is a kind of beer.
Here too, the sense of the item in question is compared with that of other items, however, not in
isolation, i.e. in their dictionary definitions, but with the sense of the surrounding items co-occurring
in the context of the item in question. The problem with the syntagmatic application of CA is that
one needs a number of sentences in order to further delimit the meaning of an item. The above seven
sentences used in Nida’s example, are rather artificial and would not occur as such in running
authentic text.
Clearly, in the situations discussed above (paradigmatical and syntagmatical application of CA), the
student has to do quite a bit to use Componential Analysis successfully as a discovery procedure or
model of analysis in conjunction with the general procedural model. In none of the cases,
Componential Analysis offers really structural support in the sense of a structural format that can be
placed over items that are problematic. In what follows, I will suggest an alternative for Com-
ponential Analysis.
4. Lexical-System-like Structure as a discovery procedure for determining meaning

An alternative to Componential Analysis as a model of analysis in combination with the general
procedural model for meaning determination is a model of analysis with Lexical-System-like
Structures.
The notion of Lexical-System-like Structures (LS-like Structures) was first introduced as a model of
analysis in Thelen (1997), and was defined more preciesely in Thelen (2012a). For a good
understanding of what these structures are, it is necessary to give a brief summary of the original
notion they are derived from, i.e. the notion of Lexical Structure, and its theoretical context, which is
TCM (for Two-Cycle Model of Grammar).
284 MARCEL THELEN
4.1 TCM: basic principles

TCM was developed by Alinei (1974, 1980a, 1980b) and influenced by the then version of Chom-
sky’s Transformational Generative Grammar. The model assumes that a lexical item is, in fact, a
shortcut of an underlying concept and that the concept that is associated with a given lexical item has
an internal structure; this structure resembles (but is not identical to), moreover, the syntactic
structure of an actual sentence. As in an actual syntactic sentence structure, this conceptual structure
has a subject, a predicate, an object, and so on. In the syntactic structures of actual sentences, these
elements are represented in terms of (subject) NP, VP, (object) NP, etc., while in these conceptual
structures their representational forms are SB (for Subject), PD (for Predicate), OB (for Object), etc.3
Unlike syntactic structures, conceptual structures have such additional categories as MANN (for
manner), INSTR (for INSTRUMENT), TIME, AM (for AMOUNT), LOC (for LOCATION), etc. In
terms of syntactic structrures of actual sentences, these would all be termed NP. The difference
between purely syntactic structures and conceptual structures is that the categories in conceptual
structures have a strong semantic character. Apart from this difference, both structures – purely
syntactic and conceptual – may undergo structural changes as a result of the application of
transformations. In terms of TCM, conceptual structures are called Internalised Sentences or Phrases
(ISs or IPs) and syntactic structures Externalised Sentences or Phrases (ESs of EPs). The structures
of concepts are called conceptual-syntactic structures, and those of actual sentences syntactic
structures. Likewise, the structural categories of concept structures are called conceptual-syntactic
categories, and those of purely syntactic structrures syntactic categories.
This similarity between purely syntactic structures and conceptual structures led to doubling of the
grammar into two twin grammars or Cycles: a Lexical Cycle and a Sentence Cycle. The output of the
Lexical Cycle is the lexicon (which is generated in this cycle), and the output of the Sentence Cycle
actual sentences. The output of the Lexical Cycle forms the inut for the Sentence Cycle, in other
words, the lexicon is the input for the Sentence Cycle.
In a similar way as syntactic categories in syntactic structures “carry” (after lexical insertion) se-
mantic content in the form of lexical items), conceptual-syntactic categories in conceptual-syntactic
structures carry a semantic load in the form of so-called conceptual-semantic features. These are
existing lexical items that are recycled as conceptual-semantic features. Let me give an example.
Consider the lexical items (to) drink, bar, and glass. In terms of TCM, their conceptual structures are
respectively:
(to) drink SB <human> PD <drink> OB <liquid>

bar LOC <…> WH SB <human> PD <drink> OB <liquid>
glass INSTR <…> WH SB <human> PD <drink> OB <liquid>
The category LOC stand for location, INSTR for Instrument, and WH indicates a conceptual-
symtactic category referring to the relativisation cum movement transformation that has been applied
(for more details see Alinei, 1980).
The items <human>, <drink>, <liquid> are conceptual-semantic features that are recycled from
lexical items existing elsewhere in the lexicon, in other words form the lexical items drink, bar, and
glass. It looks like there is a great deal of circulatity here between the lexical item bar, for example,
and the conceptual-semantic feature <bar>: lexical item  conceptual-semantic feature  lexical
item  etc. This is correct. However, this circularity is essential for meaning decomposition
3
As may be seen, the labels for the categories in conceptual structures are more explicit/informative than
those in actual syntactic structures: in the case of the former one can immediately see whether a category rep-
resents a subject or object, while in the case of the latter is is the order of occurrence in the structure that im-
plies this.
(analysis of meaning) and meaning composition (lexicalisation). In terms of taxonomies, this means
that meaning is decomposed into smaller features until the top of a taxonomy is reached. The feature
at the top is, however, not a primitive feature, but a primitive feature by axiom, meaning that it is
axiomatised to be “primitive”, i.e. the smallest feature, for the set of lexical items under considera-
tion. In other sets, the topmost feature may be different. From top to bottom in a taxonomy, this
means that a feature is combined with other features (i.e. recycled lexical items) to be lexicalised into
a lower level lexical item. In the reformulation of TCM (cf. e.g. Thelen, 2012a), the cognitive start-
ing point (head) of a taxonomy is the feature at the basic level and not the axiomatic feature at the
superordinate level4. A taxonomy would look like (Thelen, 2012a: 98):
The cognitive starter conceptual-semantic feature <bar>, for example, would then in the example
taxonomy be represented at the basic level in the place of <food>, where together with other features
it lexicalises as the lexical item bar. It is then recycled as a feature to lexicalise – together with other
features – such lexical items at the subordinate level as e.g. country bar, cocktail bar, gay bar, etc.
4
For the terms superordinate level, basic level, and subordinate level, see e.g. Lakoff (1988: 135).
286 MARCEL THELEN
Let me return to the example lexical items (to drink, bar, and glass). The structures represented are
conceptual-syntactic structures, and, in this case – because they are part of the Lexical Cycle – they
are Internalised Sentences/Phrases. As can be seen, all three lexical items have the same features in
SB, PD and OB position: <human> occupies SB position, <drink> PD position, and <liquid> OB
position. In case similarity between structures is not that clear, “undoing” or “reversing” any
transformations that have applied may help. In the case of the structures of bar and glass, the
relativisation/movement transformation has applied, which can be seen from the presence of the
category WH. If this transformation is “undone” or “reversed”, all three structures show exactly the
same categories and load. These abstracted or basic structures are called Lexical Systems (LSs).
For a LS to apply to a number of structures, at least the load of SB and PD should be the same (that
of OB is optional). Not only is the LS a particular set of conceptual-syntactic structures that have
identical fillings for SB and PD, it also represents a group of lexical items: all those lexical items that
share one and the same underlying conceptual structure are said to belong to one and the same LS. In
this way, the LS for the lexical items (to) drink, bar, and glass is:
SB <humnan> PD <drink> OB< liquid>.
To this LS many more lexical items belong: drinker, beer, nightcap, thirst, drunkard, drink, sober,
teetotaller, binge drinking, (to) sip, tea, etc. In other words, a LS is at the same a conceptual-syntac-
tic structure that has been abstracted from a number of Internalised Sentences/Phrases with a fixed
conceptual-semantic “filling” for at least the conceptual-syntactic categories SB and PD, as well as a
group of lexical items that have this particular structure as their associated underlying conceptual-
syntactic structure.
As can be seen from the example taxonomy, TCM applies Componential Analysis as well. The only
difference and important innovation is that in TCM the taxonomies of the various parts of speech can
be related to one another because of the principle of borrowing that plays a part in the lexicalistion of
lower-level lexical items in a taxonomy. This is not possible in “traditional” Componential Analysis.
In the example taxonomy, the features indicated by round brackets are borrowed from other taxono-
mies, i.e. from noun taxonomies, verb taxonomies, adjective taxonomies, etc.
4.2 Lexical-System-like Structures

Lexical-System-like Structures are derived from Lexical Systems. The most important difference
between the two types of structure is that LS-like Structures are not “filled” with elements from
existing conceptual-syntactic structures, but with elements from actual contexts (in dictionary
definitions or in running text). Let me give an example. Consider the dictionary definition for the
verb to lap as given in Collins Cobuild English Dictionary (1995):
“6. When an animal laps a drink, it uses short quick movements of its tongue to flick liquid up into its
mouth” (Collins Cobuild English Dictionary1995).
Application of a LS-like Structure to this text would yield:
SB <animal> PD<lap> OB <liquid> MANN<short movements of its tongue to flick liquid up into its
mouth>.
What can be seen here is that chunks of the actual text are taken to fill the various categories in the
structure SB PD OB.
4.3 Meaning determination by means of Lexical-System-like Structures

Let me now discuss how a LS-like Structure may function as a discovery procedure for the iden-
tification of meaning components in dictionary definitions in combination with the general proce-
dural model for meaning determination outlined in section (2). For this, I will take the TLT candidate
lexical item huis (house) as identified in section (3.2) above as the starting point:
The application of LS-like Structures to the dictionary definitions of these equivalents for the TLT
candidate huis (house) would (when in their turn looked up in a dictionary) roughly yield the
following:
It will be clear that these structures are much more informative than Componential Analysis. These
data show that woning (dwelling), keuken (kitchen), bordeel (brothel), and zaak (company, firm) all
have a LS-like Structure that is different from that of woning (dwelling): the “filling” of SB may be
roughly identical, that of PD is quite different. Whereas in the case of woning this is <live>, for the
other three lexical items it is, respectively, <cook>, <work5>, and <do business>. Not only does this
information indicate that these lexical items basically belong to different groups of lexical items, it
also makes clear that the activity carried out in the various cases is different. In this way, LS-like
5
Of the two (<work> and <live>), <work> seems to be the more likely feature.
288 MARCEL THELEN
Structures combine, in fact, the two possible forms of application of Componential Analysis: (1)
comparing a number of individual and isolated lexical items to one another (both paradigmatically
and in terms of associative relations), and (2) comparing one particular lexical item with co-
occurring lexical items in a number of different contexts (syntagmatically), both in order to detect
common and diverging characteristics in terms of semantic components or features. On top of this,
LS-like Structures make one immediately look for all the information that could be filled in SB and
PD position.
5. Componential Analysis and Lexical-System-like Structures compared

When one compares Componential Analysis and Lexical-System-like Structures as discovery pro-
cedures for meaning determination, the following picture emerges.
In the case of the example sentences Nida discusses, it is not immediately clear which components
should be taken to compare with/contrast with/relate to the problem word tezgüino. Moreover, it will
be an exception rather than general situation that such sentences occur next to one another to be
processed in the way suggested. In the case of the paradignatic application of Componential
Analysis, much work has to be done before some results come up. And even then, the results may not
be as desired or hoped for.
Lexical-System-like Structures provide structured formats for meaning determination in that they
force the user to look for specific other sentence elements in the form of SB, PD, OB, etc. This is not
to say that they immediately and fully unravel the meaning of a problem word, but at least they can
offer guidance as to where to look further.
When one represents the comparison between CA and LS-like Structures schematically, the result is:
Componential Analysis Lexical-System-like Structures

The taxonomy is the basic conceptual The LS-like Structure is the basic conceptual
structure for identification of meaning structure for the identification of meaning
components
The identification of meaning components The identification of meaning is not taxonomy
is taxonomy bound; taxonomy boundaries bound and may cross taxonomy boundaries
are not crossed
The syntagmatic application of CA does LS-like Structures provide structured formats for
not provide a structured format for analysis analysis and require specific other sentence parts
to the user to be taken into consideration such as SB, PD,
OB, etc.
LS-like Structures are more in line with actual
sentence structure
The syntagmatic application of CA requires LS-like Structures do not require sets of sentences
a number of sentences for comparison and for comparison and analysis
analysis
Concluding one may state that LS-like Structures are more powerful discovery procedures for mean-
ing determination that both types of CA (paradigmatic and syntagmatic). LS-like Structures as a
model of analysis of meaning in combination with the procedural model for meaning determination
constitute a plausible discovery procedure for the translator and may, therefore, contribute to a model
for mental processing of meaning by the translator.
In my paper for the proceedings of the Łódź Session (Translation and Meaning, Part 10), I will
continue my discussion of LS-like Structures as discovery procedures for the analysis of meaning
and compare them with WordNet and frames.
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tica. An International Journal of Theoretical and Applied Semantics, 1/80. Bologna; il Mulino, pp. 33-95.
Alinei, M. (1980b), “The Structure of Meaning Revisited”. In Quaderni di Semantica, 2/80, pp. 289-305.
Collins Cobuild English Dictionary. (1995). Ed. JM Sinclair. London: HarperCollins Publishers.
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pers from the 3rd International EURALEX Congress, Budapest, 4-9 September 1988. Budapest: Akadémiai
Kiadó, pp. 447-458.
Thelen, M. (1997), “Translating figurative language: towards a framework for the interpretation of the image
behind figurative language”. In: Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, B. and M. Thelen (eds.), Translation and
Meaning, Part 4. Proceedings of the Łódź Session of the 2nd International Maastricht-Łódź Duo Colloquium
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Maastricht School of Translation and Interpreting.
Thelen, M. (1999), “Prototypes and the Structure of the Lexicon”. In Zeitschrift für Anglistik und Amerikanistik
(ZAA). A Quarterly of Language, Literature and Culture, XLVII. Jahrgang 1999, Heft 3 – 3. Viertejahr, pp.
195-209. Tübingen: Stauffenburg Verlag.
Thelen, M. (2009), “The structure of the lexicon in a “Two-Cycle Model of Grammar” (TCM): prototypicality
and frames”. In W. Oleksy and P. Stalmaszczyk (eds.), Cognitive Approaches to Language and Linguistic
Data. Studies in honor of Barbara Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk. Frankfurt a/Main: Peter Lang GmbH., pp.
321-338.
Thelen, M. (2012a), The Structure of the Lexicon. Incorporating a cognitive approach in the TCM lexicon, with
applications to lexicography, terminology and translation. Ghent: Academia Press.
Thelen, M. (2012b, in press), “Methods for problem solving: WordNet and frames vs. Lexical-System-like
Structures”. Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, B. and M. Thelen (eds.), Translation and Meaning, Part 10. Pro-
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Meaning, Held in Łódź, Poland, 16-19 September 2010. Maastricht: Maastricht School of Translation and In-
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290
291
Section VIII:
Quality Management
292
STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES IN LITERARY TRANSLATION:

A CASE STUDY APPROACH
Paule Salerno-O’Shea
Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
Abstract: Some grant-giving boards send translated samples of novels to “expert readers” who
then write a report. The author of this paper has worked as an “expert reader” for one of those
agencies. The following paper draws from this experience in order to identify translators’
strengths and weaknesses as elicited from the application of the criteria used to assess
translations. It proposes a case-study approach and analyzes translation samples of five XXI
century Irish novels translated from English into French by professional translators. Errors will
be pointed out and alternative solutions proposed.
The literary quality of translations is rarely a problem but some difficulties remain. Lack of
accuracy seems to be the most salient stumbling block. It stems from inadequate lexical choice,
misunderstanding of the source text, inadequate choice of pronouns, ambiguity, distance
between source text and target text, loss of image/intent, double meaning, unnecessary lexical
rewriting, lack of fluidity, over-formality, over-correctness, lexical inadequacy, loss of rhyme
and rhythm, unnecessary add-ons and cultural issues.
In conclusion, professional translators produce quality literary work but efforts should focus on
a better understanding of the source text, a better fit between source text and target text styles
and increased cultural awareness.
1. Introduction
In today’s economic climate, no source of funding can be neglected. Grants are sometimes awarded
to help in the publication of translated novels. Grant-giving boards may send translated samples to
“expert readers” who write a report on those samples. I have been fortunate enough to be given the
opportunity to write such reports. The following paper draws from this experience in order to
identify translators’ strengths and weaknesses as elicited from the application of the criteria used to
assess translations. I would like to stress the fact that this paper is certainly not an attack on
translators. Indeed, most literary translators do a good job. If they didn’t, they would not survive very
long in this trade. It is hoped that this paper will be perceived as a helpful insight into some
assessment procedures and that it will serve to highlight areas where improvements can be made.
This paper will propose a case-study approach.
2. Corpus
We will analyze samples taken from five XXI century Irish novels (Track & Field, Grace and Truth,
The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, The Gathering, Redemption Falls) which were translated from
English into French by professional translators. Errors will be pointed out and alternative solutions
proposed. Translation samples will be taken from published and unpublished sources. The following
abbreviations will be used:
ST= Source Text, TT1= professional translator’s text and TT2 = my proposal.
3. Criteria
The main criteria are used for assessing the quality of a translation are included in the following
questions:
1. Is the literary quality of the translation of an acceptable standard?

2. Is it easy to read?
3. Is it complete?
4. Is it correct?
294 PAULE SALERNO-O’SHEA
5. Is it accurate?
6. Does the style of the translation reflect the original?
7. Are there culture specific issues?
3.1 Literary quality?

The literary quality of translations is rarely a problem. Nevertheless, some issues exist.
For example, the repetition of declarative verbs (as in “He said”), which is usually acceptable in
English, should be avoided in French, where lexical variety (déclarer/affirmer/ajouter, etc) is re-
quired. It is easy for a translator to overlook this fact.
There are also consistency issues such as changing, for no good reason, from passé composé to passé
simple
ST (Source Text): Light flashed behind him…

TT1 (professional translator’s text): Un éclair lumineux a jailli derrière lui…
TT2 (my proposal): Un éclair lumineux jaillit derrière lui…
3.2 Easy to read?

Translations are mostly easy to read but some sentences can be strange.
ST: It was the third day of the war when I returned…

TT1: La guerre avait éclaté depuis trois jours lorsque je rentrai…
TT2: La guerre avait éclaté trois jours avant mon retour…
Here, the verb éclater in its plus-que-parfait form cannot be combined with depuis trois jours.
Éclater (to burst, to break) is not an action which can take place over a long period of time.
3.3 A complete translation?

Translations are mostly complete, but omissions occur. It may be that the translator genuinely forgot
to translate words or indeed, sentences. In other cases, it may have been a way of deliberately
avoiding a difficulty.
ST: Even then …

TT1: not translated
TT2: Déjà à cette époque…
ST: Esme can never think of anything, not one thing, she would wish to impart to these
people.
TT1: Pour sa part, Esme ne voit vraiment rien qu’elle souhaiterait communiquer à ces gens.
TT2: Comme d’habitude, Esme ne voit rien, absolument rien / pas la moindre chose qu’elle
souhaiterait raconter à ces gens.
ST: Take it. Go head. You bless us if you do

TT1: Prends-la. Vas-y. Tu nous feras une faveur si tu la prends.
TT2: Prends-la. Vas-y. Pour nous faire plaire plaisir et faire plaisir au Bon Dieu.
It is obvious from these examples that omissions can transform the target text into a very dull text
compared to the source text.
3.4 Grammatically correct?

Translations are mostly grammatically correct, but the target language is not always mastered. There
can be spelling difficulties. In the following example, part of the French negative (ne/n’) form has
been “forgotten”:
TT1: On attendait plus que toi.

TT2: On n’attendait plus que toi. (If in doubt, replace ‘on’ by ‘il’: il n’attendait plus que toi.)
Typing errors also happen:
TT1: Porter (to carry)

TT2: Porte (a door)
Other difficulties include choosing the wrong article:
ST: Sparks spurt.

TT1: Les étincelles jaillissent.
TT2: Des étincelles jaillissent.
Lexical difficulties are numerous which results in a text which does not sound French:
ST: …the future, if there is any future, will not be like the past of her mother.
TT1: …le futur, si futur il y a, ne ressemblera pas au passé de sa mère.
TT2: …l’avenir, si avenir il y a, ne ressemblera pas au passé de sa mère.
ST: I took a deep breath.

TT1: Je pris une profonde inspiration.
TT2: J’inspirai profondément.
3.5 Accurate?
Lack of accuracy seems to be the most salient stumbling block. It stems from inadequate lexical
choice, misunderstanding of the source text, inadequate choice of pronouns, ambiguity, distance
between source text and target text, loss of image/intent, double meaning, unnecessary lexical re-
writing, lack of fluidity, over-formality, over-correctness, lexical inadequacy, loss of rhyme and
rhythm, unnecessary add-ons and cultural issues.
Some problems are due to inadequate lexical choice:
ST: Even small babies being pushed in their buggies are dressed in the raucous colours…
TT1: Même les petits dans les landaus portent les couleurs criardes….
TT2: Même les petits dans leur poussette portent les couleurs criardes…
ST: ‘War games’, he said.

TT1: « Jeux de rôle, dit-il.
TT2: « On joue à la guerre », dit-il.
Other difficulties arise from misunderstanding the source text. These errors are very frequent:
ST: Everything they planted was foraged.

TT1: Tout ce qu’ils cultivaient a été donné au bétail.
TT2: On avait pillé tout ce qu’ils avaient planté.
ST: … and for this they’d let on not to have heard.

TT1: … rien n’indiquait qu’ils nous aient entendus.
TT2: …et pour cette raison ils firent semblant de ne pas entendre.
ST: …and never, ever letting go.

TT1: …sans jamais, jamais lâcher le morceau…
TT2: …sans jamais, jamais laisser tomber/abandonner…
ST: …as the dining room was knocked into the kitchen, (as the kitchen swallowed the
back garden)
TT1: …pendant que la salle à manger était transformée en cuisine…
TT2: …pendant qu’on abattait le mur entre salle à manger et cuisine, (et que la cuisine
engloutissait le jardin).
ST: From next door came the sound of raised voices.

TT1: De la porte voisine montait un bruit de voix aiguës.
TT2: On entendait le ton monter chez les voisins.
ST: She reaches her soft old face up.

TT1: Et elle lève son visage vieux et mou.
TT2: Et elle lève son vieil et doux visage.
Choosing the right pronoun can be challenging for translators:
ST: … before you’d made your first million.

TT1: … avant d’avoir gagné votre premier million.
TT2: … avant d’avoir gagné son premier million.
ST: It is the smell of us.

TT1: C’est notre odeur à tous.
TT2: C’est notre odeur à nous.
ST: I suppose you could call me a landed person.

TT1: Je suppose que vous pourriez me qualifier de propriétaire terrien.
TT2: Je suppose qu’on pourrait me qualifier de propriétaire terrien.
Ambiguity is also accuracy’s enemy:
ST: … I really think that she left the hitting to other people…
TT1: …mais je crois qu’elle a laissé les coups aux autres…
TT2: …mais je crois qu’elle a laissé/laissait les autres donner les coups…
ST: And Esme is thinking, where does it begin?

TT1: Pour sa part, Esme se demande où tout a commencé.
TT2: Et Esme se demande où tout cela commence.
The distance between the Source Text and the Target Text is sometimes striking:
ST: She sklents like a crab through a dustbowl.

TT1: Courbée comme un crabe par les zones désertiques.
TT2: Elle marche de guingois comme un crabe dans un bol de
poussière.
ST: Jamila says she thinks that this one is lucky, that this one will live.
TT1: D’après Jamila, celui-ci aura de la chance et vivra.
TT2: D’après Jamila, celui-ci a de la chance et vivra
Images and author’s intent sometimes disappear:
ST: …different layers of colour inside each other, like rings in a tree.
TT1: …différentes couches superposées, comme l’écorce d’un arbre.
TT2: …différentes couches concentriques, comme celles d’un tronc d’arbre.
ST: Esme is set down on the grass.

TT1: Esme se retrouve sur l’herbe.
TT2: On remet Esme dans/sur l’herbe.
Double meanings, personification, connotations sometimes draw the short straw:
ST: I lay them out in nice sentences, all my clean, white bones.
TT1: …je les arrange en jolies petites phrases, tous mes os nets et blancs.
TT2: …je les prépare/étends …
ST: A magpie’s ancient arms…

TT1: Les très vieilles ailes d’une pie…
TT2: Les très vieux bras d’une pie…
ST: …slapping it in the air…

TT1: …l’agite dans les airs…
TT2: …le secoue dans les airs…
3.6 Style: Does TT reflect ST?

Reflecting style is fraught with difficulties. These lead to:
3.6.1 Unnecessary lexical rewriting:
ST: I think they like the swearing as much as the scoring of goals.
TT1: Je crois qu’ils aiment autant jurer que faire entrer le ballon dans la cage.
TT2: Je crois qu’ils aiment autant jurer que marquer des buts.
3.6.2 A lack of fluidity:
ST: I felt tears building up behind my eyes. I blinked ferociously to make them stay
there.
TT1: Je sentis les larmes s’amonceler derrière mes paupières. Je clignai mes yeux de
toutes mes forces pour les y retenir.
TT2: Je sentis les larmes me venir. Je clignai des yeux de toutes mes forces pour les
refouler.
3.6.3 An excess of formality in dialogues:
ST: You called me Veronica!

TT1: Tu m’as nommée Veronica.
TT2: Tu m’as appelée / baptisée Veronica.
ST: Will you have a cup of tea?

TT1: Veux-tu boire une tasse de thé?
TT2: Tu veux boire une tasse de thé?
ST: What is the matter with this child?
TT1: Qu’est-ce qui arrive donc à cette enfant?
TT2: Qu’est-ce qu’elle a cette enfant?
3.6.4 Dialogues which are “too correct” and show a lack of context awareness:
ST: In’t no cause to be scared.

TT1: Pas la peine d’avoir peur.
TT2: Faut pas avoir peur.
ST: We don’t got us much

TT1: Nous n’avons pas grand-chose.
TT2: On n’a pas…
ST: Won’t never be coming home.

TT1: Jamais il ne reviendra.
TT2: Il reviendra jamais.
3.6.5 Excessive formality in a vulgar context:
ST: Fuck you. How’s that for something to say?

TT1: Va te faire foutre. Que penses-tu de ça comme réponse?
TT2: Va te faire foutre. Ça te va comme réponse?
ST: Ooo Jesus Christ, why can bloody girls not quick? I quit.
TT1: Oh, putain! Pourquoi ces foutues filles sont-elles incapables de shooter? Je
m’en vais.
TT2: Oh, putain! Pourquoi ces foutues filles savent pas shooter? Je me tire. (J’me
tire)
Sometimes, the TT does not reflect the style of the ST owing to lexical inadequacy:
ST: I am a trembling mess from hip to knee.

TT1: Je suis une pauvre chose tremblante des hanches aux genoux.
TT2: Je suis dans un tel état que je tremble des hanches aux genoux.
ST: School uniform

TT1: Uniforme d’école
TT2: Uniforme d’écolière
Rhymes can be sacrificed in the TT:
ST: Rose Dupree

TT1: Rose Duprée
TT2: Rose Dupree (to rhyme with Richard Lee)
Rhythm is sometimes overlooked:
ST: I was whacked. Bloody, deadly whacked.

TT1: J’étais vannée. Salement, définitivement vannée
TT2: J’étais vannée. Claquée. Crevée. Vannée
ST: …the washing, the cooking, the clearing, the cleaning.

TT1: …lessive, cuisine, rangement, ménage.
TT2: …la lessive, la cuisine, le rangement, le ménage.
TT2s: …laver, cuisiner, ranger, nettoyer.
Occasionally, adding too much in the TT distorts the ST:
ST: She wants something but does not know what. (…) A drink?
TT1: Elle veut quelque chose, mais ne sait pas quoi. (…) A-t-elle envie de boire?
TT2: Elle veut quelque chose, mais ne sait pas quoi. (…) Une boisson?
ST: Is he dead?
TT1: Est-il vraiment mort?
TT2: Est-il mort?
3.6.6 Cultural issues

Misunderstanding the ST culture, failing to adapt to TT culture or having little knowledge of a group
culture leads to unfortunate translations:
ST: …the lagging around the immersion heater

TT1: …le calorifugeage entourant le chauffe-eau électrique
TT2: …la couverture isolant le ballon d’eau chaude
ST: …with a mop and a bucket of soapy water.

TT1: … avec un balai-éponge et un seau d’eau mousseuse.
TT2: …avec un balai, une serpillière et un seau d’eau savonneuse.
ST: O God… for years to come.

TT1: Ô Seigneur...les années à venir.
TT2: … pour les siècles des siècles
4. Conclusion
In conclusion, professional translators produce quality literary work but efforts should focus on a
better understanding of the source text, a better fit between source text and target text styles and
increased cultural awareness. In order to achieve this, each translator could compile its own detailed
check-list of difficulties to watch out for when translating literary contemporary texts. Having access
to native speakers’ feed-back is also an essential part of the translating process. It is worth
remembering that native speakers are most valuable when they are asked the right questions, hence
the importance of being aware of the most likely pitfalls. In addition, fellow translators’ advice
cannot be over overestimated. The Maastricht 2010 colloquium, in providing networking
opportunities, plays a vital role in the improvement of translation quality in general.
References
Published Sources:
Enright, A. (2007), The Gathering, London: Jonathan Cape.
Enright, A. (2009), Retrouvailles, Traduit de l’anglais (Irlande) par Isabelle Reinharez, Arles: Actes Sud.
Gatwande A. (2010), The Checklist Manifesto, London: Profile.
James, C. (2000), Track & Field, Dublin: New Island Books.
Johnston, J. (2005), Grace and Truth, London: Review.
Johnston, J. (2007), De Grâce et de vérité, Traduit de l’anglais (Irlande) par Anne Damour, Paris: Belfond.
O’Connor, J. (2007), Redemption Falls, London: Harvill Secker.
O’Connor, J. (2007), Redemption Falls, Traduit de l'anglais (Irlande) par Carine Chichereau, Paris: Phébus.
O’Farrell, M. (2006), The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, London: Review.
O’Farrell, M. (2008), L’Étrange disparition d’Esme Lennox, Traduit de l’anglais (Irlande) par Michèle
Valencia, Paris: Belfond.
300
INTERPRETER TRAINING
INTERPRETING IN A HEALTH CONTEXT SHORT COURSE –
ASSESSING INTERPRETERS’ PREPAREDNESS
TO UNDERTAKE ASSIGNMENTS IN HEALTH CARE.
AN AUSTRALIAN MODEL OF STATE-RUN INTERPRETER SERVICE
Ita Szymanska
Queensland Health Multicultural Services, Australia
Abstract: This paper presents professional development training for interpreters developed by
Queensland Health, Australia, the context in which it has been delivered and the issues iden-
tified for future interpreter training.
Queensland Health supports the quality of interpreter services provided across the State’s public
hospitals by delivering a training package that outlines the context of medical interpreting in
Queensland and the expectations placed on the interpreter. During training, interpreters were
encouraged to highlight the difficulties of working in the patient-care environment and report
increased awareness of the issues related to their role as health interpreters at the end of the
training.
In 2009/10 Queensland Health provided training to 147 interpreters at no cost to participants.
Ongoing training is now open to interpreters who are engaged by the department.
Attendees’ feedback shows general satisfaction, especially with access to professional development
training, familiarisation with the work context and opportunity to work Queensland Health staff
who mentor and problem solve from interpreters’ perspective. However, interpreters’ surveys
have demonstrated various levels of clarity and understanding of the role of a professional
interpreter and lack of knowledge where to seek support and assistance in case of difficulties
related to working as a health interpreter.
1. Context of interpreting in Australia

The interpreting and translating profession in Australia is not formally regulated. There is no legal
requirement that prevents an individual from practising as an interpreter or a translator without at-
tainment of formal qualifications and industry registration. Furthermore, there is no defined pathway
for an individual to enter the interpreting profession. Consequently, there are people undertaking
community interpreting in a variety of contexts with various levels of skills and qualifications, inclu-
ding some interpreters without any formal training and/or credentials.
Australian interpreters are encouraged to seek formal accreditation or recognition of their skills by
sitting an accreditation test. Accreditation can be obtained from the National Accreditation Authority
for Translators and Interpreters Ltd (NAATI) which is the national standards setting body for the
translating and interpreting industry in Australia. NAATI was established in 1977, and is owned by
the Commonwealth, State and Territory Governments of Australia. NAATI has an annual budget of
approx. $3.5M. About 30% of NAATI funding comes from Federal and State governments and the
rest from clients seeking accreditation and other services from NAATI.
NAATI awards two categories of credential for translators and interpreters:
• NAATI Accreditation (at various levels of competence: from para professional to advanced
professional) and
• NAATI Recognition.
NAATI Recognition may be awarded to practitioners in languages where accreditation testing is not
yet available, subject to satisfying the eligibility requirements. Recognition has no specification of
level of proficiency.
302 ITA SZYMANSKA
NAATI runs an on-demand testing program. There is a perception amongst accreditation candidates
that NAATI tests are very difficult and expensive. In fact, NAATI data shows that the interpreter test
pass rate varies between 25% and 15% for paraprofessional and professional interpreter levels re-
spectively. For comparison, the professional translator test pass rate is 20% for translation in both di-
rections. NAATI conducts approximately 3,500 tests every year.66
While government agencies that seek and pay for interpreter services generally apply a policy of first
seeking the services of a NAATI-accredited interpreter, recognised interpreters are engaged for
languages that have no accreditation testing. In Australia various government language services poli-
cies disapprove of the use of relatives as interpreters and particularly, children are not to be engaged
in that role. These language services policies are consistent across all the States and Territories. It is
more difficult to obtain the services of accredited interpreters in the relatively new languages. Data
collected by Queensland Health shows that 31% of interpreters engaged are not accredited or recog-
nised.67
Interpreters providing community interpreting68 services in the Australian context face a number of
challenges. There is a widespread perception that community interpreting is not a professional occu-
pation. Absence of nationally-set qualification and training frameworks and no endorsed industry a-
ward corroborate this view. Consequently, interpreters command a relatively low level of remunera-
tion. In addition, most interpreters work as casual on-demand practitioners because only a handful of
community languages would generate sufficient demand to sustain a full-time occupation69. Finally,
there is little professional training available and what is available is costly for a group that is on a
relatively low income.
2. Training to become an interpreter

It is possible to enrol and complete a formal course of study that leads towards formal accreditation.
Various tertiary institutions offer vocational and professional training, including diploma, advanced
diploma and bachelor/ master degree qualifications. However, these courses are offered in a limited
number of languages and are subject to demand.
A diploma course generally offers training in basic oral transfer skills, as well as an introduction to
the role, ethics and professional and contextual aspects of interpreting appropriate to practice at the
NAATI paraprofessional level. Students are trained in transfer skills in interpreting only; the transfer
of meaning in writing (translating) often is the part of the advanced diploma training.
The most common pathway for candidates of interpreting and translation in Australia is to pass a
NAATI test successfully. Whilst candidates must have a required level of education equivalent to
Australian secondary or tertiary education, there is no other interpreter-specific study prerequisite.
This may cause misconceptions about further professional development and competency mainte-
nance among some interpreters. Corroborated by the fact that licensing is not mandatory for this pro-
fession in Australia, it is commonly found that practicing interpreters rarely attend any professional
development training.
66
NAATI Annual report 2008/09 available at www.naati.com.au
67
Queensland Health, Interpreter Service Information System database, March 2010
68
For the purpose of this paper community interpreting is defined as dialogue interpreting for government
service provider with an interpreter translating in both language directions and having a more noticeable posi-
tion in the communication process in comparison with a conference interpreter.
69
The most often requested languages within Queensland Health are Vietnamese, Chinese languages (Canton-
ese and Mandarin), Persian/Farsi, Auslan (Australian sign language), Kirundi, Spanish and Arabic.
In 2007 NAATI introduced a system of revalidation of professional qualifications for all interpreters
and translators who obtained new accreditations after 1 January 2007. To renew their qualifications
successfully, practitioners need to present a record of continuous practice attendance at professional
development activities. It is expected that more practitioners will be enrolling in interpreter/ transla-
tor training as a result of this compulsory measure.70 Completion of Queensland Health’s training for
interpreters accrues up to 40 merit points towards the required 90 points for professional devel-
opment under the three-year revalidation count.
3. Further professional development and maintenance of interpreter competencies

The Australian Institute of Interpreters and Translators (AUSIT) is the main source of professional
development. Various universities across the country organise annual national and international con-
ferences that attract a certain percentage of interpreters and translators. In addition, NAATI offers an
annual program of test preparatory workshops which provide information about the assessment
process.
The Australian Institute of Interpreters and Translators (AUSIT) is the national association for the
translating and interpreting profession. It was founded in 1987 and is a fully independent association
operating without government financial backing. Members of AUSIT are mainly practising transla-
tors and interpreters and membership is voluntary. AUSIT has an Australia-wide membership of
approx. 600 interpreters and translators.
Members are required to abide by the AUSIT Code of Ethics, which is widely accepted as the indus-
try standard. AUSIT runs a comprehensive annual program of professional development, open to
non-members. Renewal of AUSIT’s membership includes, similarly to NAATI revalidation, a condi-
tion of participating in professional activities that accrue merit points.
4. Interpreting services in Queensland

There are currently 1068 people holding interpreter accreditations in Queensland. In addition, gov-
ernment organisations can access the national pool of interpreters through various private market in-
terpreter services agencies.
In Queensland, public service agencies are the major users of interpreter services. Queensland Health
is the main State government department requiring interpreters, followed by Queensland Police Ser-
vice, Department of Justice and Attorney-General and Queensland Transport.
Some Queensland interpreters engaged to provide services in hospitals across the State are contracted
by a private sector interpreter service agency, are contracted by a hospital or employed as permanent
staff. Approximately 12% of Queensland interpreters belong to AUSIT71.
Access to onsite interpreters in rural areas of Queensland is limited with interpreters primarily loca-
ted in the major metropolitan centres. Compounding this, is the national shortage of Australian Sign
Language (Auslan) interpreters.
Interpreting via videoconference technology is now a viable option for Queensland Health facilities
and access via the extensive Telehealth network available within Queensland Health is unparalleled
in other States. An interpreter can come into any Queensland Health facility and interpret out to any
70
Since its inception NAATI has received approximately 70,000 applications for accreditation/ recognition
and has accredited approx. 19,000 interpreters and translators of whom 3,000 chose to advertise themselves in
NAATI’s Directory of practitioners. (Source: NAATI, 2010).
71
Estimate based on NAATI and AUSIT data (May 2010).
304 ITA SZYMANSKA
other Queensland Health facility with existing videoconference technology. The Department intends
to open up training on VRI to interpreters later in 2010.
5. Queensland Health Interpreter Service

Established in 2007, the Queensland Health Interpreter Service (QHIS) is a model based on statewide
coordination of the delivery of interpreter services for all public health services across Queensland.
This model includes sustainable infrastructure (staffing, funding and information technology back-
up), resource development, communication and change management strategies, staff awareness rai-
sing and interpreter contracting and training.
The first year of implementation of QHIS resulted in an 80% increase in engagement of interpreters
across the State. This increased over the next 12 months to 200%. In 2009/10 over 70,000 occasions
of interpreter services were provided for clinical and allied health care staff treating public health
patients in 120 languages. Queensland Health’s interpreter expenditure in 2008/09 was $4.2M and is
estimated to be approx. $5.3M in 2009/10.
The Queensland Health Interpreter Service is underpinned by formal recognition of the need to sup-
port professional development of interpreters. Queensland Health is the first and only State depart-
ment in Australia to fund, develop and provide consistent quality professional training for interpre-
ters. By developing formal training programs dedicated to improving interpreters’ skills, Queensland
Health met the expectations and demands of a specialised service field – an initiative recognised with
the prestigious national Award of Excellence for Outstanding Contribution to the Industry by the
Australian Institute of Interpreters and Translators in November 2009.
6. Interpreter training : Interpreting in a health context short course

The Interpreting in a health context course was developed by a contractor (accredited interpreter) un-
der the direction of an advisory group comprising representatives from Queensland Health, NAATI,
AUSIT and other state government agencies that work with interpreters. The course includes theory
of interpreting, professional code of ethics and communication theory as well as cultural aspects of
interpreting, role of interpreters, preparation for jobs in a health-care context and practical applica-
tion. This short training focuses on the aspects of working as an interpreter in a specialised context of
health care.
In the context of a government-funded and delivered short course, the goal of the training is to re-
duce patient safety risk by improving the quality of interpreting through developing an awareness of
issues relating to interpreting in the health context including the interpreter’s role and the profes-
sional code of ethics and reinforcing existing skills.
The training was piloted in May-June 2009. Since then it has been regularly delivered to interpreters
in Queensland who work for Queensland Health.
The content and structure of the training program was developed to cater for the diversity of the
participants. A module-based program was developed and different combinations of the modules are
possible. The training package comprises two courses: introductory (16-hours) and advanced (8
hours) programs, a trainer manual, course materials for participants, supplementary information and
a pre- and post-training evaluation plan.
The introductory module is intended for relatively inexperienced interpreters who have less than five
years’ experience in interpreting, including recognised interpreters. The advanced module targets ac-
credited interpreters with more than five years’ of interpreting practice. The advanced training pro-
gram should be considered more as a ‘refresher’ course and is shorter with fewer sessions.
A range of delivery methods (such as lecture, group discussion, reading exercises, observation, self-
reflection, small group practice) are used. Training is delivered by qualified interpreters (spoken and
sign languages).
Details of the course contents are included in table 1.
SUBJECT COMMENT
Theory of communication Provides basics of communication, verbal and non-verbal cues,
how meanings are construed and the areas an interpreter needs to
focus on to be able to decipher the intended messages between
doctors and patients.
Culture and interpreting The training program recognises that, just like the general
population, interpreters bring their own values and perceptions to
interpreting assignments. Training includes cross cultural
elements to increase awareness of the impact of culture on
clinicians’ and patients’ expectations and on interpreting. Source
language and target language orientation in interpreting is
included as well as issues around cultural interventions that may
be required from the interpreter.
Theory and techniques of Contains information on interpreting techniques (dialogue
interpreting interpreting, note-taking theory, consecutive interpreting, sight
translation), recognising that this information will need to be at
different depths for the two target groups identified.
Understanding of the Queensland Includes information on how the Queensland Health system is
health system structured to provide interpreters with an understanding of major
services and usual flows through the health system.
Interpreting in the medical field Information on basic medical terminology with a focus on how to
identify good resources on medical terminology. A handout of
good resources (e.g. websites) is included in training materials.
Language consolidation Provides information on linguistic problems that may arise from
the use of idioms and acronyms, and guidelines on how to deal
with those linguistic difficulties. These guidelines cover:
• general acronyms in health
• tips to working out Latin and Greek-based terminology ie.
prefixes and suffixes
• equivalence of meaning.
Professional Code of Ethics Participants reinforce their understanding of the AUSIT Code of
Ethics in the context of health care interpreting and are
encouraged to examine their own perceptions through case
studies and class discussion.
Preparation for an assignment Provides information on how to prepare for an assignment in
hospital including subject matter research and expectations of an
interpreter by clinical and administrative staff.
Stress management Interpreting in a health setting can involve emotional situations
for interpreters. Information on how to manage stress is included
in the program as a way of preventing and managing stress.
NAATI and AUSIT Contains information about the National Accreditation Authority
for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI) and the Australian
Institute of Interpreters and Translators (AUSIT).
Practice Includes practical aspects of interpreting such as
• appropriate greetings inclusive of introductions and setting up
of role boundaries. Interpreters are asked to prepare a second
introduction in their own language that can be used with
patients
• memory exercises
306 ITA SZYMANSKA
SUBJECT COMMENT
• note-taking exercises
• intervention strategies
• cultural intervention strategies
• dialogue practice – role plays using four pre-set medical
examination dialogues (inclusive of specific medical terms).
Table 1: Course content
The course was open at no cost to interpreters on Saturdays to avoid clashes with their interpreting
jobs during business hours on weekdays. Those who could not attend due to assignments or cultural/
religious reasons had the option of completing a self-study assignment.
We chose to deliver this training at departmental training facilities on hospital grounds. This was to
reinforce the focus of the training (health care interpreting) and behaviour expectations of an inter-
preter in this particular environment (timely arrival, roll call, phones off or on silent mode, require-
ment to wear and display official interpreter’s photo ID whilst in hospital facility).
Since the commencement of the Queensland Health training in May 2009, 147 interpreters comple-
ted the course including 17 interpreters in the regional area of Far North Queensland.
Of the 147 attendees, 11% were accredited at professional level, 25% at the paraprofessional level
and 64% were not accredited. 16% of attendees at introductory level training and 37% at the ad-
vanced course were members of a professional association at the time of training. Since then 3.5%
reported joining AUSIT whilst further 31.6% was considering joining.
In terms of NAATI accreditation/ recognition 17% applied for NAATI accreditation testing/ recogni-
tion assessment and 10% was considering undertaking steps towards accreditation/ recognition after
training.
6.1 Evaluation of Queensland Health training

All participants were invited to complete the surveys.
6.2 Pre-course – on enrolment

The enrolment survey focused on the aspects of interpreter’s professional code of conduct, with par-
ticular emphasis on the role boundaries and impartiality. There were questions about the essential
attributes of a professional interpreter and attitudes to interpreting information that an interpreter has
not understood but thinks that it was not important.
We also wanted to know about practices of preparation for interpreting jobs in hospitals and seeking
assistance in case of difficulties encountered during an assignment. In addition, we asked interpreters
who attend the advanced module about their attitudes to ongoing professional training (should they
attend further training or not).
6.3 Completion of day 1

Questions were structured around similar areas as in the pre-course enrolment survey and their pur-
pose is to ascertain whether there is a difference in the general knowledge and understanding of the
role of the interpreter as a result – immediately post training.
6.4 End of training – evaluation of training

The purpose of this questionnaire was to gauge the overall satisfaction levels with the training, its
format, study materials and examine any particular areas of comment. Participants were to outline
their personal training objectives, decide how well we met them, how relevant the content of the
training was to their interpreting practice and whether they saw themselves as more confident to
work as a health care interpreter.
6.5 6-months post training

This survey was sent to participants electronically approximately 6 months after the course. The
purpose was twofold.
Firstly, in terms of the effectiveness of the training, we hoped to see that participants continued to
feel more confident about working as a health interpreter, can apply the principles of the Code of
Ethics, have a better knowledge of how culture affects people’s expectations including their own,
and can overcome their own cultural bias to remain accurate, objective and impartial in their practice.
We wanted to see that participants continued to have a better understanding of their role and what is
expected of them in a health care context and that a number of participants implemented some posi-
tive changes in their practice.
We also sought to gauge further training needs, for example if participants attended further training
since completing our training and what type of training. If not, why they did not attend. Finally, we
asked about what other training they needed to improve their skills and what training they would like
to attend.
52% of interpreters who completed the course provided a response to the 6-months post training
survey.
A detailed overview of all responses and brief commentary is in Attachment 1.
7. Discussion of results
Queensland Health’s training was very well received by interpreters and rates of satisfaction with its
content, mode of delivery and meeting participants’ needs were high. We are satisfied that the clini-
cal and administrative expectations of an interpreter were well received.
Survey results:
Immediately post training, responses indicated high levels of ability to define attributes of professio-
nal interpreter (accuracy, punctuality, impartiality, confidentiality) and name the principles of the
code of ethics.
6 months post-training participants reported that their understanding of the code of ethics had
improved quite significantly and 97% claimed that they could apply the code to own practice quite
confidently. Responses indicated continued high level of ability to define attributes of professional
interpreter (accuracy, punctuality, impartiality, confidentiality) and high levels of self-reported per-
ception of interpreter's role. However, data also indicated that:
• 1 in 5 interpreters may breach the impartiality principle of the Code of Ethics

• 13 – 22% reported lack of clarity of interpreter’s role in the patient-interpreter relationship
(issues around impartiality, objectivity and language orientation)
• 3 in 10 were unclear whose role it is to explain medical terminology and clarify medical
procedures
• there were high levels of clarity of hospital administrative/ security process – but 3% would
not follow rules (punctuality, ID compliance, service delivery signoff)
• 3 in 10 do not take notes when interpreting
• 1 in 10 do not seek clarification
• 4 in 10 provide incomplete renditions of clinician's information
308 ITA SZYMANSKA
• 45.8% would “provide cultural explanations on behalf of the patient” if asked

• 15% would not “alert clinician to potential cultural issues”
• 1 in 10 were not able to overcome own cultural bias
Working as an interpreter
Some community interpreters appear to feel isolated. The fact that the majority participants stated
that they wanted to learn from others how they dealt with linguistic and ethical dilemmas suggests
that interpreters may feel unsure and need to be better prepared to address them and/or confirm that
the course of action they took was appropriate and consistent with what the others would do.
In fact, the most common objective was to learn through meeting other interpreters and sharing their
experience (dilemmas). Respondents felt that they needed to hear from interpreters themselves what
difficult situations they encountered in the area of health interpreting and what possible actions could
and should be taken.
Professional Code of Ethics

AUSIT’s Code of Ethics may not offer sufficient explanations and guidance on the ethics of the pro-
fession, especially for new interpreters with little training and experience. A relatively inexperienced
interpreter may need assistance in relating the precepts of the Code to real-life situations so that they
could recognise potential ethical issues as they arise in everyday practice. There seems to be a great
deal of confusion as to what constitutes a breach of professional ethics amongst less experienced
interpreters. In addition, whilst most interpreters were able to cite most of the principles, they were
unable to relate certain situations to the relevant principle of the code and there were various in-
terpretations of scenarios proposed in the surveys.
Linguistic equivalence
Some introductory level interpreters referred to lack of equivalent medical terminology in their own
languages as a source of difficulty for health interpreters. Our program has not undertaken further
research in this area and it is not clear whether this is the equivalence problem or rather interpreter’s
lack of knowledge of medical terms in their languages or of certain medical procedures.
The training suggested ways of dealing with medical terms and possible lack of linguistic equivalents
to assist in maintaining the truth and completeness of interpreted messages.
Cultural aspects in interpreting

There appears to be lack of clarity in regards to cultural interventions and clarifications that can be
made by an interpreter. Some interpreters do not seek clarification whereas others would provide
cultural explanations on behalf of the patient. Some still have no clear understanding how their own
cultural background affects their performance and some cannot overcome their own cultural bias.
It would be interesting to ascertain whether interpreters who don’t always seek further explanations
or clarifications do so for cultural reasons (e.g. collectivist cultures: relationship with a person of au-
thority, age or certain background).
Questions arise what other roles are assumed by some interpreters, particularly those who interpret in
community languages spoken by newly arrived refugee groups and how an interpreter deals with the
possible blending of their professional and community/ social roles.
Relevance of training to daily practice

Many interpreters attended the course to learn about the context of health interpreting and improve
awareness of the hospital processes (e.g. admission procedures).
99% of participants found all parts of the training relevant and helpful to their work in health set-
tings. The most relevant parts named were case studies and real life situations interpreters encounter
in their job, professional ethics and sight translation of consent forms. Interpreters also felt that dis-
cussion on the actual role of a health interpreter was beneficial – defining what is expected and what
conduct is beyond an interpreter’s responsibility. Cultural expectations by parties engaged in an in-
terpreted examination, cultural interventions by an interpreter and practical exercises were also seen
as useful.
We were pleased to note a reported self-assessed improvement in interpreters’ awareness, knowledge

and practice. It appears that less experienced interpreters had an opportunity to learn about areas of
professional practice that they were not aware of.
8. Conclusion
The surveys confirmed that it is important and necessary for Queensland Health to focus on training
interpreters. Whilst many act professionally, significant numbers may not comply with the professio-
nal Code of Ethics in various areas. The Australian community interpreting context adds to the con-
fusion of the role of the interpreter.
Queensland Health recognises the need for more ongoing training and is working with the statewide
interpreter service provider towards targeted interpreter training. This is just the beginning.
References
Johnstone M. and O. Kanitsaki (2005), Cultural Safety and Cultural Competence in Health Care and Nursing:
An Australian Study. RMIT University, Melbourne.
Karliner L.S., E.A. Jacobs, A.H. Chen, and S. Mutha (2007), “Do professional interpreters improve clinical
care for patients with limited English proficiency? A systematic review of the literature”. Health Services
Research.
Lost in Translation (2004). Community Health Action Group, Brisbane, Queensland.
310 ITA SZYMANSKA
What we learned from training surveys

312 ITA SZYMANSKA
314 ITA SZYMANSKA
316 ITA SZYMANSKA
318 ITA SZYMANSKA
319
Final
320
TRANSLATION AND MEANING, PART 9, 2013, 321- 323 321
CURRENT TRANSLATION DISCOURSES AND THE FUTURE

Marcel Thelen
The Netherlands
The present volume is the final publication in the long series of works on Translation and Meaning
we have been co-editing for over twenty years now. In any research field twenty years is a very long
period of time and translation is no different from any other kind of scholarly activity in this respect.
Even a cursory view on the themes and topics discussed in 428 papers which have been edited by us
and published in the ten volumes (including volume 10) between 1990 and 2013 makes it possible to
identify not only the prevailing theoretical approaches and innovative contributions at different
periods of time but also grasp the most important trends in current translation studies developed by
scholars working on different languages in a number of philosophical and linguistic traditions. The
translation researchers focus both on traditional forms of literary translation and more recently pave
the way for, and advance investigation on general-language non-literary translation, restricted-
domain translation and terminology, oral translation in different modes, as well as audiovisual,
machine, computer-aided, on-line translation and software localization.
New approaches to language studies, exploiting findings from cognitive science, anthropology and
sociology, massive development of computer technologies, advances in culture studies and intercul-
tural analyses mark new territories in the development of more and more refined theories which ac-
count for the process of translation from the cognitive and pragmatic perspectives. They also illumi-
nate translation as process and product in terms of cultural and ideological frames and explicate the
systemic dynamism of the relationship between a source language and culture discourse and its ren-
dering in a target language and culture (TLC). The more recent contributions also identify the cogni-
tively realistic processes responsible for both the translators’ and the users’ re-conceptualization of
the original messages across the cycles of various communicative approximation operations.
The impact of new versions of cognitivism on scientific exploration is clearly marked in the new ap-
proaches to translation. Loosening the grip of idealized, context-free, deliberations on linguistic
products, and progressing towards culture and context frame-bound interpretations, containing both
referential, associative as well as ideological, aesthetic and pragmatic layers, is, as we believe, a
major landmark in contemporary and future trends in language analysis and in translation theory.
Challenges to translation in the form of untranslatability of some semantic and syntactic categories
and structures unique to one language and absent in another are being dealt with in terms of
psychological and anthropological finding–induced reactivation of what is considered Neo-Whorfian
theories of language and cognition, which account for the mental processes characteristic of the
activities in the context of partial commensurability of the systems.
Meaning re-contextualization, present in any translation act, is shown to irrevocably alter the texture
of the message, which can be simultaneously hampered or enriched by distinct SL and TL condition-
ing of inner language-systemic as well as outside contexts. The directionality of translation, frequent-
ly dictated by the centrality hierarchies of political systems and languages related with them, has
been emerging as a gradually stronger and stronger voice in translation studies. The shift of the polit-
ical power from one country to another, accompanied by the linguistic dominance or monopoly in
some cases, of one language over others, is visible in the transfer of the dominant culture and lan-
guage to smaller, nation-specific norms. This tendency is also observed in the globalization processes
of the TLC systems of social preferences with respect to the materials localized for the sake of TLC
322 BARBARA LEWANDOWSKA-TOMASZCZYK & MARCEL THELEN
online consumers. The sociology of translation and localization has been emerging as a distinct field
of study in the translation agenda.
More and more advanced computer technologies do not exclusively or predominantly presuppose
more rigorous descriptive adequacy of SL and TL systems or the translation transfer phase, but they
are conducive to the promotion of the advanced translation and interpreting tools in the form of
translation memories, running speech-to-text and text-to-speech conversion, and simultaneous online
translation, even though of varying quality yet.
Translation studies have been employing larger or smaller corpus materials for the linguistic and dis-
course analyses. Corpus-based Translation Studies aim at the evaluating the extent to which quanti-
tative and qualitative methodologies used in translation studies interplay and what new insights are
obtained as a consequence of investigating explicit corpus data. Corpora used for such studies are
either monolingual national corpora such as the British National Corpus (BNC), National Corpus of
Polish (www.nkjp.pl), Corpus of Contemporary American English http://www. americancorpus.
org/), growing in number for new languages and their variants collected in specialized corpus mate-
rials or else parallel (i.e. translation) corpora or comparable texts. What is presented in recent quanti-
tative contributions to translation studies are comparisons between the frequency of use of lexical
units and sentence segments in the original and the translated text, juxtaposed to those identified in
respective mono-lingual corpora. Top frequency items (words and collocations) and lowest frequen-
cy items are contrasted in the original and the translation and they can be taken as a point of refer-
ence for comparable corpora contrasts. Needless to say, frequency counts need to be interpreted in
terms of typological and convention-based characteristics (Toury, 1995) of Source and Target lan-
guages on the one hand, and more idiosyncratic, subjective preferences of the translator on the other.
In order to enrich the interpretation of the quantitative data in terms of cognitively real linguistic
methodologies, corpus-driven cross-linguistic patterns are also presented and discussed in corpus-
based papers, such as keyness in the SL, TL and comparable corpora of similar parameters, in-
vestigated from the point of view of language variety, style, time, topic, authors, and addressees.
Restricted-domain corpora play an essential role in text mining and terminology extraction. Col-
locations as an instrument to identify source and target domains in metaphor investigation in the
original and translation are also being contrasted with those drawn from comparable corpora. Anal-
ysis of relevant syntactic patterns can be given as a clue to imagery construal and re-conceptual-
ization processes in translation (Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, 2010), e.g. finite clauses versus com-
plement clauses and nominalizations, lexical synonymy and degrees of equivalence, indicating their
frequencies and representing networks of their polysemic chains.
Software localization can be looked upon as a new shift in translation, more in translation practice
than translation theory. Localization is used to refer to an aggregate of activities which cover lan-
guage- and culture-specific adaptation of SLC web-based messages, usually for product marketing
on different international markets. What is observed here is further loosening of the rigid straight-
jacket of formal semantic SL-TL equivalence patterns towards more and more approximate SL-TL
meanings. In localization practices the translator moves both from the SL and TL contexts simultane-
ously toward either one intermediate ‘internationalized’ version of the message or towards more and
more target-culture oriented discourse not only on the verbal but also on the visual and auditory
levels, when needed.
Some of these findings constitute elaborations of the re-conceptualization patterns as identified in hu-
man communication in general and translation in particular and can help us see the processes under-
lying the recontextualization present in translation (see Baker, 2006), in which various (e.g. political,
ideological, etc.) preferences of the translator surface in the translated text. In this light, translation
stops being an activity of a linguistic type only. In fact it has never been that. It is rather a set of cul-
turally immersed acts of approximation, as far as this can be done, continually oscillating between
the source and the target meanings and norms. As has been called by a few – the translation product
is a hybrid or blend of numerous discourses, SLC, TLC but also self-projection discourses and pro-
jections emerging from other participants of a communicative act.
Recent publications in translation studies highlight both classic theories of translation as well as new
scholarly voices in translation theory inspired by cognitive studies, computational and corpus linguis-
tics, cultural, sociological and political perspectives. Translation research involves presentation and
new solutions of recurrent themes in translation theory at present such as the question of gradability
and emergence of equivalence while simultaneously it introduces a new prospective orientation of
the translation theory, practice and translator education of to-day. Its shift from deterministic posit-
ions toward functionalism is more present than ever.
Select references
Baker, M. (2006), Translation and Conflict: A Narrative Account. London and New York: Routledge.
Baker, M. (ed.) (2010), Critical Reading In Translation Studies. London and New York: Routledge.
Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, B. (2010), “Re-conceptualization and the emergence of discourse meaning as a
theory of translation”. In: Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, B. & M. Thelen (eds.) (2010). Meaning in Transla-
tion. Frankfurt a. Main: Peter Lang. 105-148.
Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, B. (2012), “Explicit and tacit: An interplay of quantitative and qualitative ap-
proach to translation studies”. In: Michael Oakes & J. Meng (eds.), Corpus-Based Translation Studies.
Amsterdam: Benjamins. 3-34.
Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, B. & M. Thelen (eds.) (2010), Meaning in Translation. Frankfurt a. Main: Peter
Lang.
Oakes, M. & J. Meng (eds.), Corpus-Based Translation Studies. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
Pym, Anthony (2010). Exploring Translation Theories. London and New York: Routledge.
Thelen, M. (2011), The Structure of the Lexicon. Incorporating a cognitive approach in the TCM lexicon, with
applications to lexicography, terminology and translation. Ghent: Academia Press.
Thelen, M. (2013b), “Methods for problem solving in translation and terminology: Wordnet and Frames vs.
lexical-system-like structures”. In: Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, B. and M. Thelen (eds.) (2013), Trans-
lation and Meaning, Part 10. Maastricht: Zuyd University of Applied Sciences.
Toury, Gideon (1995). Descriptive Translation Studies and Beyond. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
324
SURVEY OF PAPERS INCLUDED IN

TRANSLATION AND MEANING, PARTS 1 – 10
Marcel Thelen
The Netherlands
The following survey lists the papers included in Translation and Meaning, Parts 1 to 10. The papers
are ordered by volume and theme. For each paper author(s), country and title are given.
As can be seen, the total number of papers is 428. The distribution over the various Duo Colloquia is:
1990 Maastricht Session 33

Łódź Session 46
total 79
Łódź Session 58
total 105
Łódź Session 52
total 96
Łódź Session 40
total 86
Łódź Session 36
total 62
Grand total 428
Part 1: Maastricht Session 1990

Theme: Translation: meaning and the computer
Carmen Eggermont & BE A pronominal basis for computer assisted translation. The Proton Pro-
Karel van den Eynde ject
Roland Freihoff FI Zur Erstellung und Verwendung von Kontextglossaren beim Überset-
zen mit dem Computer
Kurt Haverkort NL Some reflections on ambiguity and its consequences for MT
Geer Hoppenbrouwers NL The term bank of the RHOTV-Maastricht
Agnes Kukulska-Hulme UK Subject knowledge in computerised dictionaries
Jean-Marie Maes BE The INTELLIGENT DICTIONARY Project
Victor Sadler NL A corpus-based measure of semantic proximity
Annemarie Schmid AT Bedeutung und Bedeutungsverwendung im Lichte der maschinellen
Übersetzung
Albert Stoop NL TRANSIT: TRANslation System Into Turkish
Paul St.-Pierre CA Computer-assisted translator training
Rita Temmerman BE Terminography and synonymy
Theme: Translation: meaning and the dictionary

Gerard-René de Groot NL Die relative Äquivalenz juristischer Begriffe und deren Folge für
mehrsprachige juristische Wörterbücher
Mohammed Heliel EG Lexical collocations and translation
326 MARCEL THELEN & BARBARA LEWANDOWSKA-TOMASZCZYK
Marcel Lemmens NL Dictionaries inside out

Alan Manning CA The role of dictionaries and context in the translation process. The
Canadian connection
Theme: Translation: meaning and the actual practice of translating

Mona Baker UK Linguistics and the training of translators and interpreters
Kathleen Callow UK Zero realisation in meaning-based translation
Mohammed Didaoui AT Incidence de la pensée arabe sur la signification du texte arabe
Stanislaw Duczmal PL Esperanto vs. cultural translatability
Elke Emrich NL Der Übersetzer als Texter oder: Was leistet die Skopostheorie für das
Übersetzen populärwissenschaftlicher Texte (DN/ND)?
John Patrick Kirby BE Some translation problems associated with the English gerund
Jan Klerkx NL The translation of biological texts – some typical problems
Eva Koberski & Sally BE Translating into the mother tongue vs. translating into a non-primary
Petrequin-Jessen language
Kitty van Leuven-Zwart NL Shifts of meaning in translation: do’s or don’t’s?
Barbara Lewandowska- PL Overt and hidden negations in translation
Tomaszczyk
Hanne Martinet DK Signifier et résignifier
Peter van Nunen NL Some remarks on the practice of literary translation
Jaromira Rakusan CA Translating from ethnic English into Canadian English
Irène Steinert NL Translation and meaning in subject classes and in lower vocational
education of bilingual students
Marcel Thelen NL From interpretation to re-expression of meaning in the translation
process
Gerd Richard Weyers NL Elemente und Grundzüge einer textsortenorientierten Theorie/Didaktik
des Übersetzens juristischer Texte am Beispiel eines Mietvertrages
Paul Wijnands NL Les systèmes experts: un moyen d’enrichissement pour la discipline
terminologique
Robert Wilkinson NL Translating into European English: evolution and acceptability
Part 2: Łódź Session 1990

Theme: Theories of meaning and the theory of translation
David Cruse UK Levels of translation: a linguistic perspective
Dmitrij Dobrovol’skij RU Phraseological thesauruses in the process of translation
George Dunbar UK Translation and the underspecification of lexical meaning
Rovert Harnish US Meaning and performatives
Barbara Lewandowska- PL Effability, expressibility and translation
Tomaszczyk
Christiane Nord DE The relationship between text function and meaning in translation
Mary Snell-Hornby AT Word against text. Lexical semantics and translation theory
Danilo Marcondes de BR Some implications of Speech Act Theory for the theory of translation
Souza Filho
Marcel Thelen NL Stasis and dynamics of meaning: the lexicon in a Two-Cycle Model of
Grammar
Kamila Turewicz PL Translation and the invariance hypothesis
Aurelija Usoniené LT Meaning, information, translation
Theme: Translation: meaning and culture

William Chaffey NO Culture-specific elements in translation
Victor Khairullin RU Translation, semantics and culture
Anthony Pym ES Discursive persons and the limits of translation
Rosana Rosini IT From Egypt to Egypt: the transmigration of myth, meaning and trans-
lation
Theme: Translation: meaning in literary texts

Anna Bednarczyk PL Translation of sung poetry and the rendering of its musical arrange-
ment
Ursula Dzika PL Psychological evolution of the main hero in Yevgeni Zamiatin’s Dys-
topia: We and the way it is reflected in the language of the novel and
its translation into Polish
Jerzy Jarniewicz PL A few remarks on translating contemporary poetry
Krzysztof Kosecki PL Jurij Lotman’s system, Cognitive Grammar and translatability of poet-
ry: a case study of W.B. Yeats’ “Great House” poems
John Kwan-Terry SG Issues in reception aesthetics and literary translation
Natalya Olshanskaya UA Rhythmic patterns in fiction and their representation in translation
Adam Sumera PL Names in literary translations
Theme: Translation: meaning and grammar

Arkadiusz Brycht PL Some aspects of translation regarding adjectives
Willy van Langendonck BE A pronominal approach to valency in translation
Mildred Larson US Translating secondary functions of grammatical structure
Theme: Translation: meaning and sounds

Zygmunt Grosbart PL The way meanings and sounds exist in the original and in its transla-
tion
Geer Hoppenbrouwers NL Phonetic feature frequencies as a measure for linguistic distance
Stanislaw Voronin RU Phonosemantics and translation
Ewa Waniek Klimczak PL Some remarks on sociolinguistic implications of phonetic interference
in speech translation
Theme: Translation: meaning, dictionary, and the computer

Henri Béjoint FR Dictionaries and the acquisition of polysemy
Christiane Fellbaum US Translating with a semantic net: matching words and concepts
William Frawley US Semantics, sublanguage, and the translation of specialized lexicon
Herman Grosbart PL Project of a prototype Russian-Polish computer dictionary: possibili-
ties & limitations
John Laffling UK Knowledge-based machine translation, with a difference
Theme: Translation: from practice to theory

Irina Bagajewa PL Geographical names: problems of equivalence and translatabity
Olga Brodovich RU The translator’s strategies for non-standard speech: some theoretical
implications
Kathleen Callow UK Non-realised information: a theory for the accurate and natural transla-
tion of meaningful zero
Pawel Cichawa PL On forms of address in Polish and English
Jeanne Dancette CA Measurements of comprehension of the source text: theory and prac-
tice
John Patrick Kirby BE On the use of strategies in translation
Adrienne Lehrer US Principles and problems in translating proper names
Wolfgang Lörscher DE Form- and sense-oriented approaches to translation
Irina Markelova RU Semantics of style in translation
Irina Serebryakova RU Translation problems of non-neutral lexical units in scientific texts
Piotr Stalmaszczyk PL Place names in Celtic poetry: problems with translation and interpreta-
tion
Sonja Tirkkonen-Condit FI The interaction of world knowledge and linguistic knowledge in the
processes of translation. A think-aloud protocol study

Theme: Cognitive sciences
Jeanne Dancette CA L’Extraction du sens en traduction. Le phénomène des incompréhen-
sions
Dmitrij Dobrovol’skij RU Idioms of fear: a cognitive approach
Theme: Text linguistics, pragmatics, intercultural translation, and interpreting

Ana Blas ES Le “Traite de Maastricht” (version française/version espagnole): ana-
lyse textuelle et traduction
Celeste Augusto Lopes NL A contrastive study of two modal verbs, can and must, in two romance
& Francice Melka languages (French & Portuguese) and two Germanic languages (Dutch
& English)
Reyes I. Fidalgo Díaz US Variations in the system: the results of lay translation
Fernando Navarro ES Analyse du discours et proverbes détournés: un problème de traduction
Dominguez
Ieva Zauberga LV Interaction of connotational meaning and cultural transorientation in
translation
Paul Wijnands NL Les néologismes du discours identitaire et leurs traductions
Helge Niska SE Managing meaning: discourse types in court interpreting
Theme: Translation theory

Ruth Brend US “Natural” translation abilities of the native speaker
Sandra Halverson NO Norwegian-English translation and the role of certain connectors
Kinga Klaudy HU Concretization and generalization of meaning in translation
Sara Laviosa- UK Comparable corpora: towards a corpus linguistic methodology for the
Braithwaite empirical study of translation
Belinda Maia PT The role of translation theory in the teaching of general and non-
literary translation
Nicholas Round UK Translation, cultural influence and semantics: notes towards a theoreti-
cal convergence
Theme: Lexicology/lexicography
Thierry Fontenelle, BE Building a bilingual database of support verbs
Claire Gérardy, Luc
Alexandre, Luc Thomas,
Tom Vanallemeersch &
Jacques Jansen
Gerard-René de Groot & NL Bilingual legal dictionaries: criteria for assessment
Louise Rayar
Barbara Lewandowska- PL Language corpora and the translator
Tomaszczyk
Vincenzo Lo Cascio, NL Correspondence between senses and translation equivalents: automatic
Paola Boraschi & reversal of a bilingual dictionary
Alessandra Corda
Mats-Peter Sundström FI The discrepancy between dictionaries and language reality. Scattered
notes by a dictionary editor cum translator
Theme: Machine Translation, Machine Aided Translation

Larisa Beliaeva RU Man-machine interaction in linguistic automation
John Laffling UK Example-based machine translation. The answer to the meaning repre-
sentation problem?
Theme: Computer Assisted Translation Training

Agnieszka Leńko- PL The effectiveness of computer programmes in teaching vocabulary to
Szymanska students of translation
Jean-Louis Sauvage BE English vocabulary training for francophone students of translation and
interpretation
Theme: The Training of Translators

Beverly J. Adab UK The student and the translation trainer: fitting together the pieces of the
jigsaw
Gabriele Becher ES Culture and institutions in translator training. Teaching culture-specific
concepts to prospective translators; a case study
Allison Beeby ES Negotiating meaning in translator training
Asha Doshi-Raveendran MY A study of dictionary use based on the Protocol Technique

Olivia Fox ES Cross-cultural transfer in inverse translation - a case study
Heidrun Witte ES Was stellst du dir vor, wenn du liest ...". Die Anwendung des scenes-
and-frames Modells in der Translationsdidaktik
Theme: Translation and Language for Special Purposes

Łukasz Bogucki PL On translating neologisms
Åge Lind NO Transparency or equivalence? Opacity versus recognition? On the
transposition and translation of legal terminology
Ingrid Simonnæs NO Übersetzungsprobleme bei juristischen Texten
Rita Temmerman BE Meaning relationships and how to detect them: a case study
Annemarie Kabán HU Types des textes scientifiques et quelques problèmes de leur traduc-
tion
Muhammad Y Gamal AU Translating meaning in Egyptian commercial advertising
Theme: The Translation of Literature

Henny Gevers ES Analysis of a poem as a basis for its translation. The case of a con-
temporary English poem translated into Spanish
Alita Kelley US The Clapham Omnibus: translating the comic text
Anatoly Liberman US Russian poetry with an English accent
Franco Montanari IT Translating from Greek into Greek in ancient Greek culture
Huba Mózes HU Les traductions parallèles et la réception créatrice de la poésie
Maria T. Sánchez & R. UK A garment too tight and too loose? Some reflections on the translation
Sala of poetry
Ronald J. Sim KE Translating the Sacred: constraints on translation imposed by reli-
gious traditions
Theme: The Translation of Metaphors

Nili Mandelblit US The cognitive view of metaphor and its implication for translation
theory
Jaromira Rakusan CA Similes and metaphors with animals. Translational equivalents
Marcel Thelen NL Translating figurative language. A discussion of fourth-year transla-
tions and corresponding comments
Theme: Translation Quality Assessment

Deborah Cao AU Translation proficiency assessment
John P. Kirby BE Assessing student performance in translation studies
Alan Manning CA A classroom-bound approach to the meaning of translation quality
assessment

Barbara Lewandowska- PL Translation and Meaning: A Rationale
Tomaszczyk
Theme: Issues in Translation Theory

Anna Bednarczyk PL Equivalence of translation and the associative unit of translation
Leo Tak-Hung Chan HK Europeanizations reconsidered: the deconstructionist turn in Chinese
translation theory
Anna-Maria Durand- FR Is it possible to speak of rules of translation?
Deska
Faiza A. Al-Ani JO Semantic correlation in causativity
Zygmunt Grosbart PL The problem of reliability of translation
Alina Kwiatkowska PL Cross-modal translations: the visual into the verbal
Mildred Larson US The relation of discourse genre to meaning in translation
Maeve Olohan UK Mediation, meaning and the mind
Jesus M. Sánchez García ES Functionalism and the integrational motion: describing Lawrence
Durrel in Spanish
Sonja Tirkkonen-Condit FI Towards a prototypical definition of translation
Theme: Specific Issues in Translation

Alexander Barzel IL The perplexing conclusion: the essential difference between natural
and artificial intelligence is human being's ability to deceive
Lukasz Bogucki PL On rendering register
Urszula Dzika PL Parallelism in Russian and Polish translations of the biblical psalms
of trust
Patrick Hanks UK Lexical sets: relevance and probability
Adrienne Lehrer US Problems in the translation of creative neologisms
Pilar Mañas Lahoz ES An approach to lexical cohesion in the translation of English/Spanish
texts
Chafía Mankai and Ali TN/CA Interpreting Arabic quantifiers: a probablistic approach
Mili
Alicia Pinedo UK Discourse pragmatics in translation: rendering Spanish word order
into English
Miroslawa Salska-Kaca PL Breaking the roles: borrowing words from other languages - textual
pragmatics vs. traditional grammar dictates
Kensei Sugayama JP Semantic structure of eat and its Japanese equivalent taberu: a word-
grammatical account
Urszula Wieczorek PL Political games: evaluation through metaphor
Janusz Wróblewski PL False friends revisited
Theme: Translation of Literature

Eugeniusz Hejno PL The relation of adversativity: translation of Gombrowicz's Ferdydurke
into French & English
Jerzy Jarniewicz PL Problems with gender in English-Polish literary translation
Magdalena Kozanecka PL Transparency and visibility of the translator in literary texts
John Milton BR Translating the form: does the meaning het lost? The translations of
Augusto and Haraldo de Campos
Adam Sumera PL Alice's adventures in German and Polish
Elżbieta Tabakowska PL The linguist and the poet: nouns and verbs in a Polish translation of
Emily Dickinson's poetry
Zsuzsana Ujszászi HU A cross-cultural look at problems of translating Emily Dickinson into
the Hungarian language
Theme: Translation Pedagogy

Anatolij Dorodnych PL Transfer in translation and L2 communication
Natividad Gallardo San ES Teaching legal translation in Granada
Salvador and Catherine
Way
James F. Hartzell PL Models of translation and interpretation studies: a Polish perspective
John Patrick Kirby Towards a more re-fined translation pedagogy: from form to context
Agnieszka Leńko- PL The bilingual lexicon and vocabulary teaching for translation and
Szymanska interpreting students
Marcel Thelen NL Translating figurative language: towards a framework for the inter-
pretation of the image behind figurative language
Theme: Translation of Language for Specific Purposes

Sofía Arana Landín ES Facing interpretation in the context of tax law
Jan Cumps BE Language preferences of undergraduate law students and the effect on
translation
Gerard-René de Groot NL Guidelines for choosing neologisms
Mel Kenny DE Special difficulties faced by lawyer-linguists in a plurilingual legal
order
Barbara Zofia Kielar PL Translating statutory texts: in search of meaning and relevance
Tecla Mazzarese IT Legal language and translation. Six main sorts of problem
Iwona Maria Witczak PL Selected issues concerning the legal performative and the language of
legislation
Frieda Steurs BE Conceptual and terminological problems in translation
Anna Taczalska PL Some aspects of the translation of medical texts
Theme: Corpora, Lexicography, Terminology and Translation

Lynne Bowker CA Multidimensional classification as an old aid to increased subject field
understanding and improved quality technical translation
Igor Burkhanov PL Bilingual dictionaries in pedagogical lexicography
Mohamed H. Heliel EG Towards a dictionary of English-Arabic phrasal verbs for the Arab
translator
Philip King and David UK Creating and using a multilingual parallel concordancer
Wools
Barbara Lewandowska- PL Semantics in a bilingual dictionary/thesaurus
Tomaszczyk
Belinda Maia PT Parallel texts and the study of sentence formation
Anthony McEnery, UK CRATER - resource creation for corpus-based machine translation
Michael Oakes and Rog-
er Garside
Hans Paulussen BE Parallel corpora for cognitive contrastive analysis
Dorota Urbanek PL A new model of a translation-oriented dictionary
Theme: Translation Quality Assessment

Mohammed Didaoui AT Translation/transfer: parameters for quality and quantity control
Ernst-August Gutt ET Relevance: a key to quality assessment in translation
Tamás Vraukó HU The bottom of the dictionary entry - the problems of evaluating the
performance of a translator
Barbara Lewandowska- PL/NL Closing Remarks

Tomaszczyk and Marcel
Thelen

Theme: Terminology/Terminography
Vincenzo Lo Casio NL Standardization and collocations
Elena G. Rabinovitch RU More on Graecia Capta: Greek rhetors and Roman officials
Rita Temmerman BE Metaphors the life sciences live by
Theme: Linguistics/Text Linguistics

Albrecht Neubert DE Translation in a textual context: a new appraisal
Esam Khalil NL Grounding and the reconstruction of meaning: a Text Linguistics
perspective on translation
Inesa Šeškauskienė LT Cross-linguistic variation of space conceptualisation
Gerd Wotjak DE Zum Interface von lexikalischer Semantik und Kognition
Theme: Translation Studies

Mohammed Sami UA The fluid interpretation of metaphors: are there mapping rules?
Anwar
Maria Liudvika LT Analytic clarity as the key in reverse translation
Drazdauskiene
Jean Peeters FR On the translation of proper names and some implications for Trans-
lation Theory
Marina Riabova RU Translation and Sociolinguistics: sexist language as a translator’s
problem
Marcel Thelen NL Subject-Field-Specific language Studies (SSL Studies): towards a
new discipline
Theme: Corpora/Lexicology/Lexicography
Ilse Feinauer ZA Language contact between Afrikaans and English leads to conceptual
change in Afrikaans
Elizaveta Kanowa DE Das gegenwärtige Bild Russlands in einem russisch-deutschen Wör-

terbuch der Neologismen
Barbara Lewandowska- PL Dictionaries, language corpora and naturalness in translation
Tomaszczyk
Andrejs Veisbergs LV Euphemisms in bilingual dictionaries
Theme: Technologies to help the translator

Yasuhito Tanaka JP Quality testing of machine-readable dictionaries
Theme: The training of translators

Ileana Dimitriu ZA Academic restructuring and modularity in the Humanities. The role
and meaning of translation training in the South African context
Aart Pouw NL Encyclopedic knowledge and specialist translation. Towards a peda-
gogical model
Theme: Translation and Language for Special Purposes

Łukasz Bogucki PL Translating in the media: conventions and norms
Chus Fernández-Priéto UK The SALCA project: marketing terminology in Spanish / English
& Nava Maroto
Anna Giordano IT Problems of terminological and conceptual equivalence in legal doc-
umentation relevant to lawsuits in the EU
Girolamo Tessuto IT The teaching of legal English in academic courses and the nature of
meaning
Theme: The translation of literature

Mohammad Al- JO Temporal and aspectual defects in selected translations from Arabic
Khawalda poetry into English
Luc van Doorslaer BE Übersetzung und literarische Ideologien
Stella Linn NL Fairy tale or fatal song? The translator as director of meaning in Lor-
ca’s translated poetry
Denise Merkle CA When expurgation constitutes ineffective censorship. The case of
three Vizetelly translations of Zola
Huba Mózes & An- HU Lexique des écrivains et leur importance dans les traductions litté-
namária Kabán raires
Isabel Pascua ES Problems of translating canonized texts in children’s literature: the
case of Alice
Glória Sampaio BR On the translation of Tennyson’s The Lady of Shalott into Portuguese
Ieva Zauberga LV Ideology and meaning
Theme: Intercultural translation

Peter Newmark UK Translation and culture
George Echu CM Official bilingualism and the policy of translation in Cameroon
Asalet Erten TR Problems of intercultural translation
Sergei Pshenitsyn RU Cultural models and meaning in a translated work
Nadezhda Riabtseva RU Contrastive phraseology in a cross-cultural and cognitive perspective
Roman Sadzinski PL Eigennamen als Übersetzungsproblem
Paul Wijnands NL La barrière interculturelle illustrée: l’exemple de ‘édition originale’
en bibliophilie
Theme: The translation of holy scriptures

Eugene Nida BE Future trends in Bible translating
Nadia Rahab UK The state of research in Qur’an translation: a gap between theory and
practice
Theme: Translation strategies

Jarnal al-Qinai KW Explication vs implication in English-Arabic translation
Krzysztof Kosecki PL Sign-/form- and sense-oriented translation in the texts of law acts and
labels for natural stereotypes
Raphael Salkie UK A new look at modulation
Magdalena Szeflinska- PL Explicitation comme l’une des sources de l’amplification du texte au
Karkowska cours de l’opération de traduction

Setting the Scene
Marcel Thelen NL Translation Studies in the year 2000: the state of the art. Terminology
in theory and practice
Barbara Lewandowska- PL Translation Studies in the year 2000: the state of the art. Cover text,
Tomaszczyk cognition and corpora
Theme: Process & Theory

Gideon Toury IL What’s the problem with “translation problem”?
Anna Bednarczyk PL Translation and translation criticism
Gaston Gross FR Relations sémantiques et traduction de la finalité
Teresa Jaroszewska PL La traduction dans la France du XVIe siècle − du littéralisme à
l’adaptation
Krzysztof Jarosz PL La traduction fantôme de La Grande Beuverie de René Daumal
Magdalena Kozanecka PL Tell me how you read and I will tell you how you translate...
Nadia Rahab UK Explaining the implicit : the Qur'an translator's dilemma
Kanavillil Rajagopalan BR Translation as a process of meaning negotiation: some implications
for the semantics of natural languages
Janusz Wróblewski PL Mistakes in the original - a contribution to the periphery of Transla-
tion Studies
Theme: Cross-linguistic & cross-cultural issues

John Ole Askedal NO Textstrukturelle Differenzen zwischen Deutsch und Norwegisch aus
translatorischer und typologischer Sicht
Jacqueline Guillemin- FR Construction du sens et mode d’énonciation
Flescher
Eugeniusz Hejno PL Dialogic mais/but/ale (lecz/a). A French, English and Polish Contras-
tive Study
Jacek Florczak PL Comment éviter l'interférence sémantique dans l'apprentissage d'une
langue étrangère et dans la traduction
Marie Luce Honeste FR Organisation du lexique et identité culturelle
Krzysztof Kosecki PL ’Poles, not Polacks’: sign-/form- and sense-oriented translating labels
for national stereotypes
Teresa Tomaszkiewicz PL Naissance de différents modèles textuels à travers l’opération de
traduction
Theme: Cognitive linguistics & translation

Monika Bogucka PL Problems in metaphor translation in non-literary texts
Olga Burukina RU The art of preserving metaphors
Isao Higashimori JP Metaphorical understanding in Relevance Theory: from loan concept
metaphor to TIME IS SPACE metaphor
Katarzyna Kwapisz PL Comment traduire le subjonctif on polonais? L’esquisse cognitive du
subjonctif français et de ses équivalents polonais
Bożena Pikala-Tokarz PL Imagery in translations of Polish poetry (into Slovenian)
and Agnieszka
Będkowska-Kopczyk
Dorota Śliwa PL Une approche cognitive des collocations
Anna Słoń PL Pragmatic aspects of translating constructions with a defocused insti-
gator
Theme: Lexicology & lexicography
Igor Burkhanov PL Contrastive Lexicology, semantic typology of languages, and Transla-
tion Theory
Józef Sypnicki and PL Niveau lexical: lexicographie et traduction
Jolanta Dyoniziak
Małgorzata Szczecińska PL Soviet Russian lexis in translation after the October Revolution
Theme: LSP translation & stylistic issues

Alicja Kacprzak PL Quelques problèmes de traduction en langue médicale: éponymie et
métaphore
Vladimir Khairoulline RU Transferring cultures and translating languages as exemplified by
legal markers
Joanna Jereczek PL Ce sens qui ne va pas de soi à travers le récit médiatique
Agnieszka Łukaszewicz PL Jargon in translation of official texts (based on analysis of stylistic
dysfunction in translation of “The Polish Standard
Kazimierz Michalewski PL Texte von geringer Bedeutung
Monika Okulska PL Translation as intercultural communication: advertisement translation
Tytti Suojanen FI Research utilization in Finnish technical communication
Mirosław Trybisz PL Apprendre à comprendre pour apprendre à traduire: cas du langage
économique
Zenon Weigt PL Ausgewählte Probleme bei der Interpretation und Übersetzung deut-
scher und polnischer Fachtexte
Iwona Witczak-Plisiecka PL The language of English certificates
Theme: Interpreting
Aleksandra Czechows- PL Eine korrekte Aussprache im Konsekutiv- und Simultandolmetschen
ka-Błachiewicz Polnisch-Deutsch - Schwächen und Mängel der fortgeschrittenen
Lerner im Lichte von aussersprachlichen Faktoren
Małgorzata Tryuk PL Les tests d’aptitude et leur rôle dans la formation des interprètes de
conférence
Theme: Translating literature

Anna Krawczyk- PL Approaching the unfamiliar – William Gibson’s Idoru and Neuro-
Łaskarzewska mancer in Polish translations
Anna Kucharska PL Übersetzungsstrategien essayistischer Texte - am Beispiel der Essays
von Robert Musil
John Milton BR Mário Vargas Llosa - a chicano writer: an argument against for-
eignization in translation
Adam Sumera PL Intertextuality in literary translation
Dorota Urbanek PL The translators’ Adventures in Alice’s Wonderland (some remarks
about translation series
Theme: Translation & corpora

Michael P. Oakes and UK/PL Bi- and trilingual alignment and concordancing as machine aids to
Barbara Lewandowska- human translation
Tomaszczyk
Stella E. O. Tagnin BR Corpora and the innocent translator: how can they help him
Yasuhito Tanaka JP Example data for machine translation systems
Kim Wallmach ZA Using parallel corpora to determine interpreting strategies for lan-
guages of limited diffusion in South Africa
Theme: Translator training & quality assessment

Jadwiga Izabela PL Zur Bedeutung von Formulierungsübungen in der Didaktik des Si-
Gawłowska multandolmetschens
Magdalena Szeflińska, PL Teaching translation and interpreting to language students in Łódź
Łukasz Bogucki and
Mariusz Milczarek
Jolanta Kozak PL Translemic analysis: a model of translation assessment

Theme: Terminology / Terminography
Pius ten Hacken UK The term-word distinction and the mental lexicon
Klaus-Dirk Schmitz DE Die Bedeutung der Terminologie Arbeit für die Softwarelokalisierung
Rita Temmerman BE Intelligent terminological resources for translators? Content, structure
and functionality
Theme: Linguistics / Text Linguistics / Cognitive Sciences / Semantics / Pragmatics

Silvia Cacchiani IT On translating Italian word-reduplication into English
Gina Măciucă RO Translatability of linguicomedy. Similarities and contrasts in English,
German and Romanian
Dina Maria Martins BR Réinscrire: des mouvements de sens traduisant le monde
Ferreira
Norsimah Mat Awal MY A cognitive perspective in translation analysis
Theme: Translation Studies

Behrooz Azabdaftari IR On the feasibility of the functional approach to translation: a great
challenge in the limelight
Lothar Cerný DE Translational semiotics and Luther’s Sendbrief
Annette Muschner DE Die Übersetzungskompetenz und ihre didaktische Umsetzung im
Sprachenpaar Tschechisch-Deutsch
Paule Salerno-O’Shea IE Naturalisation: défies et limites dans Five Quarters of the Orange
(Joanne Harris)
Marcel Thelen NL Is there such a thing as terminology competence?
Theme: Corpora / Lexicology / Lexicography

Sue Atkins UK Me lexicographer, you translators, or context-free (vs. context-
sensitive) translation and what it involves
Christine Demaecker BE Traduire les métaphores du vin français en anglais et vice versa. Une
étude empirique sur un corpus bilingue
Gerard-René de Groot & NL The dubious quality of legal dictionaries
Conrad J.P. van Laer
Li Lan & Grahame Bil- HK A corpus-based investigation on bi-directional business translation
bow
Clara Inés López ES A learner-generated corpus to direct learner-centered courses
Rodriguez, Bryan
Robinson & Maria
Isabel Tercedor Sánchez
Theme: The training of translators / interpreters

Mohamed Sami Anwar AE Curriculum design in translation studies
Janet DeCesaris ES Teaching linguistic analysis to prospective translators
Mohammed Benlarbi AL La traduction et interprétation en Algérie
El’kebich
Martin Forstner DE The grand design – Die Ökonomie als Grundlage des europäischen
Hochschul- und Forschungsraumes und ihre Auswirkungen auf die
Translationsstudiengänge
Hannelore Lee-Jahnke CH Food for thought in translation training
Leila Razmjou IR Monocultural trilinguals and training translators
Tomoyuki Shibahara JP Interpreting training for the purpose of increasing English proficien-
cy: an attempt at the Japanese Vocational School
Karina Socorro Trujillo ES Text typology and text analysis in the training of the translation of
mercantile papers
Frieda Steurs BE Language technology and terminology training in the new Bachelor-
Master programme for translators and interpreters
Karen C. Williams US Practical concerns for the teaching of translation in the world lan-
guage classroom
Theme: Translation and language for special purposes

Encarnación Postigo ES The language of tourism / leisure: the translation in English and Span-
Pinazo ish of documents related to leisure activities
Matthew Wing-kwong HK Plain language for law and legal translation
Leung
Theme: The translation of literature

Victória Alsína ES Translating irony: Catalan versions of Jane Austen
Rachel Lung HK Oral translator’s “traces” in the Chinese co-translation of David Cop-
perfield
Elena Xeni CY The challenges of translating humour in children and young adults’
literature as a cross-cultural communication activity
Theme: Intercultural translation

MarieChristine Aubin CA Stylistique différentielle et enseignement de la localisation
Ritva Leppihalme FI Culture and translation
Mundhedzi James Mafe- ZA Kinship terms and translation equivalence in Venda
la
Cláudia Maria Ceneviva BR Translating identities: how Brazilians translate themselves when
Nigro faced with other cultures
Theme: Translation strategies

Marco A. Fiola IT Construction du sens, mécanismes discursifs et langues de traduction:
quand les interférences sémantiques prennent des dimensions tex-
tuelles
Theme: Localisation
Donald Barabé CA Towards a new world order in translation
Christophe Declercq UK Translating colours
Theme: Interpreting
Magdalena PL The role of approximation in simultaneous interpreting
Bartłomiejczyk
Ewa Gumul PL Explicitation in conference interpreting
Kevin Lin UK From what meaning to no meaning. A speech act approach to consec-
utive interpreting
Marné Pienaar ZA Educational interpreting and the role of the interpreter. Visible agents
of cultural sensitivity
Veronika Pólay HU Dolmetschen in einer speziellen Situation
Theme: Audiovisual translation

Łukasz Bogucki PL Subtitled, dubbed or voice-over? Choices in audiovisual translation
Muhammad Y Gamal AU Issues in Arabic subtitling

Theme: Translation and Cognition
Saleh M. Al-Salman JO The semantics of translation from a psycholinguistic perspective
Teresa Tomaskiewicz PL Est-ce-que la méconnaissance de la réalité étrangère est un obstacle
pour la réception de la traduction?
Theme: The theory of translation

Łukasz Bogucki PL Beyond the word – the unit of translation
Marta Dynel- PL Lost in translation? To what extent is linguistic humour translatable:
Buczkowska the case of conversational humour in English and Polish
Jolanta Dyoniziak PL Stéréotype, sens, traduction. Approche générale
Murielle Étoré FR Die Übersetzungswissenschaft: ein binäres System
Anna Pieczynska-Sulik PL Ikonisch markierte Strukturen in der Übersetzung
Barbara Walkiewicz PL Relations de paraphrase dans la traduction
Roger Wertheimer US The paradox of translation
Urszula Załiwska- PL A translator-centred view on translation
Okrutna
Theme: Media translation and interpreting

Magdalena Bartło- PL Anticipation: a controversial interpreting strategy
miejczyk
Paulina Borowczyk PL Procédés des traducteurs audiovisuels face aux réalités sociocultu-
relles sur l’exemple des protocoles verbaux
Karolina Dybalska PL Der Bedeutungstransfer im Übersetzungsvorgang – am Beispiel der
deutschen Synchronfassung von Im Westen Nichts Neues”
Jadwiga Izabela PL Einige Probleme der Rezeptions- und Reproduktionsphase im Konse-
Gawłowska kutiv- und Simultandolmetschen. Mögliche Quellen und Strategien
der Problembehebung
Ewa Gumul PL Conjunctive cohesive markers: Translational shifts in English-Polish
SI and CI
Magdalena Jurewicz PL Aspekte der Gesprochenen Sprache bei der Untersuchung konsekutiv
gedolmetschter Texte
Jerzy Źmudzki PL Ein holistisches Modell des Konsekutivdolmetschens
Theme: Contrastive studies between pairs of languages and translation

Artur Dariusz Kubacki PL Deutsche ung-Derivate als Komponente einer Wortgruppe und deren
Übersetzungsstrategien ins Polnische am Beispiel eines Fachtextes
Gilles Quentel PL Celtic languages in translation: a general survey
Nasrin Hadidi Tamjid IR A contrastive study of metaphor in English and Persian
Theme: Translation strategies and translation training

Hanka Błaszkowska PL Gruppendolmetschen als eine Erscheinungsform vom Dolmetschen.
Modell eines Einführungskurses in das Gruppendolmetschen
Deutsch-Polnisch und Polnisch-Deutsch
Ilse Feinauer ZA Hijacking the source text: the power of the translator
Elźbieta Gajewska PL ’Cordialement vôtre’. Traduire la politesse verbale des lettres
d’affaires
Pal Heltai HU Explicitation, redundancy, ellipsis, processing and translation
Joanna Jereczek- PL La traduction-vulgarisation du traité de constitution Durant la cam-
Lipińska pagne référendaire sur les blogs des politiques
Iwona Mazur PL Translation and the globalization-localization dichotomy: A proposal
of a new classification of translation procedures
Natalia Paprocka PL Autour de la notion d’erreur relative en traduction
Magda Potok-Nycz and PL Quelques observations sur la traduction des stéréotypes
Józef Sypnicki
Leila Razmjou IR Implicature blocking strategies and translation problems
Theme: Lexicology and terminology

Barbara Lewandowska- PL On the cross-Language relationship in lexicology and terminology
Tomaszczyk
Mirosława Podhajecka PL A project in bilingual terminography: Where lexicography, terminol-
ogy and translation studies meet
Adam Sitarek PL Typologieversuch der ‘falschen Freunde’ mit der Berücksichtigung
des referenziell-frequenziellen Ansatzes
Theme: Language corpora and translation

Ulrike Oster and Heike ES Semantic preference and semantic prosody: A corpus-based analysis
van Lawick of translation-relevant aspects of the meaning of phraseological units
Sonja Tirkkonen-Condit FI The language of subtitles: a corpus compilation and research project
and Jukka Mäkisalo
Theme: Translating literature

Magdalena Filar PL Zum Parameter der Betrachtungsperspektive in der Übersetzung. Eine
Analyse des Gedichtes ‘Niebo’ von Wisława Szymborska in der
Übersetzung ins Deutsche und ins Englische
Jerzy Jarniewicz PL Horror vacui, or the poetics of excess in literary translation
Magdalena Mitura PL L’autre dans la langue. Entre l’ethnocentrique et l’éthique dans la
prose de Bosir Vian
Czesław Płusa PL Zur sprachentheoretischen Bewertung der Qualität literarischer Über-

setzung
Victoria Ríos Castaňo UK Intersemiotic translations of Tennessee Williams’ Streetcar Named
Desire
Diana Senczyszyn PL L’agencement syntaxique et le sens dans la traduction de la phrase
littéraire: l’exemple du découpage conceptuel de la phrase complexe
Theme: Translation quality management

Marcel Thelen NL Translation Quality Assessment or Quality Management & Quality
Control of Translation?

Theme: Translation studies: process, theory and practice
Behrooz Azabdaftari IR The author’s intentional meaning is often the translator’s will-o’-wisp
Jane Duarte PT The art of conveying Relevance to the Portuguese child reader
Mohammed Farghal KW “Word-for-word” or “sense-for-sense” translation: ruminating the
age-long polemics
Barbara Lewandowska- PL Approximative communication in translation
Tomaszczyk
Moses Nyongwa CA Le traducteur, médiateur ou agent de l’impérialisme culturel: relecture
de l’histoire de l’un des plus vieux métiers du monde
Sonia Vandepitte BE Meanings in translation

Urszula Załiwska- PL The etholinguistic approach to translation
Okrutna
Theme: Audiovisual translation

Bo Li HK Subtitling “Made in Hong Kong”, and missing heteroglossia
Łukasz Boguki PL Action research as a methodology for audivisual translation
Jorge Díaz-Cintas UK The technology turn in subtitling
Muhammad Y Gamal AU Towards a typology of challenges in subtitling Egyptian films
Theme: The training of translators / interpreters

John Kearns PL Towards a critical translation pedagogy
Minna Kumpulainen FI Monitoring in student translators‘ translation process
Theme: Translation and language for special purposes

José Bloemer / Mark NL The impact of communicative competence on export performance: a
Pluymaekers / Armand relationship management approach
Odekerken
Mohammed Benlarbi AL La traduction et l’interpretation en milieu judiciaire ou la langue
El’kebich palais de justice
Iwona Szwed PL Übersetzungs- und bedeutungsrelevante deutsch-polnische
Unterschiede in der Geschäftskommunikation vor dem Hintergrund
der deutschen und polnischen „Kulturstandards“
Theme: Literary translation

Isabel Fernandes Silva PT Voice(s) in a translated literary text
Annamária Kabán HU Figures de construction des textes poétiques français et hongrois
Krzysztof Kosecki PL When metaphors surface as metonymies: free translation in poetry
Theme: Lexicology / terminology

Koen Kerremans BE Improving specialised translation dictionaries on the basis of a study
of terminological variation
Koliswa Moropa ZA Developing technical terms in the indigenous South African
languages: borrowing a fact or fiction?
Pius ten Hacken UK Terms in three perspectives
Theme: Problem solving

Adriana S. Pagano / Igor BR Tracing the unfolding of metaphorical processes in translation:
A. Lourenço da Silva / insights from an experimental exploration study
Fabio Alves
Marcel Thelen NL Methods for problem solving in translation and terminology:
Componential Analysis vs. Lexical-System-like Structures
Theme: Quality management

Paule Salerno-O’shea IE Strengths and weaknesses in literary translation: a case study
approach
Ita Szymanska AU Interpreter training: interpreting in a health context short course –
assessing interpreters’ preparedness to undertake assignments in
health care. An Australian model of state-run interpreter service
Final
Barbara Lewandowska- PL/NL Current translation discourses and the future
Tomaszczyk & Marcel
Thelen

Theme: Communication, semantics, intersemiotics
Christiane Nord DE Bedeutung – Sinn – Funktion:was wird eigentlich übersetzt?
Barbara Lewandowska- PL Parameter variability in translational approximation
Tomaszczyk
Agata Holobut PL Paintings re-seen. poems re-read. A few remarks on intersemiotic
translation
Rafal Pacholczyk PL Translating cognitive blends in political discourse
Magdalena Szeflińska- PL Les paramètres socioculturels de la traduction de textes humoristiques
Baran
Janusz Wróblewski PL Dolores de la traducción, or Lolita in translation
Theme: Translation & languages in contrast

Agnès Celle FR Interrogation, hypothèse, argumentation.le français et l’anglais en
contraste
Annick Cataldi PL Traduire des jeux de mots du français vers le polonais. Exemple de
René Goscinny
Aleksander Gomola PL Meaning in the translation of holy scriptures a “translation language”
in polish versions of the gospel of mark – a case study
Łukasz Grabowski PL A corpus-driven study of translation universals: The case of English
and Russian “Lolita” and reference corpora of literary texts
Mampaka Lydia ZA The semantics of Northern Sotho verbs as translated from English:
Mojapelo Comments on the African languages Wordnet project
Munzhedzi James ZA Translation and forms of address: An experience in Tshivenḓa
Mafela
Mirosława Podhajecka PL Calques in Polish translations of English press artricles: linguistic
innovations or mistranslations?
Barbara Wałkiewicz PL Génologie contrastive au service de la traduction des textes de
spécialité
Theme: The translator & translator’s education

Joanna Albin PL Being a translator: how does it feel?
Konrad Klimkowski PL Non-formal elements in academic translator education: Why, how and
what for?
Anna Małgorzewicz PL Kognitive Prozesse in der translatorisch gemittelten interkulturellen
Kommunikation
Marcin Michoń PL Zur Wahl der Texte für die Bildung von Übersetzern
Mariusz Milczarek PL Einige Argumente für die Verwendung der Regenbogenpresse als
Einstieg ins Übersetzungstraining
Paulina Pietrzak PL Teaching, training, educating? Terminological ambiguity in translator
education theory
Pius ten Hacken UK Translational competence and the native speaker
Theme: Terminology
Nitsa Ben-Ari IL The use of German terminology as a euphemizing strategy in Hebrew
1930-1970
Magdalena Duś PL Die Fallbearbeitung - Eine Möglichkeit des Einstiegs in die Deutsche
Rechtssprache
Jacek Florczak PL Le lexique de spécialité dans l’apprentissage et dans la traduction
Ksenia Gałuskina PL Le latin juridique à l’épreuve de la traduction
Stanisław Goźdź- PL Legal terms and meaningful units. A corpus-based study of the term
Roszkowski discovery in the United States Supreme Court opinions
Ewa Kościałkowska- PL The challenge of meaning construction: expert vs. non-expert
Okońska processing
Renáta Panocová SK Semantic ambiguity and the translation of medical terminology
Krzysztof Sakowski PL Übersetzungen von Phraseologismen in der Automobilpresse
Marcel Thelen NL Methods for problem solving in translation and terminology: Word-
Net and Frames vs. lexical-system-like structures
Cornelia Wermuth BE Medical translation in an academic setting: demands on the training in
terms of content and practice
Theme: Interpreting & audiovisual translation

Maria Bakti HU Théorie du sens revisited. CLI in the target language output of simul-
taneous interpreters
Łukasz Bogucki PL Audiovisual transfer: where do we go from here?
Mikołaj Deckert PL Construal manipulation in subtitling
Magdalena Machcińska- PL Lost in translation – Mission (im)possible in voice-over translations?
Szczepaniak
Teresa Tomaszkiewicz PL Traduire le sens d’une production médiale
Final remarks
Barbara Lewandowska- PL/NL Current translation discourses and the future
Tomaszczyk & Marcel
Thelen
Because the thems varied over the volumes of proceedings, due to the papers presented at the respec-
tive Sessions, it is, unfortunately, not possible to give a survey of themes and corresponding numbers
of papers.
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
Dr. Fábio Alves Dr. Mohammed Farghal

Faculdade de Letras Department of English
Federal University of Minas Gerais Kuwait University
Brazil Kuwait
e-mail: alvesf@dedalus.lcc.ufmg.br e-mail: mohammed.farghal@ku.edu.k
Prof. Dr. Behrooz Azabdaftari Dr. Isabel Fernandes Silva

Islamic Azad University – Tabriz Branch Language and Translation Department
Iran Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa
e-mail: dr_azabdaftari@yahoo.com Portugal
e-mail: isabel.silva@ual.pt
Prof. Dr. Josée Bloemer
Centre of Research Dr. Annamária Kabán
International Business and Communication Department of Hungarian Linguistics
Zuyd University of Applied Sciences / University of Miskolc
Institute of Management Research Hungary
Radboud University Nijmegen e-mail: kaban.a@freemail.hu
The Netherlands
e-mail: jose.bloemer@zuyd.nl Dr. John Kearns
Irish Writers’ Centre Dublin
Dr. Bo Li Ireland
Department of Translation e-mail: kearns@pro.onet.pl
Lingnan University, Hong Kong
People’s Republic China Dr. Koen Kerremans
e-mail: b1li@ln.edu.hk Department of Applied Linguistics
Centrum voor Vaktaal en Communicatie
Prof. Dr. habil. Łukasz Bogucki Erasmus University College Brussels
Institute of English Belgium
Department of Translation Studies e-mail: koen.kerremans@vub.ac.be
University of Łódź
Poland Dr. Minna Kumpulainen
e-mail: bogus@uni.lodz.pl Foreign Languages and Translation Studies
University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu
Dr. Jorge Diaz-Cintas Finland
Imperial College London e-mail: Minna.kumpulainen@uef.fi
United Kingdom
e-mail: j.diaz-cintas@imperial.ac.uk Prof. Dr. habil. Barbara Lewandowska-
Tomaszczyk
Dr. Jane Duarte Institute of English
Language and Translation Department University of of Łódź
Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa Poland
Portugal e-mail: blt@uni.lodz.pl
e-mail: jduarte@ual.pt
Prof. Dr. Koliswa Moropa
Dr. Mohammed Benlarbi El’kebich Department of Linguistics
Office Public de Traduction Officiel, Tiaret University of South Africa (UNISA)
Algeria e-mail: moropck@unisa.ac.za
e-mail: mohammed.larbi@voila.fr
342 MARCEL THELEN
Prof. Dr. Moses Nyongwa E-mail: iwonaszwed@szwed.pl

Collège universitaire de Saint-Boniface
Université du Manitoba, Winnipeg Dr. Ita Szymanska
Canada Queensland Health Multicultural Services
e-mail: mnyongwa@ustboniface.mb.ca Department of Health
State of Queensland
Drs. Armand Odekerken Australia
Centre of Research E-mail: Ita_Szymanska@health.qld.gov.au
International Business and Communication
Zuyd University of Applied Sciences Dr. Pius ten Hacken
The Netherlands Department of Translation
e-mail: armand.odekerken@zuyd.nl and Digital Communication
Swansea University
Prof. Dr. Adriana S. Pagano Wales, United Kingdom
Faculdade de Letras E-mail: p.ten-hacken@swansea.ac.uk
Federal University of Minas Gerais
Brazil Dr. Marcel Thelen
e-mail: adriana.pagano@pq.cnpq.br Maastricht School of Translation
and Interpreting
Dr. Mark Pluymaekers Zuyd University of Applied Sciences
Centre of Research The Netherlands
International Business and Communication E-mail: marcel.thelen@zuyd.nl
The Netherlands Prof. Dr. Sonia Vandepitte
e-mail: mark.pluymaekers@zuyd.nl Faculty of Translation Studies
University College Ghent
Dr. Paule Salerno-O’Shea Belgium
Trinity College Dublin E-mail: sonia.vandepitte@hogent.be
Ireland
E-mail: psalerno@tcd.ie Prof. Dr. Urszula Załiwska-Okrutna
Institute of Applied Linguistics
Dr. Igor Lourenço da Silva University of Warsaw
Faculdade de Letras Poland
Federal University of Minas Gerais E-mail: u.z.zaliwska-okrutna@uw.edu.pl
Brazil
E-mail: ialsigorgmail.com Dr. Muhammad Y Gamal
Arabic Translation Studies
Dr. Iwona Szwed Faculty of Law
Institute of German Philology University of Canberra
Rzeszów University Australia
Poland e-mail: muh_gamal@yahoo.com
INDEX
Note: italicised items represent authors
A Apple, R., 106, 109

approximation, 45, 47, 48, 49, 50
Abrams, M.H., 222 approximation levels, 45
accreditation, 301, 302, 303, 306 approximation research, 50
accredited interpreters, 302, 304 approximative communication, 45, 47
accuracy, 293, 295 approximative correspondence, 45
Achrol, R.S., 169, 175 AR = Action Research, 114, 115, 116, 117
acquisition, 91, 93 arabe, 180
Action Research, 111, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118 Arabic, 40, 43, 83, 87, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138,
action theory, 114 140, 142, 302
Adab, B., 329 Arabic dialects, 137
adaptation, 61, 64, 67 Arabic vernacular, 138
Ady, E., 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208 Arabic-English dictionaries, 139
African Languages, 241, 243, 244, 245, 246, 247, Arana Landín, S., 330
248 Armenian, 137
Afrikaans, 241, 242, 243 Arntz, R., 253, 259
Agbago, A., 237, 238 Arribas-Baño, A., 228, 239
agent, 53, 58, 59 Ashkenani, M., 134, 143
agent of imperialism, 75 Askedal, J., 333
agent of mediation, 75 assessment procedures, 293
Ahmed, F., 169, 176 Assis Rosa, A., 110
Aitchison, J., 243, 248 Assyrian, 137
Akoorie, M.E.M., 168, 175 asymmetric approximation, 47
Al, B.P.F., 289 Atkins, S., 335, 341
Al-Ani, F., 329 Aubin, M., 336
Albin, J., 340 audio description, 121, 126, 131
Alexandre, L., 328 audiodescription, 111, 112, 113, 117
alexandrins, 203 audiovisual protocols, 263
Al-Hadary, A., 137, 143 audiovisual transfer, 112, 113, 114, 115, 117
Al-Imam, H., 136 audiovisual translation, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116,
Alinei, M., 284, 289 117, 119, 121, 131, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138,
Al-Khawalda, M., 332 140, 142, 143
allemand, 55, 56 Audiovisual Translation (AVT), 119
Allen, N.J., 169, 172, 174, 175 audiovisualisation, 119, 120
Almazan Garcia, E.M., 41, 44 Augusto Lopes, C., 328
al-Qinai, J., 333 AUSIT = Australian Institute of Interpreters and
Al-Salman, S., 336 Translators, 303, 304, 305, 306, 308
Alsína, V., 336 Auslan (Australian sign language), 302
Alves, F., xiv, 263, 264, 267, 268, 270, 274, 339, 341 Australian Institute of Interpreters and Translators
amateur subtitlers, 122, 130 (AUSIT), 303, 304
amateur subtitling, 130 Australian Sign Language (Auslan), 303
ambiguity, 21, 295, 296 author-centeredness, 194
Ambler, T., 167, 176 automatic captioning, 128
American English, 67, 84 automatic term recognition algorithms, 254
Amis, M., 96, 97 automatic translation, 127
analyse comparative, 203 automation, 125, 128
Ananiadou, S., 253, 259 AVT = audiovisual translation, 111, 112, 113, 115,
Anderson, E., 169, 174 116, 117
Angelone, E., 274 AVT = Audiovisual Translation, 119, 124, 126, 127,
anglais, 55, 56 130
anthropology, 91, 92, 97 Azabdaftari, B., xiii, 19, 27, 62, 87, 335, 338, 341
Antia, B.E., 239
Antos, G., 189
344 INDEX
B Bloomfield, L., 23
Blum-Kulka, S., 46, 50, 227, 238
Bachmann, K., 49 Boas, F., 24, 92
Baetens Beardsmore, H., 106, 109 Boase-Beier, J., 102, 109
Bagajewa, I., 327 Bobbitt, F., 150, 151, 153
Bais, A. (translator), 87 body language, 141
Baker, M., 81, 87, 112, 117, 118, 218, 221, 222, 227, Bogaards, P., 289
238, 239, 322, 323, 326 Bogucka, M., 333
Bakhtin, M., 20, 27, 62, 101, 102, 103, 105, 108, 109, Bogucki, Ł., xiii, 111, 113, 114, 115, 117, 329, 330,
110 332, 334, 336, 338, 340, 341
Bakti, M., 340 Bokamba, E.G., 109
Balabanis, G.I., 169, 172, 174 Booth, W.C., 84
Balcerzan, E., 118 Boraschi, P., 328
Baldry, A., 113, 117, 141, 143 Borodo, M., 153
Balfour, I., 134, 143 Borowczyk, P., 337
Bandia, P., 102, 106, 109 borrowing, 241, 243, 247, 248
Barabé, D., 336 Bowker, L., 229, 238, 331
Barańczak, S., 214, 215, 216, 222, 223 Bracker, J.S., 169, 175
Barbaresi, L.M., 102, 109 Brannick, T., 114, 117
Barcelona, A., 212, 218, 221, 222, 223 Brazilian Portuguese, 266
Barkhudarov, L., 213, 222 Brecht, B., 103, 109
Barnes, J., 95 Breckle, M., 183, 189
Barrière, C., 237, 238 Brend, R., 328
Bartłomiejczyk, M., 336, 337 Bressan, P., 256, 259
Barzel, A., 330 Bridges, J., 114
Basara, J., 97 Brinker, K., 187, 189
Baskin, W. (translator), 97 Brisset, A., 63, 87
Bassnett, S., 110, 123, 131, 193, 202 British English, 84
Bates, E., 93, 97 Brodovich, O., 327
Becher, G., 329 Brouwer, L.E.J., 257
Becker, T.E., 169, 175 Brycht, A., 327
Będkowska-Kopczyk, A., 333 Bucaria, Ch., 131
Bednarczyk, A., 327, 329, 333 Buccaria, C., 143
Bednarek, A., 51 Bühler, K., 61, 87
Beeby, A., 329 Burkhanov, I., 331, 334
Béjoint, H., 327 Burton, J., 112, 117
Belczyk, A., 113, 116, 117 Burukina, O., 333
Beliaeva, L., 328 Buscombe, E., 133, 143
Bello, D.C., 170, 175 Bush, G.W., 71
Ben-Ari, N., 66, 73, 87, 340 business correspondence, 83
Benedict, R., 92 Byron, G.G., 216, 217, 222
Benlarbi El’kebich, M., xiv, 79, 88, 177, 335, 338,
341 C
Berdychowska, Z., 183, 189
Bergsma, P. (translator), 72, 87 Cabré, M.T., 228, 238
Bhabha, H.K., 202 Cacchiani, S., 335
Bhatia, T.K., 106, 109 Cadogan, J.W., 171, 175
Bijmolt, T.H.A., 171, 174 Calderbank, A. (translator), 42, 82, 87
Bilbow, G., 335 Calderón de la Barca, P., 103
bilingual/ multilingual writing, 102 Callow, K., 326, 327
bilingualism, 91, 93, 94, 96, 97, 102 Cameron, J., 128
bi-literacy, 101, 104 Cantonese, 75, 101, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108,
Bilkey, W.J., 168, 174 302
Bilut-Homplewicz, Z., 189 Cao, D., 329
Binger, D., 49 Carey, P., 84, 87
Blair, T., 67, 71 Carlson, M., 103, 109
Blas, A., 328 Carnap, R., 21
Błaszkowska, H., 337 Carroll, L., 29, 30, 33, 34, 35, 38, 95
blending, 50 Carton, A.S., 28
Bloemer, J., xiv, 62, 87, 167, 338, 341 case grammar, 61
Castle, A., 113 colloquial Arabic, 83

CAT tool, 252, 258 commitment, 167, 168, 169, 170, 172, 173, 174, 175,
CAT tools, 149, 251, 257, 277 176
Cataldi, A., 339 communication, 45, 46
categories of alignment, 45 communication studies, 50
category shift, 213 communicative approximation research, 50
Catford, J.C., 40, 41, 44, 111, 117, 213, 222 communicative competence, 167, 168, 170, 172, 173
Cavalieri, F., 141, 143 communicative equivalence, 35, 36
Cavusgil, S.T., 167, 171, 174, 175, 176 communicative meaning, 19, 20, 24
Caxton, W., 55 communicative translation, 40
Celle, A., 339 communicative vs. semantic translation, 41
Celtic, 63 community interpreters, 308
Cerný, L., 335 community interpreting, 45, 48, 301, 302, 309
Chaffey, W., 326 comparable bi- and multi-lingual corpora, 47
Chaheen, Y., 138, 139 comparative analysis, 30, 31, 203, 227, 229
Chaldean, 137 compensation, 213
Charles, C., 118 competence, 251, 256, 257
Chaston, I., 168, 176 Componential Analysis, 278, 279, 280, 281, 282, 283,
Chaucer, G., 55 286, 287, 288, 289
Chaume-Valera, F., 133, 137, 143 computer assisted translation, 127
check-list of difficulties, 299 Computer-Assisted Translation, 252
Chen, A.H., 309 conceptual metaphor theory, 27
Cheng, Pei-kai, 69, 87 conceptual shifts, 213
Chesterman, A., 89, 111, 113, 117, 118 conceptual structures, 284
Chesterton, G.K., 219, 222 conceptual-syntactic categories, 284, 286
Cheung, E.M.K., 105, 108, 109 conceptual-syntactic structures, 284, 286
Chiaro, D., 131, 143 Confucius, 87
Chichereau, C. (translator), 299 connaissances culturelles, 56, 57
children’s literature, 29, 31, 33 connaissances techniques, 56, 57
Chinese, 69, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, connaissances universelles, 56, 57
130, 302 connotations, 297
Chłopicki, W., 98 connotations vs. denotations, 62
Chomsky, N., 41, 256, 259, 284 connotative/implicit meaning, 20
Chow, Stephen, 104 Conrad, J., 82, 95
Christensen, H.K., 168, 176 consecutive interpreting, 305
Christopher, R.C., 48, 50 consonant, 244, 245
Chromá, M., 65, 87 construction, 53, 56, 57, 58
Chryssochoidis, G., 167, 174 construction du sens, 56
Chwedczuk, A., 96, 97 construction grammar, 61
Cicero, 39 context awareness, 298
Cichawa, P., 327 context in text, 279, 283
classic Egyptian films, 133 context outside the text, 279
Clifford, J., 103, 109 contextual coherence, 72, 73
Clinton, B., 71 contextual effects, 31, 34, 38
Cluver, A.D.de V., 243, 248 contrastive analysis, 227, 231
Clyne, M., 106, 109 conversational maxims, 48
Cobham, C. (translator), 83, 87 Copernicus, N., 254
Code of Ethics, 303, 305, 307, 308, 309 Corda, A., 328
code-mixing, 102, 105, 106, 107, 109 co-textual coherence, 71, 72, 73
code-switching, 102, 105, 106, 108, 109 covert translation, 41
Coelho, F., 176 covert translations, 41
Coghlan, D., 114, 117 Covin, J.G., 169, 172, 174
cognitive effects, 30, 31, 32, 33, 38 Cox, H.L., 289
cognitive environments, 30, 31, 33, 34, 38 Cravo, A., 115, 116, 117
Cognitive Poetics, 211, 212 creativity, 213, 222
cognitive pragmatics, 61 creole, 102
cognitive semantics, 74 criteria used to assess translations, 293
Cohen, L., 115, 117 Crook, J., 168, 176
coherence, 71 crowdsourcing, 152
Collet, T., 227, 228, 238 Cruse, D., 326
346 INDEX
Crystal, D., 104, 109, 243, 245, 248 deutsch-koreanische kontrastive Studien, 183
Cullen, J.B., 175 deutsch-schwedischen kontrastiven Studien, 183
cultural issues, 293, 295 Dewey, J., 150, 151, 153
cultural meaning, 19 dialect, 102, 104, 108
cultural scripts, 193, 194 dialects, 138, 139
cultural sensitivity, 167, 168, 170, 171, 172, 173, 175 dialogue interpreting, 302, 305
cultural turn, 123, 152 Diaz-Cintas, J., xiv, 84, 87, 112, 113, 117, 119, 121,
culture héréditaire, 54, 56 131, 341, 338
culture morte, 54, 56 Dickens, Ch., 25, 26, 62, 101, 102
culture vivante, 54 dictionary definitions, 282, 283, 286, 287
culture-specific discourse, 48 dictionary syndrome, 29
culture-specific texts, 45 Didaoui, M., 326, 331
Cumps, J., 330 Díez Velasco, O., 222, 223
Cunningham, M.T., 168, 174 digital revolution, 119
curricular design, 150, 152 digital technology, 124
curriculum design, 148, 150, 152 digital television, 121
Cutts, M., 128, 131 diglossia, 102, 138
Czech, 211, 221 Diki-Kidiri, M., 228, 239
Czechowska-Błachiewicz, A., 334 Dimitriu, I., 332
Czilwik, S., 50 Dinka, 137
Czinkota, M.R., 168, 171, 176 direct translation, 41
direct vs. indirect translation, 39
D Dirven, R., 212, 213, 222, 223
Dobrovol’skij, D., 326, 328
D’hulst, L., 109 Dollerup, C., 112, 117, 118
da Silva, I., xiv, 263, 339, 342 domain specific dictionaries, 278
Dahl, R., 29, 30, 34, 36, 38 domestication, 39, 40, 41, 91, 96, 152
Dale, P.S., 93, 97 Donne, J., 216, 222
Damour, A. (translator), 299 Dorodnych, A., 330
Dancette, J., 327, 328 Doshi-Raveendran, A., 329
Danish, 137 double meaning, 293, 295
Darbelnet, J., 111, 118 double meanings, 297
Darwin, Ch., 63, 64, 87 Drazdauskiene, M., 331
data triangulation, 264 Dries, J., 112, 117
Dawes, P.L., 170, 175 Driscoll, J.W., 170, 174
de Courtenay, J.N.B., 91, 93, 97 Drouin, P., 239
de Courtenayism, 93 Du Bellay, J., 55
de Graef, J., 83, 87 Duarte, J., xiii, 29, 61, 62, 83, 87, 110, 338, 341
de Groot, G-R., 326, 328, 330, 335 dubbing, 111, 112, 115, 121, 133, 142, 143
de Linde, Z., 141, 143 dubbing countries, 120, 122, 130
de Saussure, F., 23, 93, 97 Duczmal, S., 326
De Schryver, G.M., 241, 248 Duda, H., 153
de Seyssel, C.(traducteur), 55 Dunbar, G., 326
dead culture, 75 Duncan, T., 168, 174
DeCesaris, J., 335 Durand-Deska, A., 329
Deckert, M., 340 Duś, M., 340
declarative verbs, 294 Dussart, A., 62, 87
Declercq, C., 336 Dutch, 64, 67, 68, 69, 74, 81, 82, 83, 84, 229, 231,
decontextualised sentence meaning, 20 232, 233, 234, 235, 238, 252, 280
deixis, 73, 77 Dwyer, F.R., 169, 170, 175
Delabastita, D., 113, 117, 135, 141, 143 Dybalska, K., 337
Delisle, J., 55, 59, 87 Dykstra, A., 259
Demaecker, C., 335 dynamic equivalence, 41, 111
denotation, 65 Dynel, M., 116, 117
denotational meaning, 65, 86 Dynel-Buczkowska, M., 336
denotative/ explicit meaning, 20 Dyoniziak, J., 334, 336
descriptive terminology research, 228 Dzika, U., 327, 330
Deshpande, R., 170, 175
Desmet, I., 228, 239
Deutsch, 183, 184, 186, 187, 188
E eyetracking, 263, 264, 265, 267, 268, 269, 270, 271,

272, 273
Ebaid, A., 134
Echu, G., 332 F
Eco, U., 289
effortful text production, 263, 264, 268, 273 Fabbro, F., 94, 97
Eggermont, C., 325 Faerch, C., 50
Egoyan, A., 134, 143 Fahey, L., 168, 176
Egyptian cinema, 133, 135, 136, 137, 140, 142 Fahy, J., 171, 175
Egyptian classic films, 142, 143 fansubbers, 122
Egyptian dialect, 133 fansubbing, 115
Egyptian film language, 141 Farghal, M., xiii, 39, 43, 44, 82, 88, 338, 341
Egyptian films, 134, 135, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, Farsi, 19, 24, 25, 26, 137
142 Fass, D.C., 215, 222
Egyptian regional dialect, 138 Fauconnier, G., 27, 50, 211, 222
Egyptian vernacular, 138, 139 faux amis, 151
Eismann, V., 186, 189 Feinauer, I., 332, 337
El-Batal, M., 139, 143 Felber, H., 228, 239
Elgin, S.H., 22, 27 Fellbaum, C., 327
Emerson, C., 102, 109 feminist approach to translation, 193, 194
Emrich, E., 326 Fernandes Silva, I., xiv, 84, 338, 341
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 92, 97 Fernández-Priéto, C., 332
Enderwick, P., 168, 175 Ferrer, C. (translator), 34, 36, 38
English, 19, 24, 25, 26, 29, 34, 35, 37, 43, 46, 47, 48, Fidalgo Díaz, R., 328
50, 66, 68, 69, 70, 71, 82, 83, 84, 95, 96, 101, 102, fidélité, 53, 54, 58
103, 104, 106, 107, 108, 109, 113, 118, 121, 123, Fielding, Helen, 95, 98
127, 133, 134, 136, 137, 138, 139, 142, 148, 149, Fielding, Henry, 101, 102
155, 157, 158, 159, 161, 162, 163, 193, 194, 195, figurative vs. metaphorical vs. metonymical
197, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 211, 213, 214, 215, meanings, 62
216, 217, 218, 219, 220, 221, 223, 229, 230, 231, Filar, M., 337
232, 233, 234, 235, 237, 238, 241, 242, 243, 248, film as a multi-modal text, 141
266, 267, 268, 269, 270, 271, 273, 280, 293, 294 film translation, 112, 114, 134, 135, 136
English for the hearing impaired, 130 Finglish (Finnish + English), 161
enjambement, 204 Finnish, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162
Enright, A., 299 Fiola, M., 336
entailment, 21 Fisk, R., 74, 81
entailments of propositions, 64 Fletcher, P., 97
entrepreneurial posture, 167, 169, 170, 172, 173 Flinders, D.J., 150, 153
equivalence, 38, 40, 61, 113, 115, 155, 161, 214, 220 Florczak, J., 333, 340
équivalence, 182 Fodor, J.D., 22, 28
equivalence of intended effects, 32 Fontenelle, T., 328
equivalent effect principle, 41 Forceville, C., 142, 143
Ericsson, K.A., 263, 274 Ford, I.D., 167, 176
Erten, A., 332 Ford, J., 171, 176
Esselink, B., 151 foreignisation, 152
ethics, 302, 304, 307, 308, 309 foreignization, 39, 40, 41
etholinguistic approach to translation, 89, 91, 96, 338 formal correspondence, 155, 161
etholinguistics, 91, 96 formal equivalence, 41
Étoré, M., 336 formal semantics, 61, 63, 66
Evangelista, F.U., 171, 175 formal vs. dynamic equivalence, 39, 40
Evans, V., 211, 212, 222 formal vs. textual equivalence, 39
Even-Zohar, I., 163 Forstner, M., 335
expert, 160, 162 Fourie, D.J., 247, 248
expert translators, 156, 159 Fox, B., 130, 131
expertise, 155, 156, 157, 163 Fox, O., 329
experts, 155, 156, 160 français, 55, 56, 88, 181, 182, 203, 204, 205, 206,
explicitation, 64, 82, 86 207, 208
export performance, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, français africain, 56
173, 174, 176 Francis, G., 238
eye-dialect, 102 Fraser, J., 263, 274
348 INDEX
Frawley, W., 327 Gleerup, C.W.K. (publisher), 51

free translation, 211, 213, 222 Głowacki, J., 96, 98
freeware software options, 152 Godzich, W. (translator), 110
Freihoff, R., 325 Gomola, A., 339
Freixa, J., 227, 229, 239 Goodman, J., 114
French, 24, 48, 63, 101, 102, 127, 130, 134, 136, 139, Goossens, L., 212, 218, 219, 221, 222
142, 149, 229, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235, 237, 238, Göpferich, S., 263, 264, 274
243, 252, 293, 294, 295 Gottlieb, H., 112, 113, 117, 141
Freud, S., 34, 38 Gouadec, D., 147, 148, 150, 151, 153
Frick, M., 50 Gouanvic, J.-M., 56, 59
Friere, P., 152 Goźdź-Roszkowski, S., 340
Fruit Chan, 103, 105, 109, 110 Grabowski, L., 339
Fuchsloch, A., 50 Grady, J., 211, 222
Fuertes-Olivera, P.A., 228, 239 grammar-translation language teaching
functional equivalence, 198, 199 methodologies, 151
functional equivalent, 197, 198, 199 grammatical metaphor, 263, 264, 265, 266, 268, 273
functional meaning, 201, 202 grec, 181
functions of language, 61 grec, le, 55
fuzzy boundaries, 258 Greek, 24, 40, 113, 127
Green, M., 211, 212, 222
G Greenly, G.E., 171, 175
Gregory, R. (Major), 220
Gajewska, E., 337 Grice, P., 48
Galileo, G., 254 Groom, W., 95
Gallardo San Salvador, N., 330 Grosbart, H., 327
Gałuskina, K., 340 Grosbart, Z., 327, 330
Gamal, M., 133, 134, 135, 136, 138, 139, 142, 143 Gross, G., 333
Gambier, Y., 114, 117, 141, 142, 143, 144 Grucza, F., 189
games localisation, 152 Gruszczyńska, E., 95, 98
Garcéz, C.V., 48, 50 Guernsay, L., 156
Garczyński, S. (translator), 217, 222 Guillemin-Flescher, J., 333
Gardner, M., 38 Gumul, E., 336, 337
Garside, R., 331 Gundlach, G.T., 169, 175
Gatwande, A., 299 Gutt, E.A., 30,31, 38, 40, 41, 44, 113, 118, 331
Gaudin, F., 228, 239
Gauton, R., 241, 248 H
Gawłowska, J., 334, 337
Gémar, J.-C., 181 Hadidi Tamjid, N., 337
gender, 193, 200 Hadjimarcou, J., 167, 175
generalized alignment, 45, 46, 47 Halle, M., 223
Genette, G., 209 Halliday, M.A.K., 80, 93, 98, 264, 265, 267, 274
genre, 82, 83 Halverson, S., 328
Gérardy, C., 328 Hamel, M-J., 118
German, 49, 55, 82, 83, 96, 130, 149, 183, 211, 213, Hanks, P., 330
221, 252, 253, 255 Hansen, G., 156, 163, 274
Gerzymisch-Arbogast, H., 228, 238, 239 Hansen-Schirra, S., 274
Geschäftsbrief, 187 Hardy, T., 218, 223
Geschäftsbriefkommunikation, 183 Harich, K.R., 168, 175
Geschäftskommunikation, 188 Harman, G., 21, 28
Geschäftskorrespondenz, 184, 185, 186, 187, 188 Harnish, R., 326
Gestalt substitution, 47, 48 Harrenstien, K., 128, 131
Gevers, H., 329 Harris, R., 92, 98
Geyer-Ryan, H., 103, 109 Harrison, T., 103, 109
Geyskens, I., 169, 175 Hartzell, J., 330
Ghadessy, M., 274 Hatim, B., 30, 32, 38, 111, 115, 118, 202
Gibbons, J., 104, 105, 106, 110 Hauser, M., 186, 189
Gibbs, R., 209 Haverkort, K., 325
Gibbs, R.W., 211, 218, 222 Hawking, S., 266, 274
Gilligan, C., 94 Hawkins, S., 229, 238
Giordano, A., 332 Hayward, S., 133, 143
health care interpreter, 307 I

health care interpreting, 305, 306
health interpreter, 301, 307, 309 Ibsen, H., 103
health interpreters, 301, 308 ICM = Idealized Cognitive Model, 212, 215, 217,
health interpreting, 308 218, 219, 220
Heany, S., 61, 87, 88 ICMs = Idealized Cognitive Models, 211
Hebrew, 66 iconic meaning, 21
Heid, U., 251, 259 ideational function, 65
Heinemann, M., 187, 189 identity, 91, 92, 93, 97, 98
Heinemann, W., 187, 189 ideological conflicts, 101, 103, 105, 106, 109
Heiss, C., 143 idiolect, 102
Heiss, Ch., 131 idiolects, 138
Hejno, E., 330, 333 idioms, 194, 200, 201
Hejwowski, K., 98, 118 Idrīs, Y., 83, 87
Heliel, M., 326, 331 illocutionary / perlocutionary force, 79
Heltai, P., 337 illocutionary force, 79
Hemingway, E., 95 illocutionary meaning, 20
Hendrykowski, M., 118 illocutions vs. perlocutions, 62
Henry, O., 26 Illokution, 187, 188
Hermans, T., 98 image schemata, 212
Herschell, W., 254 Immonen, S., 163
Hertz, N., 67, 87 i-mode (interpretation-oriented mode), 41
Hesse, H., 220, 223 imperialisme culturel, 53
heteroglossia, 101, 102, 103, 105 impérialisme culturel, 58
heteroglossic construction, 101, 103, 106, 107, 108, implicatures, 27, 36, 64
109 Indian English, 56
heteroglossic constructions, 109 indigenized loan word, 243
heteroglossic features, 101, 103 indigenous languages, 241, 242, 243, 247
heterolingualism, 102 indirect speech act, 48
Heyn, H., 50 indirect translation, 41
Heyting, A., 257 inferences, 64, 79, 81, 86
Hibbard, J.D., 169, 175 inferential meaning, 20, 24
Higashimori, I., 333 infidélité, 53, 54
Highet, G., 59 information technology, 304
Hilbert, M., 120, 131 the integrational approach to translation, 92
Hoffman, C., 94, 98 integrationism, 92, 93, 97
Holley, A., 256, 259 intended meanings, 80
Holobut, A., 339 intentional meaning, 19, 20, 25, 27
Holquist, M., 109 interference, 155, 157, 159, 160, 161, 162
Holz-Mänttäri, J., 114 interkulturelle Kommunikation, 183, 189
Homère, 55 interlingual 3D subtitles, 128
homophony, 35, 36 interlingual subtitling, 123
Honeste, M., 333 interlingual translation, 104
hongrois, 88, 203 interlingual variants, 235
Hoog, E. (translator), 81, 87 interlingual variation, 233, 235
Hooley, G.J., 171, 175 internetisation of translation, 121
Hoppenbrouwers, G., 325, 327 interprétation, 177, 179
Hopper, P.J., 24, 27, 28 interpretation-oriented mode, 41
Horace, 39 interpretative competence, 29
Hoste, V., 239 interpretative equivalence, 33
House, J., 40, 41, 44, 238 interprète, 177, 178, 179, 181
Hubscher-Davidson, S., 153 interpreter services, 301, 302, 303, 304
human language behaviour, 91, 96 interpreter training, 301, 303, 304, 309
human language technologies, 241 interpreting in a health context, 304
Hungarian, 69, 203 interpreting techniques, 305
Hunt, S.D., 169, 176 intersemiotic translation, 104
Hunter, G., 127, 131 intraduisibilité, 182
hybridisation, 50 intralingual code-switching, 83
intralingual subtitles, 115, 127
intralingual subtitling, 123
350 INDEX
intralingual translation, 104 Kearns, J., xiv, 147, 149, 151, 152, 153, 338, 341
intralingual variants, 235 Keats, B.W., 169, 175
intralingual variation, 233 Kelley, A., 329
Invariance Principle, 214, 217 Kenny, M., 330
inverse translation, 149, 268 Kerremans, K., xiv, 73, 88, 227, 228, 239, 339, 341
Irish novels, 293 keylogging, 263, 264, 265, 267, 268
IsiNdebele, 241, 244, 245, 246 Khairoulline, V., 327, 334
IsiXhosa, 241, 242, 243, 244, 245, 246, 247, 248 Khal, A., 42, 82, 87
IsiZulu, 241, 244, 245, 246, 247, 248 Khalil, E., 331
Italian, 130, 252 Kielar, B., 331
Ivarsson, J., 112, 118 kinesics, 141
Ivir, V., 155, 163 King, P., 331
Kirby, J., 326, 327, 329, 330
J Kirundi, 302
Kjellmer, G., 279, 289
Jääskeläinen, R., 111, 118, 156, 163 Klaudy, K., 328
Jackendoff, R., 256, 257, 259 Klerkx, J., 326
Jackson, H., 244, 248 Klimek, J., 153
Jacobs, E.A., 309 Klimkowski, K., 153, 340
Jakobovits, L.A., 21, 28 Kłobukowski, M. (translator), 96
Jakobsen, A.L., 263, 264, 274 Kluever, B., 50
Jakobson, R., 61, 212, 223 Klunzika, A., 50
James, C., 299 Koberski, E., 326
Jansen, J., 328 Kohlberg, L., 94
Japanese, 130, 152 Kok, I. (translator), 87
jargon judiciaire, 177 Kommunikation, 183, 185, 187, 188, 189
Jarniewicz, J., 327, 330, 338 kommunikative interkulturelle Kompetenz, 183
Jarosz, K., 333 Körner, S., 257, 259
Jaroszewska, T., 333 Kościałkowska-Okońska, E., 340
Jeffares, A.N., 220, 223 Kosecki, K., xiv, 211, 327, 333, 338
Jereczek, J., 334, 337 Kosters, O., 61, 88
Jettmarova, Z., 59 Kovačič, I., 113, 118
Ji, Meng, 51 Kovala, U., 163
Johnson, J.L., 171, 175 Kövecses, Z., 211, 212, 213, 214, 216, 218, 221, 223
Johnson, M., 211, 212, 216, 217, 223 Kowalczyk, K., 95, 98
Johnston, J., 299 Kozak, J., 334
Johnstone, M., 309 Kozanecka, M., 330, 333
Jurewicz, M., 337 Kraif, O., 239
Krajewski, M., 51
K Krasnodębska, M., 50
Krawczyk-Łaskarzewska, A., 334
Kabán, A., xiv, 69, 83, 88, 203, 209, 329, 332, 338, Kredens, K., 117
341 Kress, G., 141, 143
Kacprzak, A., 334 Kruger, A., 248
Kaindl, K., 59 Kuan, W.K-Y., 171, 175
Kaji, H., 237, 239 Kubacki, A., 337
Kaltenbacher, M., 118 Kubrick, S., 113
Kandel, M. (translator), 51 Kucharska, A., 334
Kanitsaki, O., 309 Kujamäki, P., 163, 239
Kanowa, E., 332 Kukulska-Hulme, A., 325
Karamitroglou, F., 113, 118 Kumar, N., 169, 175
Karliner, L.S., 309 Kumpulainen, M., xiv, 61, 88, 155, 338, 341
Kasher, A., 256, 259 Kurdish, 137
Kasper, G., 50 Kurecka, M. (translator), 223
Katan, D., 202 Kussmaul, P., 62, 63, 74, 88, 189, 213, 222, 223
Katsikea, E.S., 169, 174 Kwan-Terry, J., 327
Katsikeas, C.S., 167, 168, 170, 172, 175, 176 Kwapisz, K., 333
Katz, J.J., 21, 22, 28 Kwiatkowska, A., 330
Kay, N., 141, 143
Kaynak, E., 171, 175
L 322, 323, 325, 326, 328, 329, 331, 332, 333, 334,
337, 338, 339, 340, 341
L’Homme, M.-C.L., 239 lexical networks, 27
LaBahn, D.W., 168, 175 lexical variety, 294
Laffling, J., 327, 328 Lexical-System-like Structure, 277
Lages, L.F., 171, 175 Lexical-System-like Structures, 278, 283, 287, 288
Lakoff, G., 211, 212, 213, 214, 216, 217, 218, 219, lexicography, 253
223, 285, 289 lexicon, 247, 248
Laks, S., 112 Li, B., xiii, 75, 88, 101, 102, 103, 110, 338, 341
Lama, B., 133 Li, D., 147, 150, 151, 153
Lama, I., 133 Liberman, A., 329
Lamb, S.M., 91, 98 Lin, K., 336
Lambourne, A., 128, 130, 131 Lind, A., 329
Lan, L., 335 Lindegaard, A., 118
Langacker, R.W., 50 lingualisation, 93, 97
langage juridique, 181 linguistic competence, 256, 257
Langeveld, A., 81, 82, 88 linguistic context, 21
language, 91, 92, 93, 94, 96, 97, 98 linguistic contexts, 19
language acquisition, 93, 97 linguistic meaning, 20, 21, 24, 27
language for special purposes, 247 linguistic relativism, 27
language games, 29 linguistics, 258
language planning, 241 Linn, S., 332
language policy, 103, 104, 107 literary translation, 194, 251
language variety, 82 live subtitles, 129
langue du droit, 181 live subtitling, 126
langue juridique, 181 Lo Cascio, V., 328, 331
langues de spécialité, 181 loan words, 244, 247, 248
Lanoye, T. (translator), 64, 87 localisation, 111, 151
Lantolf, J.P., 19, 20, 23, 24, 27, 28 localisation tools, 277
Lapshinova-Koltunski, E., 237, 239 locutionary meaning, 20
Larson, A., 169, 175 locutions latines, 182
Larson, M., 327, 330 Lohmeyer, M., 50
latin, 55, 181 López Rodriguez, C., 335
Latin, 24, 40, 243 López, P., 120, 131
Latin and Greek-based terminology, 305 Lörscher, W., 327
Lautanen, T., 168, 175 Lost in Translation, 309
Laviosa, S., 227, 239 LS-like Structure, 288
Laviosa-Braithwaite, S., 328 LS-like Structures, 279, 283, 286, 287, 288
law dictionaries, 65 Łukaszewicz, A., 334
Le Serrec, A., 237, 239 Lung, R., 336
learner groups, 155, 157, 160, 162 Luria, A.R., 24
Lederer, M., 75, 88 Luther, M., 55, 59
Leech, G., 21, 22, 28, 67, 88 Lyons, J., 21, 28
Lee-Jahnke, H., 163, 335
Lefever, E., 237, 239 M
Lefevere, A., 110, 123, 131, 193, 202
Lehrer, A., 327, 330 Mac, A., 189
Leliwa, J. (translator), 95 Machcińska-Szczepaniak, M., 340
Lem, S., 50, 51 machine translation, 66, 73, 126, 127, 128, 130, 131
Lemmens, M., 326 Machine Translation engine, 127
Lencioni, P.M., 186, 189 machine translation tools, 277
Leńko-Szymanska, A., 328, 330 Măciucă, G., 335
Leonidou, L.C., 167, 169, 170, 172, 175 Macken, L., 239
Leontiev, A.A., 24 macro translation unit, 267
Leppihalme, R., 336 macro TU, 267, 268, 269, 270, 272
Lerat, P., 228, 239 MacWhinney, B., 97
Lessing, D., 95, 98 Made in Hong Kong, 101, 103, 104, 105, 109, 110
Levenston, E.A., 46, 50 Maes, J., 325
Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk, B., ii, xiii, xv, 45, 46, 48, Mafela, M., 336, 339
49, 50, 51, 62, 75, 88, 98, 117, 222, 259, 289, 321, Magay, T., 289
352 INDEX
Mahfouz, N., 43, 136, 138 Meng, J., 323

Maia, B., 328, 331 mental lexicon, 256, 258
Mäkisalo, J., 163 mental processing of meaning, 277, 288
Małgorzewicz, A., 340 Mentzer, J.T., 169, 175
Malinowski, B., 24, 91, 92, 98 Mera, M., 135, 143
Maluf, R., 133, 143 Merkle, D., 332
Mañas Lahoz, P., 330 metaphor, 48, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215, 216, 217, 218,
Mandarin, 75, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 302 219, 220, 221, 222, 223
Mandarin Chinese, 101, 104 metaphoric meaning, 21
Mandelblit, N., 329 metaphors, 211, 212, 213, 214, 217, 218, 219, 221,
Mandl, C., 186, 189 223
Mandl, H., 186, 189 metaphtonymy, 212, 213, 217
Manion, L., 115, 117 metonymies, 211, 212, 213, 218, 219
Mankai, C., 330 metonymy, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215, 216, 217, 218,
Manning, A., 326, 329 219, 220, 221, 222, 223
Marcondes de Souza Filho, D., 326 Meyer, J.P., 169, 172, 174, 175
Markelova, I., 327 Meylarerts, R., 110
Markova, A.K., 19, 27, 28 Michalewski, K., 334
Marot, C., 55 Michoń, M., 340
Maroto, N., 332 micro, 269
Martin, A., 48, 50 micro translation unit, 267
Martin, W., 289 micro TU, 267, 268, 269, 270, 272
Martinet, H., 326 Mieroszewski, J. (translator), 95
Martinez-Lopez, F.J., 176 Milczarek, M., 334, 340
Martins Ferreira, D., 335 Mili, A., 330
Mason, I., 30, 32, 38, 202 Milne, A.A., 95
Massey, G.R., 170, 175 Milton, J., 330, 334
Mat Awal, N., 335 Mima, H., 259
Mathieu, J.E., 169, 175 Mirck, H. (translator), 61, 87, 88
Matthiessen, C.M.I.M, 264, 265, 267, 274 Mirkowicz, T. (translator), 95
Mauranen, A., 227, 239 Mitura, M., 338
Mauss, M., 92 Modern Standard Arabic, 136, 139
Mayer, F., 259 modification, 68
Mayhew, L., 115, 118 Mohr, J., 168, 175
Mayoral, A.R., 112, 118 Mojapelo, M. L., 339
Mazur, I., 337 Monaco, J., 140, 143
Mazzarese, T., 331 mondialisation, 53, 58, 59
McCawley, J.D., 22, 28 monitor, 156, 157, 159, 160, 161, 162
McCullough, J., 170, 176 monitor model, 155, 156, 160
McEnery, A., 331 monitoring, 155, 156, 160, 162
McGinn, M., 27 monitoring skills, 156, 160
McLaren, P., 152 monolingual communication, 46, 48
meaning composition (lexicalisation), 285 Montanari, F., 329
meaning decomposition (analysis of meaning), 285 Moorman, C., 170, 175
meaning determination, 277, 278, 279, 280, 283, 287, Morgan, R.M., 169, 176
288 Moriarty, S., 84, 87, 193, 202
meaning emergence, 49 Moriarty, S.E., 168, 174
meaning vs. sense, 62 Moropa, K., 241, 243, 246, 247, 248, 341
meanings across languages, 61 Morris, M., 92
mediateur, 53 Morris, P., 102, 110
médiateur, 54, 56, 58, 59 mother tongue, 162
médiation, 53, 54 Mózes, H., 69, 83, 88, 203, 209, 329, 332
medical interpreting, 301 MSA = Modern Standard Arabic, 139
medical terminology, 305, 307, 308 multilingual glossaries, 242
medical terms, 305, 308 multilingual glossary, 241
medical translation, 340 multilingual parallel corpus, 229, 239
medical translations, 229 multilingual terminology, 241
Medvedev, P., 110 multilingual terminology base, 229
Mees, I., 263, 264, 274 multilingual text corpora, 127
Melka, F., 328 multilingualism, 102
multimodality, 141 Ogden, C.K., 22, 28

Munday, J., 39, 44, 111, 114, 118, 194, 202 Oh, S., 169, 175
Muschner, A., 335 Okada, D., 239
Mutha, S., 309 Okulska, M., 334
Muysken, P., 106, 109 Oleksy, W., 289
Olohan, M., 117, 330
N Olpińska, M., 189
Olshanskaya, N., 327
NAATI = National Accreditation Authority for omission (s), 159, 218, 221, 294
Translators and Interpreters, 301, 302, 303, 304, onomasiological approach, 227
305, 306 onomasiological perspective, 237
NAATI-accredited interpreter, 302 ordre des mots, 203, 206
Naczyńska, Z. (translator), 95, 98 Orwell, G., 95, 98
Narus, J.A., 169, 174 Oster, U., 337
National Accreditation Authority for Translators and overt translation, 41
Interpreters Ltd (NAATI), 301 overt translations, 41
Navarro Dominguez, F., 328 overt vs. covert translation, 39
Nedergaard-Larsen, M., 134, 137, 144
negotiation, 49 P
Nenadic, G., 259
Neubert, A., 331 Pagano, A., xiv, 263, 264, 270, 274, 342, 339
Neumann, S., 274 Pahl, H.W., 243, 248
neurocognitive treatment of language and language Palihawadana, D., 169, 175
use, 91 Palmer, A.W., 220, 223
neurocognitivism, 91, 93 Paloposki, O., 163
Neves, J., 115, 116, 117 Palumbo, G., 213, 223
Newman, J.H.C., 151, 153 Panocová, R., 340
Newmark, P., 40, 41, 44, 332 Panther, K.-U., 223
Nida, E., 24, 28, 40, 41, 44, 111, 118, 283, 288, 289, Paprocka, N., 337
332 Paradis, M., 94, 98
Nigerian English, 56 parallel alignment(s), 46, 47
Nigro, C., 336 Parallel Architecture, 256
Nisbett, R.E., 93, 98 parallel corpora, 266
Niska, H., 328 parallel corpus, 229
non-representational meanings, 86 parallel syntactic structures, 203
non-representational or pragmatic meanings, 85 particularization, 47
nonsense, 29, 32, 33, 34, 37 particulate alignments, 46
nonsense genre, 32 particulate communication, 48
nonsense literature, 33 Pascua, I., 332
nonsense text, 29, 30, 32, 33 Patterson, P.G., 169, 176
non-spoken linguistic messages, 141 Paulussen, H., 331
non-standard language, 85 Pearson, J., 228, 239
non-verbal communication, 141 Peeters, J., 331
non-verbal communication in film, 141 Pekinese, 104
non-verbal meaning-making resources, 141 Perceval, L. (translator), 64, 87
Nord, C., 79, 88, 202, 258, 259, 326, 339 performance, 256, 257
normalization, 47 Persian/Farsi, 302
normative approach, 111 personal meaning, 19
norms, 113 Petrequin-Jessen, S., 326
note-taking, 305 phatic function, 79
novice(s), 155, 156, 157, 160, 161, 162 Picht, H., 259
Nyongwa, M., xiii, 53, 59, 75, 88, 338, 342 pidgin language, 102
Pieczynska-Sulik, A., 336
O Pienaar, M., 336
Pietrkiewicz, J., 214, 216, 217, 218, 219, 220, 222,
O’Connell, D.M., 153 223
O’Connor, J., 299 Pietrzak, P., 340
O’Farrell, M., 299 Piitulainen, M-L., 189
Oakes, M., 51, 323, 331, 334 Pikala-Tokarz, B., 333
Odekerken, A., xiv, 167, 338, 342 Pinedo, A., 330
354 INDEX
play on words, 33 quantification, 69, 70

Płudowski, T., 51 Quentel, G., 337
Płusa, C., 338 Quine, W.V., 22, 28
Pluymaekers, M., xiv, 167, 338, 342 Quirk, R., 51
Podhajecka, M., 337, 339
poésie arabe, 180 R
poetic effects, 33, 36
Pólay, V., 336 Rabelais, F., 55
Polish, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 93, 95, 96, 112, 113, 115, Radden, G., 211, 212, 213, 214, 216, 218, 221, 223
116, 118, 149, 152, 183, 211, 214, 215, 218, 219, Rahab, N., 332, 333
220, 221 Rakusan, J., 326, 329
Polish and German business letters, 183 Raven, P., 170, 176
Polnisch, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187, 188 Razmjou, L., 335, 337
polyphonic discourse, 103 raznorechie, 102
polysemy, 227 re-accentuation, 108
polysystem theory, 113 real-time subtitling, 126
Poppinga, D. (translator), 83, 87 real-time translation, 129
Porayski-Pomsta, J., 93, 98 recall protocol (s), 268, 273
Pörings, R., 223 reconceptualization, 50
Portner, P.H., 63, 64, 70, 77, 88 re-conceptualization, 45, 48, 49, 50
portugais, 56 Redfern,W., 36, 38
Portuguese, 29, 30, 31, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 84, 87, referential meaning, 20, 33, 65
193, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, referential vs. attitudinal meanings, 62
267, 268, 269, 270, 273 reflexivity, 71
position de focus, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208 register(s), 82, 83, 85
position de topique, 206 Reinharez, I. (translator), 299
postcolonial studies, 106 relevance, 30, 31, 37, 38, 113
post-colonial writing, 102 relevance theory, 41, 61, 63
post-editing techniques, 127 Relevance Theory, 30, 31, 32, 113
Postigo Pinazo, E., 336 relevance-theoretic approach, 29, 30, 35, 37
Potok-Nycz, M., 337 religious greetings, 140
Pouw, A., 332 representational meaning(s), 65, 77, 86
Poyatos, F., 141, 143, 144 respeaking, 126, 131
pragmatic competence, 251, 256, 257, 258 Reuter, E., 189
pragmatic effect, 198 revoicing, 117
pragmatic meaning, 21, 85 rhyme(s), 293, 295, 298
pragmatic meanings, 63, 85 rhythm, 293, 295, 298
pragmatic translation, 140 Riabova, M., 331
Pressey, A., 167, 176 Riabtseva, N., 332
presuppositions, 64 Riccardi, A., 98, 109
Principle of Relevance, 113 Richards, I.A., 22, 28
procedural functional grammar, 61 Rieber, R.W., 28
procedural model, 278, 279, 280, 283, 287, 288 Riikonen, H.K., 163
Prodi, R., 68 Ríos Castaňo, V., 338
projected world, 256, 257 Roath, A.S., 167, 176
propositional content, 65 Robert, G., 101, 102
proxemics, 141 Robertson, D., 27, 28
Pshenitsyn, S., 332 Robinson, B., 335
Puchalska, J. (translator), 95 Rogers, M., 227, 228, 230, 239
pun, 35, 36 Romero-Fresco, P., 126, 131
punctuation, 195 Rösch, O., 189
puns, 31, 77 Rosini, R., 327
pure loan word, 243 Ross, A.G., 168, 176
Putonghua, 103, 108 Rosson, P.J., 167, 176
Pym, A., 149, 151, 153, 323, 327 Roth, Ph., 81, 87
Round, N., 328
Q Royer, C., 64, 87
Ruiz de Mendoza Ibáñez, F.J., 222, 223
quality assessment models, 114 Russian, 101, 102, 130
quality of the translation, 293
S Sepedi, 241, 244, 245, 246, 247, 248

Serebryakova, I., 327
Sadler, V., 325 Seruya, T., 110
Sadzinski, R., 332 Šeškauskienė, I., 331
Sager, J.C., 118 Sesotho, 241, 244, 245, 246, 247
Sager, S.F., 189 Setswana, 241, 244, 245, 246, 247
Saint-Jérôme, 54 Seuss, Dr. (Theodor Geisel), 29, 30, 37
Sakano, T., 175 Sewell, E., 34, 38
Sala, R., 329 sex-related vocabulary, 198, 199
Saldanha, G., 239 Shadi, A., 133, 135
Salerno-O’Shea, P., xv, 62, 88, 293, 335, 339, 342 Shakespeare, W., 64, 87, 95, 103, 212, 214, 215, 223
Salkie, R., 83, 88, 333 Sharif, O. (actor), 137, 140, 142, 143
Salska-Kaca, M., 330 Shaw, G.B., 103
Sami Anwar, M., 331, 335 Shibahara, T., 335
Sampaio, G., 332 Shoham, A., 171, 176
Sánchez García, J., 330 Shreve, G., 263, 274
Sánchez, M., 329 Sidorowicz, K., 95, 98
Santambrogio, M., 289 sight translation, 305, 309
Sapir, E., 24 sign languages, 305
Sauvage, J., 328 Silva, I., 263, 264, 270, 274
scenes-and-frames semantics, 61, 63 Silva, I.F., 88, 193
Schäffner, Ch., 113, 118 Sim, R., 329
Scheer, L.K., 169, 175 Simon, H.A., 263, 274
Schilling, G., 254, 259 Simon, S., 202
Schlegelmilch, B.B., 168, 176 Simonnæs, I., 329
Schleiermacher, F., 39 Sinclair, J.M., 289
Schmid, A., 325 Singer, T.O., 171, 176
Schmitz, K., 335 Siswati, 241, 244, 245, 246
Schoonheim, T., 259 Sitarek, A., 337
Schroll-Machl, S., 184, 189 situational contexts, 19
Schurr, P.H., 169, 175 Skarmeas, D., 168, 170, 175, 176
Schwarz, B., 138, 144 skills transferability, 151
Schwarzkopf, N. Jr. (General), 212 skopos, 29, 79, 258
Schwenk, H-J., 189 skopos theory, 111
science de la traduction, 177 slang, 197, 198, 200, 201
scientific and technical genres, 48 slang expressions, 200
scientific texts, 45 Slevin, D.P., 169, 172, 174
Screen Subtitling, 125, 129, 131, 132 Śliwa, D., 333
screen translation, 45, 112, 113, 114 Słoń, A., 333
Screen Translation, 142 Smith, C.A., 172, 175
screenlogging, 263 Smith, F., 30
screen-logging, 264 s-mode (stimulus-oriented mode), 41
SDHH = Subtitling for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, s-mode vs. i-mode translation, 39
111, 115, 117 s-mode- vs. i-mode-oriented translation, 41
Seifert, B., 171, 176 Smollett, T., 101, 102
Seifert, J., 221, 223 Smykała, M., 189
self-translator, 73, 75, 82 Snell-Hornby, M., 59, 111, 118, 202, 326
semantic equivalence, 30, 35 Snopek, J., 98
semantic meaning(s), 30, 63, 65, 82 sociocognitive terminology theory, 229
semantic translation, 40 Socorro Trujillo, K., 335
semantic vs. communicative translation, 39, 41 Sokoloski, R., 153
semantic vs. pragmatic meanings, 62 Somers, H., 251, 259
semantic/formal correspondence, 45 sonnet, 203, 209
semantic/pragmatic meanings, 65 source domain(s), 214, 215, 219, 221
semantics, 19, 20, 27, 28 Sousa, C.M.P., 168, 169, 176
Senczyszyn, D., 338 South African languages, 241
sense, 19, 21, 22, 26 Southern Sotho (Sesotho), 244
sense-for-sense approach, 39 Spanish, 24, 127, 130, 142, 149, 213, 252, 302
sense-for-sense translation, 39, 40, 41, 43 Sparer, M., 181
Seo, Min-Soon, 183, 189 specialised and technical translation, 126
356 INDEX
specialised dictionaries, 227, 228 subtitling programmes, 124, 125

specialised discourse, 227, 228, 229 subtitling software, 124, 125
specialised texts, 227, 228, 229 subtitling strategies, 137, 140
specialised translation, 227, 229 subtitling strategy, 138
specialised translation dictionaries, 227, 237 Sugayama, K., 330
specialized communication, 251, 256 Sumera, A., 327, 330, 334
speech acts, 85 Sumillera, R., 102, 106, 110
speech recognition, 126 Sundström, M., 328
speech recognition software, 115 Suojanen, T., 334
speech recognition system, 125, 126 Suominen, M., 102, 110
speech recognition technology, 128 surtitling, 111, 112, 117
speech synthesis software, 126 Svartvik, J., 51
speech-to-text technology, 128 swear words, 197, 198, 199
Spekman, R., 168, 175 Swedish, 137
spelling difficulties, 295 Sweetser, E., 211, 223
Sperber, D., 30, 31, 32, 36, 38, 41, 44, 62, 63, 88, Swift, J.S., 168, 174, 176
113, 118 syllable, 244, 245, 246
Spigel, R.I., 168, 174 synonymy, 227
Sprechakttheorie, 187 syntactic categories, 284
Srivastava, R.K., 168, 176 syntactic structures, 284
St Jerome, 39 Sypnicki, J., 334, 337
St.-Pierre, P., 325 SysMedia, 124, 126, 131
Stalmaszczyk, P., 289, 327 systemic-functional linguistics, 61, 263, 264, 265
standard Arabic, 83 Szarkowska, A., 112, 113, 115, 118, 126, 131
standardization, 247, 251, 253, 254, 255, 257, 258 Szczecińska, M., 334
standardization of concepts, 254, 258 Szczęsny, A., 98, 118
standardization of terms, 258 Szeflińska, M., 334
Starren, P., 278, 289 Szeflińska-Baran, B., 339
Steen, G., 211, 222 Szeflinska-Karkowska, M., 333
Steenkamp, J.B.E.M., 169, 175 Szwed, I., xiv, 83, 88, 183, 187, 189, 338, 342
Steinberg, D.D., 21, 28 Szymanska, I., xv, 301, 339, 342
Steiner, E., 264, 266, 267, 274 Szymczak, M., 97
Steiner, G., 72, 87
Steinert, I., 326 T
Stern, L.W., 169, 175
Sterne, L., 101 T., Susanna, 110
Steurs, F., 331, 335 Tabakowska, E., 102, 110, 330
Stewart, Ph., 43 Taczalska, A., 331
Stewart, S., 32, 34, 38 Tagnin, S., 334
stimulus-oriented mode, 41 Takenouchi, H., 175
Stockwell, P., 212, 223, 244, 248 Tak-Hung Chan, L., 329
Stok, D. (translator), 51 Tanaka, Y., 332, 334
Stoop, A., 325 Tannen, D., 94
Strachey, J. (translator), 38 Tanno, D.V., 51
structures topique-focus, 203 Tansuhaj, P., 170, 176
styles, 85 Tarahumara, 283
Styles, C.W., 167, 169, 171, 174, 176 target domain, 212
subtitle preparation software, 129 target domains, 214
subtitles, 101, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, Tay, M.W.J., 106, 110
112, 113, 115, 117 Taylor, C., 140, 141, 144
subtitles for the deaf and the hard-of-hearing, 129 Taylor, Ch., 114, 118
subtitling, 103, 111, 112, 113, 115, 117, 118, 119, Taylor, J.R., 211, 223
120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, Taylor, S.R., 254, 259
130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 140, TCM = Two-Cycle Model, 277, 283, 284, 285, 286,
141, 142, 143, 144 289
subtitling for the deaf and the hard-of-hearing, 121, teaching, 340
126 teaching translation, 150, 151
subtitling freeware, 122 technical terminology, 241, 248
subtitling industry, 120, 122 technical terms, 241, 242
subtitling programme, 124, 125 technical translation, 241, 251
technology turn, 119, 123 Tolstoy, L., 102

Teich, E., 266, 275 Tomasello, M., 28
Temmerman, R., 83, 88, 228, 229, 238, 239, 326, Tomaskiewicz, T., 336
329, 331, 335 Tomaszczyk, J., 51
ten Hacken, P., xiv, 251, 256, 257, 259, 335, 339, Tomaszkiewicz, T., 112, 118, 333, 340
340, 342 Topczewska, U., 98, 118
Tennyson, A., 218, 221, 223 topic-focus divisions, 203
Tercedor Sánchez, M., 335 Tops, G.A.J., 289
term banks, 277, 278 Torres, M.H. (translator), 266, 274
term consistency, 236, 237 Tóth, Á., 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209
term list(s), 229, 230, 242, 278 Toufic, S., 144
Term Substitution module, 127 Toury, G., 111, 113, 118, 155, 163, 227, 239, 322,
termbase(s), 251, 252, 253, 258 323, 333
termes juridiques, 177, 179 traducteur, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59
terminological consistency, 252 traduction, 53, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182
terminological variant(s), 227, 229, 230, 232, 237, traduction juridique, 180, 181, 182
238 training, 340
terminological variation, 227, 228, 229, 230, 232, training for interpreters, 301, 303, 304
233, 237, 238 translating film titles, 139, 140
terminologie, 180 translation, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 91, 95, 97, 98
terminologie du droit, 181 translation and localisation technologies, 149
terminology, 241, 243, 251, 252, 253, 256, 257, 258, translation and meaning, 200
259, 277, 278, 289 translation by omission, 221
terminology list(s), 241, 242, 243 translation competence, 117, 151, 155, 163
terminology projects, 241 translation corpora, 83, 88
terminology theory, 228 translation courses, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151
Terra, G. (translator), 37 translation curricula, 147, 152
Tesar, G., 168, 174 translation curriculum, 150
Tessuto, G., 332 translation degree programmes, 152
text type(s), 82, 83, 229, 237 translation equivalent, 227, 229, 231, 232, 234, 237
texte cible, 53, 54, 56, 57 translation equivalents, 228, 231, 232, 233
texte d’arrivée, 53, 58 translation expertise, 263
texte de départ, 53 translation jobs, 149
texte source, 53, 54, 57 translation memories, 277, 278
textes juridiques, 181 Translation Memory, 127, 251, 252
Textlinguistik, 187 translation memory systems, 263
textual coherence, 199 translation memory tools, 126
textual meaning, 24 translation methods, 38
Thal, D., 93, 97 translation of Egyptian film titles, 139
Thelen, M., 2, ii, xiv, xv, 51, 61, 88, 98, 117, 259, translation of obscene language, 134
277, 278, 279, 283, 285, 289, 321, 323, 325, 326, translation of poetry, 211, 213
329, 330, 331, 332, 333, 335, 338, 339, 340, 342 translation of terms, 227
Theodosiou, M., 169, 175 translation pedagogy, 147, 150
Theoharakis, V., 167, 174 translation practice, 29
theory of translation, 152 translation problems, 159, 161, 162
Thibault, P., 141, 143 translation process, 155, 156, 157, 161, 162, 263,
Thimbault, P., 113, 117 264, 267, 268, 273, 274
think-aloud protocols, 263 translation processes, 263
Think-Aloud Protocols, 111 translation product(s), 156, 157, 158, 160
Thomas, L., 328 translation profession, 147, 151
Thorne, S.L., 19, 20, 23, 24, 27, 28 translation quality, 299
Thornton, S.J., 150, 153 translation skills, 149
Tiedemann, J., 237, 239 translation software, 116, 129, 149
Tigges, W., 32, 33, 38 translation strategies, 29, 30, 38, 61, 103, 109, 135,
Tigrinya, 137 139, 141, 193, 195, 197, 199
Tirkkonen-Condit, S., 155, 156, 159, 163, 227, 239, translation strategy, 82
327, 330, 337 translation studies, 31, 50, 62, 63, 64, 77, 89, 91, 97,
title translation, 139 111, 113, 114, 115, 117, 147, 150, 151, 152, 251
Todorov, T., 103, 110 Translation Studies, 29, 30, 40, 41, 44
Tognini-Bonelli, E., 238 translation teaching, 264
358 INDEX
translation techniques, 195, 238 V

translation theories, 29, 30
translation training programmes, 150 Vale de Gato, M. (translator), 33, 35, 38
translation types, 46 Vale, D., 267, 268, 274
translation units, 267, 273 Valencia, M. (translator), 299
translation universals, 82, 155 Van Dale Groot Woordenboek Engels-Nederlands,
translational competence, 340 281, 282, 289
translator, 340 van den Eynde, K., 325
translator education, 147, 150, 151 van der Plas, L., 237, 239
translator training, 29, 115, 147, 148, 150, 152, 264, van Doorslaer, L., 332
303 van Langendonck, W., 327
translator’s workstation, 251 van Lawick, H., 337
translatorial action, 114 van Leeuwen, R. (translator), 83, 87
translators' weaknesses, 293 van Leeuwen, T., 143
translators’ strengths, 293 van Leuven-Zwart, K., 111, 118, 326
tri-lingualism, 101, 104 van Nunen, P., 69, 72, 75, 88, 326
trust, 167, 169, 170, 172, 173, 175, 176 van Sterkenburg, P.G.J., 289
truth conditional meaning, 65 Vanallemeersch, T., 328
truth conditions, 66 Vandenberghe, C., 169, 175
Trybisz, M., 334 Vandepitte, S., xiii, 61, 338, 342
Tryuk, M., 334 variations of word order, 203
Tshivenḓa, 241, 244, 245, 246, 247 Veisbergs, A., 332
Tsujii, J., 259 Ventola, E., 118
Tsunakawa, T., 239 Venuti, L., 40, 41, 44, 89
TTR = Type Token Ratio, 233 verbal protocols, 263, 264
Turewicz, K., 222, 326 Verhaeghen, P., 87
Turkish, 49, 137 Verlaine, P., 69, 83, 203, 205, 209
Turnbull, P.W., 168, 174, 176 Vermeer, H.J., 79, 89
Turner, M., 27, 50, 211, 212, 214, 217, 219, 222, 223 vers ïambiques, 203
Turturro, J., 114 versification hongroise, 203
Two-Cycle Model of Grammar (TCM), 61, 277, 283, versification syllabo-tonique, 203
289 Viehweger, D., 187, 189
Tymoczko, M., 147, 151, 153 Vietnamese, 302
Type Token Ratio (TTR), 233 Vinay, J-P., 111, 118
typing errors, 295 Violi, P., 289
typology, 133, 136, 137, 138, 140, 142 vocational / academic dichotomy in translation, 151
typology of approximation, 45 vocational translation certificate programmes, 151
typology of communication alignment, 48 voiceover, 121
typology of translation, 45 voice-over, 111, 112, 115, 117
Tzokas, N., 167, 176 voice-to-text systems, 129
Voloshinov, V., 110
U von Flotow, L., 194, 202
Voronin, S., 327
ujęzykowienie, 93 vowel, 244, 245, 246, 247
Ujszászi, Z., 330 Vraukó, T., 331
unit of translation, 213, 222, 231 Vygotskian sociocultural theory, 23
unit of understanding (UoU), 229, 230, 232, 233, Vygotsky, L.S., 19, 24, 28
234, 238
universal features of translation, 227 W
universal subtitles, 122, 123
Universal Subtitles project, 122 Wadsworth, Y., 115, 118
UoU = Unit of Understanding, 230 Wagner, K.R., 187, 189
UoU label(s), 230, 231, 233 Walkiewicz, B., 337
Urbanek, D., 331, 334 Wałkiewicz, B., 339
Uriagereka, J., 256, 259 Wallmach, K., 334
Ursic, M.L., 168, 176 Walters, P.G.P., 168, 176
Usoniené, A., 326 Waniek Klimczak, E., 327
utterance meaning, 20 Way, C., 330
Webster, J.J., 98
Weigt, Z., 334
Weitz, B., 169, 174 Wróblewski, J., 330, 333, 339

Welham, G.F., 168, 174, 176 Wroniak, J. (translator), 95
Wermuth, C., 340 Wüster, E., 228, 238, 239
Wertheimer, R., 337
Westerhout, E., 237, 239 X
Weyers, G., 326
Wieczorek, U., 330 Xeni, E., 336
Wijnands, P., 326, 328, 332 Xhosa, 243, 246, 248
Wikipedia, 255, 259 Xitsonga, 241, 244, 245, 246, 247
Wilkinson, R., 326
Williams, J., 111, 118 Y
Williams, J.E.M., 168, 176
Williams, K., 335 Y Gamal, M., xi, xiv, 329, 336, 338, 342
Wilson, D., 30, 31, 32, 36, 38, 41, 44, 62, 63, 88, 113, Yallop, C., 274
118 Yan, Jackie Xiu, 69, 87
Wing-kwong Leung, M., 336 Yau Ka-Fei, 108, 110
Winiarska, M., 96, 98 Yeats, W.B., 220, 223
Winkelmann, A. (translator), 96
Winston, C. (translator), 223 Z
Winston, R. (translator), 223
Wiskoski, K., 184, 189 Załiwska-Okrutna, U., xiii, 62, 89, 91, 93, 95, 98,
Witczak, I., 331 337, 338, 342
Witczak-Plisiecka, I., 51, 334 Zaltman, G., 170, 175
Witte, H., 329 Zauberga, I., 328, 332
Wittgenstein, L., 21, 22, 24, 27, 28, 50, 51 Zazac, D.M., 169, 175
Włodek, A., 221, 223 Zbinden, K., 101, 102, 110
Wojtasiewicz, O., 118 Zecker, H., 59
Wold, A.H., 28 Zemeckis, R., 128
Woodsworth, J., 55, 59 Zhang, C., 167, 176
Wools, D., 331 Zhu, C., 231, 239
word by word renderings, 29, 38 Zieliński, J. (translator), 95
word-for-for translation, 158 Zigány, J., 289
word-for-word approach, 39 Zlateva, P., 222
word-for-word correspondence, 158 Źmudzki, J., 337
word-for-word translation, 39, 40, 41, 43 Zou, S., 171, 174
wordplay, 31, 36 Żuławski, J., 216, 217, 222
word-play, 96 Zwart, P.S., 171, 174
Wotjak, G., 331 Zybatow, L.N., 131
Wright, S.E., 254, 259
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TRANSLATION AND MEANING

Zuyd University of Applied Sciences

Department of English Language and Applied Linguistics

Technical editor: Marcel Thelen

Zuyd University of Applied Sciences

ISBN 978 90 801039 8-6

Translation and Meaning

Orders should be sent to:

Marcel Thelen Barbara Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk

Introduction MARCEL THELEN AND BARBARA LEWANDOWSKA-TOMASZCZYK XI

SECTION I: TRANSLATION STUDIES: PROCESS, THEORY AND PRACTICE

The author’s intentional meaning is often the translator’s will-o’-wisp

The art of conveying Relevance to the Portuguese child reader

“Word-for-word” or “sense-for-sense” translation: ruminating the age-long polemics

Approximative communication in translation

Le traducteur, médiateur ou agent de l’impérialisme culturel: relecture de l’histoire de l’un des

Etholinguistic approach to translation

SECTION II: AUDIOVISUAL TRANSLATION

Subtitling “Made in Hong Kong”, and missing heteroglossia

Action research as a methodology for audivisual translation

The technology turn in subtitling (plenary)

Towards a typology of challenges in subtitling Egyptian films

SECTION III: THE TRAINING OF TRANSLATORS / INTERPRETERS

Towards a critical translation pedagogy (plenary)

Monitoring in student translators‘ translation process

SECTION IV: TRANSLATION AND LANGUAGE FOR SPECIAL PURPOSES

The impact of communicative competence on export performance: a relationship management

La traduction et l’interpretation en milieu judiciaire ou la langue palais de justice

Übersetzungs- und bedeutungsrelevante deutsch-polnische Unterschiede in der Geschäftskom-

SECTION V: LITERARY TRANSLATION

Voice(s) in a translated literary text

Figures de construction des textes poétiques français et hongrois

When metaphors surface as metonymies: free translation in poetry

SECTION VI: LEXICOLOGY / TERMINOLOGY

Improving specialised translation dictionaries on the basis of a study of terminological

Terms in three perspectives

SECTION VII: PROBLEM SOLVING

Tracing the unfolding of metaphorical processes in translation: insights from an experimental

SECTION VIII: QUALITY MANAGEMENT

Strengths and weaknesses in literary translation: a case study approach

Interpreter training: interpreting in a health context short course – assessing interpreters’

Survey of papers included in Translation and Meaning, Parts 1 – 10

List of contributors MARCEL THELEN 341

1. The 5th International Maastricht-Łódź Duo Colloquium

2. The Maastricht Session of the 5th International Maastricht-Łódź Duo Colloquium

3. The Proceedings of the Maastricht Session

A) meaning in translation/interpreting from the point of view of:

B) meaning in the translation/interpretation of:

C) quality assessment of translation/interpreting and modes/modalities of training

D) The role of translation methods/strategies in:

Section I: Translation Studies: Process, Theory and Practice

4. General description of the papers in these proceedings

The sub-theme of Section VI is Lexicology/Terminology. It contains 3 papers. In the first paper, by

THE AUTHOR’S INTENTIONAL MEANING

“[Language] structure is a whole determined by inter-

1. John means well.

1. John isn’t rich, but he’s handsome.

9. a. John doesn’t beat his wife because he loves her.

Sentence (10) has two meanings:

10. a. The coat itself is warm.

11. a. All the umbrellas are black and white.

13. a. To hang, not possible to pardon.