In Other Words. Third Edition.

End of Chapter Exercises

Note: There is no need to produce an analysis of meanings of words as instructed in some

exercises, nor (necessarily) to comment on particular issues, though you should feel free to
do so if you wish. The main point is to provide „translations‟ of the relevant texts and comment
on your choices where relevant.
You may undertake this task jointly with a colleague if the material is too much to handle or if
you are not a native speaker of the target language and need input from someone else on this
front.

Chapter 2: Equivalence at Word Level

1. Comment on any differences in meaning between the items in each of the following sets.
The differences may relate to expressive or evoked meaning. For instance, some items
may be register-specific or dialect-specific, others may be derogatory or neutral. If you
are not familiar with a particular word or expression, consult a good dictionary of English
before you comment on its meaning.

car, auto, automobile, motor, limousine, limo, banger, jalopy

comfortable, comfy, homely, cosy, snug (of a place)
dad, daddy, pa, papa, pop, father, pater, sire, old man

Now list all the words and expressions you can think of which are available in your target
language for car, comfortable and father. Comment on any differences in meaning
between (a) the individual items in each set, and (b) the English items above and the
items in the corresponding sets in your target language.

car, auto, - απηνθίλεην Neutral

automobile - ακάμη Neutral
For expressive options there are
diminutive and magnifying suffixes
(ακαμάθη, ακαμάξα respectively, etc.)
motor Not used for car, only for engine
limousine, limo - ιηκνπδίλα neutral
banger - ζαξάβαιν Lower tenor, derogatory (=dilapidated)
jalopy - ζαθαξάθα Lower tenor, derogatory (=dilapidated)
- ξόδα (=wheel- metonymic use Colloq. (as in Δηαζέηεη ξόδα, Θα ζε πάω
for car) κε ηε ξόδα)
comfortable, - άλεηνο, βνιηθόο, δεζηόο The standard item for comfortable is
comfy άλεηνο or βνιηθόο– the rest describe
aspects of the semantic fields of comfy,
cosy, snug (including small, tidy,
warm…)
cosy - κηθξόο, πεξηπνηεκέλνο,
βνιηθόο, άλεηνο
homely - ζπηηηθόο, βνιηθόο, άλεηνο Adj. as in homely atmosphere
snug - άλεηνο, βνιηθόο, κε ζαιπωξή There is no item, other than the neutral
(of a place) άλεηνο or βνιηθόο, that lexicalizes cosy or
snug, although there IS a word for
snugness (= ζαιπωξή)

dad, daddy, - κπακπάο Intimate

pa, papa,
pop,
father, pater - παηέξαο Neutral and formal
sire
old man - γέξνο Evoked meaning (informal), as in my old
man ( ν γέξνο κνπ)

2. Make a list of all the English verbs you can think of which have to do with speech, such
as say, suggest, complain, mumble, mutter, murmur, whisper, speak, tell and so on. Try
to group them into sets, starting with the more general ones.
Now list all the verbs of speech you can think of in your target language, starting with
the more general ones. Comment on the presence or absence of any semantic gaps in
your target language vis-à-vis English.

In Greek there is no distinction (as in English) between tell/say, so Greek speakers of

English have to learn the collocations, e.g. Say your prayers (*tell your prayers) or tell a
lie/the truth/a tale
(*say a lie/the truth/a tale) etc.

Suggest has more than one rendering, each of which has other straightforward equivalent
items
The standard rendering is πξνηείλω (make a suggestion) but suggest can also be
rendered as remind of or show (ζπκίδω, δείρλω, e.g. as in the paleness of his face shows
fear). Υπνλνώ (imply) is another rendering for suggest.
 Repeat this exercise using nouns which may come under the general heading of
PUBLICATIONS. In English, this would include book, newspaper, magazine, newsletter,
bulletin, journal, report, pamphlet, periodical, etc.

book - βηβιίν
newspaper - εθεκεξίδα
- θπιιάδα (derogatory esp. for low circulation papers)
magazine - πεξηνδηθό
journal - (επηζηεκνληθό) πεξηνδηθό
periodical - (επηζηεκνληθό) πεξηνδηθό

Πεξηνδηθό is for all three: magazine, journal and

periodical, so occasionally the adjective επηζηεκνληθόο
(scientific) modifies πεξηνδηθό to signal journal and
periodical ( it narrows down the semantic field)
newsletter - newsletter, δειηίν
bulletin - δειηίν, αλαθνηλωζέλ (formal)
report - αλαθνξά, έθζεζε, απνινγηζκόο
pamphlet, leaflet - θπιιάδην
brochure - θπιιάδην, κπξνζνύξα

3. Make a list of ten English words which you feel are particularly difficult to translate into
your target language. Comment on the source of difficulty in each case.

4. Make a list of some loan words that are used in your language, and comment on the
types of text in which such loan words tend to be used freely (for instance in
advertisements). Now consider how you might translate the main text in Figure 3, an
advertisement by Trados which appeared in various magazines in 2001, and what loss of
propositional, expressive and/or evoked meaning might be involved if you cannot render
Dinero using a similar loan word in your target text.

Loan items
θιηπάξω reach my limits, get English loan, flip - youth tongue –
exhausted It could be used in advertising e.g. for a
(neutral: εμνπζελώλνκαη) person‟s reaction to intensive work schedule,
to suggest some „modern‟ perception of
exhaustion
κπξέθθαζη Breakfast English loan, it connotes elevated style – it can
be used (in translation) instead of the neutral
item, πξωηλό, to suggest a show-off intention,
or deliberate non-integration. It is closer to
πξόγεπκα, in terms of evoked meaning, than to
πξωηλό – advertising, theatre translation
κπεζαιήο Dependable, trustworthy Turkish loan.
person (has a positive Μπεζαιήο could be used in advertising, I guess
prosody, expressive). esp. in relation to traditional cultural values
The neutral item is
αμηόπηζηνο.
κνπξληάξεο Womanizer, skirt-chaser, Turkish loan.
loose-liver
κπεξκπάληεο, Womanizer, skirt-chaser, Italian loan
loose-liver Μπεξκπάληεο is less offensive than
κνπξληάξεο.

Μνπξληάξεο is unlikely to appear in

advertising. It carries expressive meaning and
would be good for literary texts.
Their diminutives mitigate offensiveness.

Figure 3: Trados advertisement

Έηζη θαη κεηαθξάζεηε ηε ιέμε “ρξήκα” ζε “money” δελ ρξεηάδεηαη λα δώζεηε άιια
“money” γηα λα ηελ μαλακεηαθξάζεηε.

(Back-translation: Once you translate the word “ρξήκα” into “money” you won‟t have to
 spend more “money” to translate it again).

The pair ρξήκα-money could possibly be used in the Greek translation, because the item
money in Greek could connote interest in profit-making and capitalist values.

Alternatively, the pair ελέξγεηα-energy could be used to suggest that, for Trados, tracing
the target language item is as simple as tracing a link between members of obvious
source-target item pairs. It may also suggest that Trados can save the translator even the
minimum energy one needs to render “ελέξγεηα” into “energy” :

Έηζη θαη κεηαθξάζεηε ηε ιέμε “ελέξγεηα” ζε “energy” δελ ρξεηάδεηαη λα δηαζέζεηε άιιo
“energy” γηα λα ηελ μαλακεηαθξάζεηε .

(Back-translation: Once you translate the word “ελέξγεηα” into “energy” you won‟t have to
spend more “energy” to translate it again.

5. Make a list of three English affixes which systematically produce forms that have no direct
equivalents in your target language. Suggest suitable paraphrases for each affix.

6. Make a list of all the English words you can think of that end in –ism or –ist (such as
racism/racist, sexism/sexist, ageism/ageist, extremism/extremist, fanaticism/fanaticist).
Comment on what these words have in common and on the propositional and expressive
meanings of the suffix. Now attempt to translate the screen shot in Figure 4, from a video
released by the Sizism Awareness Campaign
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOxbi53J5SU.

Figure 4. Screen shot from Sizism Awareness Campaign Video

H πξνθαηάιεςε κε ηηο ζσκαηηθέο δηαζηάζεηο είλαη ε κόλε

θνηλσληθά απνδεθηή θαη κε-ζπλεηδεηνπνηεκέλε
κνξθή θαηαπίεζεο ζε όιν ηνλ θόζκν.
 (Back-translation:
Prejudice with bodily size is the only
socially accepted and unacknowledged
form of oppression all over the world)

Racism Ραηζηζκόο
Sexism ΢εμηζκόο
Extremist Εμηξεκηζκόο
Fundamentalism Φνληακεληαιηζκόο
Fanaticism Φαλαηηζκόο
Feminism Φεκηληζκόο
Ageism ?
Sizism ?
Terrorism Σξνκνθξαηία

7. Produce two translations in your target language of the following extract from Stephen
Hawking‟s A Brief History of Time (1988:1-2). One translation should aim at giving the
target reader a straightforward account of the contents of the text. In producing the
second translation, assume that Professor Hawking, or his publisher, has authorized you
to use whatever strategies are necessary to ensure that the reader‟s attention is captured
in these opening passages.

A well-known scientist (some say it was Bertrand Russell) once gave a public lecture
on astronomy. He described how the earth orbits around the sun and how the sun, in
turn, orbits around the center of a vast collection of stars called our galaxy. At the end
of the lecture, a little old lady at the back of the room got up and said: „What you have
told us is rubbish. The world is really a flat plate supported on the back of a giant
tortoise.‟ The scientist gave a superior smile before replying, „What is the tortoise
standing on?‟ „You‟re very clever, young man, very clever,‟ said the old lady. „But it‟s
turtles all the way down!‟
Most people would find the picture of our universe as an infinite tower of
tortoises rather ridiculous, but why do we think we know better? What do we know
about the universe, and how do we know it? Where did the universe come from, and
where is it going? Did the universe have a beginning, and if so, what happened before
then? What is the nature of time? Will it ever come to an end? Recent breakthroughs
in physics, made possible in part by fantastic new technologies, suggest answers to
some of these longstanding questions. Someday these answers may seem as
obvious to us as the earth orbiting the sun – or perhaps as ridiculous as a tower of
 tortoises. Only time (whatever that may be) will tell.

Comment on the different strategies used in each translation.

Α straightforward account Edited text

Έλαο γλσζηόο επηζηήκνλαο 1 Κάποηε, έλαο γλσζηόο επηζηήκνλαο
(θάπνηνη λένε όηη ήηαλ ν Μπέξλαξλη 2 (θάπνηνη ιζσςπίζονηαι όηη ήηαλ ν Μπέξλαξλη
Ράζει) έδσζε κάποηε κηα δηάιεμε Ράζει) έδσζε κηα δηάιεμε ζρεηηθά κε
ζρεηηθά κε αζηξνλνκία. Πεξηέγξαθε 3 αζηξνλνκία. Πεξηέγξαθε πώο
πώο η γη πεπιζηπέθεηαι γύξσ πεπιζηπέθεηαι η γη γύξσ από ηνλ ήιην θαη
από ηνλ ήιην θαη πώο ν ήιηνο 4 πώο ν ήιηνο πεξηζηξέθεηαη γύξσ από ην
πεξηζηξέθεηαη γύξσ από ην θέληξν 5 θέληξν κηαο απέξαληεο ζςγκένηπωζηρ
κηαο απέξαληεο ζςλλογήρ αζηεξηώλ, πνπ νλνκάδοςμε γαιαμία. ΢ην
αζηεξηώλ, πνπ νλνκάδεηαι γαιαμία 6 ηέινο ηεο δηάιεμεο, κηα θπξηνύια από ην
μαρ. ΢ην ηέινο ηεο δηάιεμεο, κηα 7 βάζνο ηεο αίζνπζαο ζεθώζεθε να
θπξηνύια ζην ηέινο ηεο αίζνπζαο 8 διαμαπηςπηθεί: «Όια απηά είλαη
ζεθώζεθε και είπε: «Όια απηά απλούμπερ» είπε. «Ο θόζκνο είλαη
είλαη ζκοςπίδια» είπε. «Ο θόζκνο [ ] πιάηο θαη ζηεξίδεηαη ζην θαβνύθη κηαο
είλαη επίπεδο πιάηο θαη ζηεξίδεηαη γηγάληηαο ρειώλαο». Ο επηζηήκνλαο
ζην θαβνύθη κηαο γηγάληηαο ρακνγέιαζε κε ζπγθαηάβαζε. «Καη πνύ
ρειώλαο». Ο επηζηήκνλαο παηάεη ε ρειώλα;» ξώηεζε. «Είζηε πνιύ
ρακνγέιαζε κε ζπγθαηάβαζε. «Καη έμππλνο, λεαξέ κνπ» είπε ε θπξία. «Αιιά
πνύ επάλσ ζηέθεηαη ε ρειώλα;». έρεη ρειώλεο κέρξη θάησ, ηε κηα πάλσ ζηελ
«Είζηε πνιύ έμππλνο, λεαξέ κνπ» άιιε».
είπε ε θπξία. «Αιιά έρεη ρειώλεο
κέρξη θάησ, ηε κηα πάλσ ζηελ 9
άιιε».
Οη πεξηζζόηεξνη άλζξσπνη ζα
έβξηζθαλ ηελ εηθόλα ηνπ Οη πεξηζζόηεξνη άλζξσπνη ζα ζεσξνύζαλ [ ]
ζύκπαληόο καο σο αηέιεησηνπ γελοία ηελ ζύιιεςε ηνπ ζύκπαληνο σο
πύξγνπ κε ρειώλεο μάλλον γεινία, 10 παλύςεινπ πύξγνπ από ρειώλεο. Αιιά,
αιιά, πώο είκαζηε ζίγνπξνη όηη 11 πώο είκαζηε ζίγνπξνη όηη ε δηθή καο άπνςε
εκείο μέξνπκε θαιύηεξα; Ση είλαη θαιύηεξε; Ση γλσξίδνπκε γηα ην ζύκπαλ
γλσξίδνπκε γηα ην ζύκπαλ θαη πώρ θαη πώρ θεμελιώνεηαι αςηή η γνώζη; Από
ηο ξέποςμε; Από πνπ πξνήιζε ηο 12 πνπ πξνήιζε [ ] θαη πνπ θαηεπζύλεηαη; Πνηα
ζύμπαν θαη πξνο ηα πνπ είλαη ε θύζε ηνπ ρξόλνπ; Θα ηειεηώζεη
θαηεπζύλεηαη; Είρε ην ζύκπαλ θάπνηε; Πξόζθαηεο εμειίμεηο ζηε θπζηθή,
θάπνηα αξρή, θαη αλ λαη, ηη ζπλέβε 13 πνπ πξαγκαηνπνηήζεθαλ ελ κέξεη κε ηε
 πξηλ από ηόηε; Πνηα είλαη ε θύζε ζπκκεηνρή πποηγμένων λέσλ ηερλνινγηώλ,
ηνπ ρξόλνπ; Θα ηειεηώζεη θάπνηε; δίλνπλ απαληήζεηο ζε θάπνηα από απηά ηα
Πξόζθαηεο επηηπρίεο ζηε θπζηθή, 14 γλσζηά εξσηήκαηα. Κάπνηα κέξα, απηέο νη
πνπ πξαγκαηνπνηήζεθαλ ελ κέξεη απαληήζεηο κπνξεί λα είλαη ηόζν
κε ηε ζπκκεηνρή θανηαζηικών αςηονόηηερ όζν ην όηη ε γε γπξίδεη γύξσ
λέσλ ηερλνινγηώλ, δίλνπλ από ηνλ ήιην – ή ηόζν γεινίεο όζν ν πύξγνο
απαληήζεηο ζε θάπνηα από απηά ηα από ρειώλεο. Μόλν ν ρξόλνο ζα δείμεη – όηι
παιηά εξσηήκαηα. Κάπνηα κέξα, κι αν είναι αςηόρ.
απηέο νη απαληήζεηο κπνξεί λα είλαη
ηόζν θανεπέρ όζν ην όηη ε γε
γπξίδεη γύξσ από ηνλ ήιην – ή ηόζν
γεινίεο όζν ν πύξγνο από ρειώλεο.
Μόλν ν ρξόλνο (όηι κι αν είναι
αςηόρ) ζα δείμεη

Some of the shifts highlighted: formality is renegotiated in terms of active-passive shifts and
more formal lexical items which may be assumed to conform to generic conventions (and
balance the interpersonal distance created by some positive politeness shifts).
Expressiveness and collocational meaning adjusted.

1. x κάποηε> Κάποηε, x Preposing the time adverbial

2. θάπνηνη λένε > θάπνηνη The latter verb of saying is more formal and
ιζσςπίζονηαι highlights that speaker may not agree with the
proposition
3. η γη SV>VS (Greek is a free word order language)
πεπιζηπέθεηαι>πεπιζηπέθεηαι η γη

4. ζςλλογήρ The first option assumes deliberate collecting, in

αζηεξηώλ>ζςγκένηπωζηρ αζηεξηώλ the second version the event is assumed to be
irrespective of one‟s intention
5. πνπ νλνκάδεηαι γαιαμία μαρ> πνπ Passive>active voice
νλνκάδοςμε γαιαμία

6. ζεθώζεθε και είπε> ζεθώζεθε να The latter options reveals the illocutionary potential
διαμαπηςπηθεί of the verb of saying (protested)

7. είλαη ζκοςπίδια>είλαη απλούμπερ Colloq. : the lady is assumed to be overreacting

8. επίπεδο πηάην> [ ] πηάην Flat is omitted because it is part of the meaning of
plate
9. μάλλον γεινία> [ ] γεινία Certainty raised (occasionally occurring with
positive politeness languages)
10. πώο ηο ξέποςμε; >πώο Formal rendering - passive
θεμελιώνεηαι αςηή η γνώζη;
11. Από πνπ πξνήιζε ηο ζύμπαν> Ellipsis favoured, co-reference IS established, no
Από πνπ πξνήιζε [ ] need for recurrence
12. θανηαζηικών λέσλ ηερλνινγηώλ> Non-expressive item favoured
πποηγμένων λέσλ ηερλνινγηώλ
13. απαληήζεηο …θανεπέρ > More appropriate collocation
απαληήζεηο …αςηονόηηερ

14. S (όηι κι αν είναι αςηόρ) V> SV S-V continuity ensured/preferred by postposing the
- όηη θη αλ είλαη απηόο parenthetical information