CHAPTER 8

THE OTHER TRANSLATION PROCEDURES

While translation methods relate to whole texts, translation procedures are used for
sentences and the smaller units of language. We shall now discuss the other procedures,
whose use always depends on a variety of contextual factors.

TRANSFERENCE
Transference (emprunt, loan word, transcription) is the process of transferring a SL
word to a TL text as a translation procedure.
decor, ambiance,
coup d'etat, detente, coup, attentat,
laissez-faire
sans
'last but not least'

The following are normally transferred:

names of all living (except the Pope and one or two royals) and most dead people;
geographical and topographical names including newly independent countries such as (le) Zaire, Malawi,
unless they already have recognized translations (see Naturalization below);
names of periodicals and newspapers;
titles of as yet untranslated literary works, plays, films;
names of private companies and institutions; names of public or nationalized institutions, unless
they have recognized translations;
street names, addresses, etc. (rue Thaibaut; 'in the Rue Thaibaut').

In regional novels and essays (and advertisements, e.g., gites), cultural words are often transferred to give
local color, to attract the reader, to give a sense of intimacy between the text and the reader - sometimes
the sound or the evoked image appears attractive. These same words have to be finally translated in
nonliterary texts (e.g. on agriculture, housing) if they are likely to remain in the TL culture and/or the target
language.

The argument in favour of transference is that it shows respect for the SL

country's culture. The argument against it is that it is the translator's job to
translate, to explain.

NATURALIZATION
This procedure succeeds transference and adapts the SL word first to the normal
pronunciation, then- to the normal morphology (word-forms) of the TL, e.g.
Edimbourgh, humeur, redingote, thatcherisme. Note, for German, Performanz,
attraktiv, Eskalation.

CULTURAL EQUIVALENT
This is an approximate translation where a SL cultural word is translated by a TL
cultural word; thus
baccalaureat is translated as '(the French) "A" level'
Abitur (Matura) as '(the German/Austrian) "A" level';
Palais Bourbon as '(the French) Westminster';
Montecitorio as '(the Italian) Westminster';
charcuterie - 'delicatessen' (now English 'deli');
notaire - 'solicitor'

Occasionally, they may be purely functionally, hardly descriptively, equivalents, e.g.,

le cyclisme, 'cricket', 'baseball';
'tea break', cafe-pause;
carte d'identite, 'car licence'

'He met her in the pub' -_II I' a retrouve'e dans le cafe.
vingt metres derriere lui- 'twenty yards behind him'

FUNCTIONAL EQUIVALENT
This common procedure, applied to cultural words, requires the use of a culture free word, sometimes
with a new specific term; it therefore neutralizes or generalizes the SL word; and sometimes adds a
particular thus:
baccalaureat - 'French secondary school leaving exam';
'Roget' – dictionnaire ideologique anglais.

DESCRIPTIVE EQUIVALENT
In translation, description sometimes has to be weighed against function.
Machete
 the description is a 'Latin American broad, heavy instrument',
 the function is 'cutting or aggression';
 description and function are combined in'knife'.

Samurai
 the Japanese aristocracy from the eleventh to the nineteenth century
 its function was 'to provide officers and administrators'.

Description and function are essential elements in explanation and therefore in

translation. In translation discussion, function used to be neglected; now it tends to
be overplayed.

SYNONYMY
Use where a precise equivalent may or may not exist
But unnecessary use of synonyms is a mark of many poor translations.

THROUGH-TRANSLATION
The literal translation of common collocations, names of organizations, the components of compounds (e.g.
'superman', Ubermensch) and perhaps phrases

UNESCO, UNRRA, FAO) or French FIT (International Federation of Translators), but more often switch in
various languages (ILO, BIT(F), IAO (G); WHO, QMS (F), WGO (G); NATO, OTAN (F),
NATO(G)).

Normally, through-translations should be used only when they are already recognized terms.
RECOGNIZED TRANSLATION
You should normally use the official or the generally accepted translation of any
institutional term. If appropriate, you can gloss it and, in doing so, indirectly show
your disagreement with this official version.

'employers' and workers' joint management'

COMPENSATION
This is said to occur when loss of meaning, sound-effect, metaphor or pragmatic
effect in one part of a sentence is compensated in another part, or in a contiguous
(adjacent) sentence.

COMPONENTIAL ANALYSIS
This is the splitting up of a lexical unit into its sense components, often one-to-two,
-three or -four translations.

REDUCTION AND EXPANSION

atteintes inflammatoires et infectieuses, 'inflammations and infections';
science linguistique (etc.), 'linguistics'.
cheveux egaux, 'evenly cut hair'

CHAPTER 9
TRANSLATION AND CULTURE

DEFINITIONS
Culture is the way of life and its manifestations that are peculiar to a
community that uses a particular language as its means of expression. More
specifically, I distinguish 'cultural' from 'universal' and 'personal' language. 'Die',
'live', 'star', 'swim' and even almost virtually ubiquitous artefacts like 'mirror' and
'table' are universals - usually there is no translation problem there.
'Monsoon', 'steppe', 'dacha', 'tagliatelle' are cultural words - there will be a translation problem unless
there is cultural overlap between the source and the target language (and its readership).
Universal words such as 'breakfast', 'embrace', 'pile' often cover the universal function, but not the cultural
description of the referent. And if I express myself in a personal way - 'you're weaving (creating
conversation) as usual', 'his "underlife" (personal qualities and private life) is evident in that poem',
'he's a monologger' (never finishes the sentence) - I use personal, not immediately
social, language, what is often called idiolect, and there is normally a translation
problem.
CULTURAL CATEGORIES
However, in this chapter I shall be discussing the translation of 'foreign' cultural
words in the narrow sense. Adapting Nida, I shall categorize them and offer some
typical examples:
(1) Ecology
Flora, fauna, winds, plains, hills: 'honeysuckle', 'downs', 'sirocco', 'tundra',
'pampas', tabuleiros (low plateau), 'plateau', selva (tropical rain forest),
'savanna', 'paddy field'
(2) Material culture (artefacts)
(a) Food: 'zabaglione', 'sake', Kaiserschmanen
(b) Clothes: 'anorak', kanga (Africa), sarong (South Seas), dhoti (India)
(c) Houses and towns: kampong, bourg, bourgade, 'chalet', 'low-rise', 'tower'
(d) Transport: 'bike', 'rickshaw', 'Moulton', cabriolet, 'tilbury', caleche
(3) Social culture - work and leisure
ajah, amah, condottiere, biwa, sithar, raga, 'reggae', 'rock'
(4) Organizations, customs, activities, procedures, concepts
(a) Political and administrative
(b) Religious: dharma, karma, 'temple'
(c) Artistic
(5) Gestures and habits

TWO TRANSLATION PROCEDURES

 transference
 componential analysis

*the translator of a cultural word, which is always less context-bound than ordinary language, has to bear
in mind both the motivation and the cultural specialist (in relation to the text's topic) and linguistic level
of the readership.

TRANSLATION CRITICISM

PLAN OF CRITICISM
1. A brief analysis of the SL text stressing its intention and its functional aspects
2. The translator’s interpretation of the SL text’s purpose, his translation method and the translation’s
likely readership
3. A selective but representative detailed comparison of the translation with the original
4. An evaluation of the translation
a. In the translator’s terms
b. In the critic’s terms

5. (Where appropriate) an assessment of the likely place of the translation in the target language
culture or discipline