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 Noureldin Abdelaal

‫اﻟﱰﺟﻤﺔ‬
Translation

‫ﺑني اﻷﻧﺠﻠﻴﺰﻳﺔ‬
between English

‫و اﻟﻌﺮﺑﻴﺔ‬
and Arabic

A Textbook for
Translation Students
and Educators
Translation between English and Arabic
Noureldin Abdelaal

Translation between
English and Arabic
A Textbook for Translation Students
and Educators
Noureldin Abdelaal
University of Nizwa
Nizwa, Oman

ISBN 978-3-030-34331-6 ISBN 978-3-030-34332-3 (eBook)

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34332-3

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2020

This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether
the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse
of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and
transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar
or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication
does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant
protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book
are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or
the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any
errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional
claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
This book is dedicated to the soul of my
father.
Acknowledgements

I offer my heartfelt thanks to my father, who spared no effort in supporting me,

and to my great mother, who has always kept me in her prayers and prayed for my
success. I am also deeply indebted to my mother who has always been immensely
supportive.
My deepest thanks go to my wife and my children for their solicitude and love.
To all who have supported me in the preparation of this book, I extend my
gratitude.

vii
Contents

1 Translational Concepts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 Definitions of Translation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Translation Unit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.3 Meaning in Translation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2 Translation Theory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.1 Stages of Translation Theories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.1.1 Linguistic Stage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.1.2 The Communicative Stage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.1.3 The Functionalist Stage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.1.4 The Ethical/Aesthetic Stage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.2 The Notion of Equivalence in Translation Theories . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.2.1 Direct and Oblique Translation (Vinay & Darbelnet,
1958/2004). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2.2.2 Van Leuven-Zwart’s Comparative-Descriptive Model
of Translation Shifts (1989). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.2.3 Overt and Covert Translations (House, 1997). . . . . . . . . . 18
2.2.4 Jakobson’s Equivalence (1959). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.2.5 Dynamic Equivalence and Formal Equivalence
(Nida, 1964). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.2.6 Communicative and Semantic Translation
(Newmark, 1981, 1988). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2.2.7 The House, Nida, and Newmark’s Theories
in a Nutshell. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
2.2.8 Form-Based and Meaning-Based Translation
(Larson, 1998). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
2.2.9 Halliday’s Typology of Equivalence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
2.2.10 Catford’s Typology of Equivalence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
2.2.11 Mona Baker’s Typology of Equivalence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
2.2.12 Koller’s Notion of Equivalence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
2.2.13 Popovič (1976) Types of Equivalence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
2.2.14 The Cognitive Approach to Translation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

ix
x Contents

2.2.15Functionalist Approach in Translation

(Non-equivalence Approach). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
2.2.16 Darwish’s Notion of Equivalence (2010). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
2.2.17 The Polysystem Theory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
3 Grammatical Problems in Translation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
3.1 Arabic Tense as a Problem in Translation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
3.2 Translating English Tenses and Aspects into Arabic
(Based on Collins COBUILD English Grammar, 2005). . . . . . . . . 74
3.3 Gender as a Problem in Translation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
3.4 Grammatical Category as a Problem in Translation . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
3.5 Syntactic Order: Foregrounding and Backgrounding
as a Problem in Translation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
3.6 Shifting (Iltifat) as a Problem in Translation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
4 Lexical and Semantic Problems in Translation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
4.1 Lexical Gaps at the Semantic Field Level
(Lack of Equivalent Problem). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
4.2 Improper Selection of Vocabulary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
4.3 Lexical Ambiguity: Polysemy and Homonymy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
4.4 Synonymy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
4.5 Problems in Translation of Rhetorical Devices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
5 Culture as a Problem in Translation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
5.1 Culturally Bound Terms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
5.2 Idioms and Fixed Expressions as a Problem in Translation . . . . . . 123
5.3 Collocations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
5.4 Strategies to Translate Culturally Bound Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
5.5 Pym’s Typology of Translation Solutions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
5.6 Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Abbreviations

SL Source language
ST Source text
TL Target language
TT Target text

xi
List of Tables

Table 2.1 Transeme and architranseme relationship (based on

van Leuven-Zwart’s comparative-descriptive model
of translation shifts, 1989).......................................................... 18
Table 2.2 Main categories of van Leuven-Zwart’s comparative model
(from van Leuven-Zwart 1989, pp. 159–169)............................ 18
Table 2.3 The gradual erosion of the notion of equivalence
in translation studies................................................................... 45
Table 2.4 Terms used in the translational action approach......................... 56
Table 5.1 The collocations of ‘bend’.......................................................... 129
Table 5.2 Typology of translation solutions (Pym, 2018, p. 45)................ 133

xiii
Translational Concepts
1

Overview

This chapter explains the main concepts related to translation. It provides theo-
retical definitions of translation. It also explains the concept of the ‘translation
unit’, and how scholars of translation disagree on identifying the unit of transla-
tion. Some scholars consider a word to be the unit of translation; others believe
that a unit of translation may be a sentence, piece of text, or culture. Moreover,
the chapter sheds light on the thorny notion of meaning in translation studies.
In particular, this chapter covers the following topics:
A. Definition of translation
B. Translation unit
C. Meaning in translation

1.1 Definitions of Translation

Translation is a controversial concept that is hotly debated. There are many

­definitions of translation that revolve around meaning, and the different notions
of equivalence. Halliday et al. (1965) describe translation as the establishment of
textual equivalents, rather than lexical or grammatical equivalents. Thus, as stated
by Halliday et al. (1965), translation is not a mere word-for-word rendition but,
rather, translation is seen as a whole text-to-text transplanting. Catford (1965,
p. 20), similar to Halliday, defines translation as ‘the replacement of textual mate-
rial in one language, i.e. the source language (SL) by equivalent textual material
in another language, i.e. target language (TL).’ House (2001) perceives translation
as a reproduction of a text in an SL in an equivalent text in a TL. Thus, Halliday
et al. (1965) see translation in terms of textual equivalence, and not word-for-word
equivalence. Widdowson (1978) sees translation from a different perspective;

© The Author(s) 2020 1

N. Abdelaal, Translation between English and Arabic,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34332-3_1
2 1 Translational Concepts

he views translation from a communicative perspective. Widdowson states that

translation should neither operate at the word level, the sentence level, the lexical
level, or the grammatical level; translation should be only at the communicative
level. As for Hatim and Munday (2004), they state that there are two distinctive
senses of translation: translation as a process, and translation as a product. They
view translation, or to use their words, the ambit of translation as: (1) the process
of transferring a ST into a TT in a specific socio-cultural context; (2) a product
which is the result of the previous step; and (3) the cognitive, linguistic, visual,
cultural and ideological phenomena that are a principal component of (1) and (2).
This definition seems have greater care for the socio-cultural aspects of translation.
Other scholars and researchers (e.g. Venuti, 2004; Ahmed, 2006) see transla-
tion as a process that not only implies conveying meaning in a TL, but that should
retain the same style and tone of a ST: the translated text should not appear to be
a translation but, rather, should appear to be an original text, wherein no translator
is visible. This definition focuses on the equivalence level between a ST and a TT;
it goes beyond lexical equivalence to include style and tone, which are difficult
to achieve. However, another perspective sees translation as reproducing a text in
one language in another TL to make it accessible to a larger audience (Ordudari,
2007). Ordudari’s definition is more concerned with the aim of translation; that
is, to reach a greater audience, which applies to many types of texts. Levý (1967)
sees translation as a process of decision making, whereby the components of this
decision are:

1. The situation: sometimes the SL expresses one lexical item using a certain item
where the TL has two equivalents for the same word. For example, a transla-
tor has to make a decision when translating the English word ‘eclipse’ because
it has two equivalents in Arabic (i.e. one is related to the moon and the other
related to the sun).
2. Instruction I: This implies defining the class of possible alternatives.
3. Instruction II: This denotes making a selection from the available class
­alternatives. This selection is context-based. For example, to translate the word
‘eclipse’ into Arabic, a translator should refer to the context to understand
whether it is a ‘lunar eclipse’ (relating to the moon), or a ‘solar eclipse’ (relat-
ing to the sun).

Levy’s (1976) view of translation is related to the process of the translation, which
sounds practical. Levy’s perspective of translation sounds comprehensive, as it
encompasses the notion of ‘equivalence’ without disregarding the role of a transla-
tor in selecting the most appropriate equivalent. Another perspective of translation
is that of Reiss (2004), who sees translation as a process of producing a text in the
TT that is functionally equivalent to the ST. However, she goes on to say that, dur-
ing the communication process, the message will be altered, perhaps by a transla-
tor’s views, or experience and knowledge. These changes can result in two types
of message changes:
1.1 Definitions of Translation 3

1. Unintentional changes: Changes may result from the differences between the
structure of a language, or from the degree of the translator’s competence.
2. Intentional changes: These changes can affect the functionality of the ST. This
kind of change occurs if the aim of the ST is rendered differently in the TT.

Reiss’s view of translation equivalence is in terms of functional equivalence.

Overall, most of the aforementioned views of translation are centred on certain
basic notions—lexical equivalence and meaning in translation; and the functional
equivalence in translation—that reflect the different approaches and theories of
translation.

Exercise

‘Translation’ has been given various definitions by a variety of scholars.

­Elaborate on this, explaining the implications behind each of these definitions.

1.2 Translation Unit

A translation unit, as defined by Manfredi (2014), is the linguistic level employed

by a translator during their act of translation. Theorists hold a variety of positions
in regard to the translation unit, depending on what they consider a translation
unit to be. For example, Vinay and Darbelnet proposed the terms ‘lexicological
unit’ or ‘unit of thought’ as a translation unit. They rejected the notion that a word
can be a unit of translation (Manfredi, 2014). Newmark (1988, pp. 66–67), on the
other hand, regards a ‘sentence’ as the best unit of translation. He justifies his view
by stating that a sentence is a unit of thought and a means presenting objects. He
adds, ‘All lengths of language can, at different moments and also simultaneously,
be used as units of translation in the course of the translation activity’ (Newmark,
1988, pp. 66–67). However, Newmark mentions that in some texts such as expres-
sive texts, a ‘word’ should be deemed as the unit of translation as it can better
convey the finest nuances. Bassnett (2005), however, states that a text should be
the unit of translation, especially in relation to literary prose texts. Strangely,
Snell-Hornby considers the notion of culture as the unit of translation (Hatim and
Munday 2004). Manfredi (2014), in line with Halliday and Matthiessen (2014),
argues that a clause is the most proper unit of translation. However, Manfredi
states that in written translations, especially literary ones, a sentence should be
considered as the unit of translation. Sentence, in this context, refers to a graph-
ological unit that begins with a capital letter and ends with a full stop. ‘Word,
in its context, can be the proper unit of translations, especially authoritative and
sacred texts such as the Holy Quran because nuances between words give different
meanings.’ In addition, faithfulness to the ST requires carrying out the translation
process at the word level, rather than at sentence level. In sum, different schol-
ars revealed different understandings and perspectives of the unit of translation.
Whatever the case may be, translating these units of translations (whether word,
4 1 Translational Concepts

sentence, clause, or culture) poses many problems, which will be discussed in due
course. However, first, we should discuss meaning in translation, as translation is a
process of conveying meaning.

Exercise

One important notion in translation theory is the ‘unit of translation’. Why

do you think that this notion is important? How does it affect the theory and
­practice of translation?

1.3 Meaning in Translation

Halliday (1992) states that a main feature of translation is that it is a process of

meaning-making and that without such creation of meaning there is no translation.
He also states that this creation of meaning is a guided activity. Halliday further
comments that, for a language theory to be related to translation, it should be con-
cerned with functional semantics. He explicates his notion of function by stating
that it does not refer to the vague sense of use; rather, it refers to ‘metafunction’.
Metafunction, as defined by Halliday, is ‘function as the fundamental organizing
concept around which all human language has evolved’ (Halliday, 1992, p. 15).
He has made it clear that his notion of functional semantics does not imply dis-
carding the formal patterns (e.g. phonological or syntactic patterns), but that these
formal patterns should keep the semantic relations in place. He states that com-
plete semantic equivalences between any two languages cannot be absolute. They
can be contingent on the contextual meaning of an item. He makes a clear deduc-
tion of the meaning of ‘equivalence of meaning’ as being ‘equivalence of func-
tion in context’ (Halliday, 1992, p. 16). Halliday recommends that, in a translation
process, target contextual equivalents should be found. A translator, then, should
select from among the variants of equivalents. A translator should also identify the
relevant context that conditions their choice in order to translate the given ‘item’ in
the most relevant way.
Halliday (1992) believes that linguistics cannot offer a ‘theory of translation
equivalence’; rather, it can offer a ‘theory of context’. Such a theory of context
that can be offered to a translator is driven by the functional notion of ‘constit-
uency’. By the use of the term ‘constituency’ (which refers to one of Halliday’s
contexts) Halliday refers to the part–whole hierarchical relationship between
grammatical constituents. Put more simply: a clause is made up of phrases,
phrases are made of words, words are made up of morphemes, and so on. Follow-
ing this model, a translator needs to move one or more levels up the scale. Hal-
liday gives an example of the morpheme ‘-er’, which can be moved to a word,
such as in the word ‘driver’. The ‘-er’ morpheme in ‘driver’, depending on context,
means either a person who works as a driver, or someone who is currently driving.
Thus, a translator should select the proper equivalent based on the meaning of this
1.3 Meaning in Translation 5

morpheme in context. It is noteworthy to highlight that, for example, the context

of a morpheme such as -er comprises the words with which it may occur.
Halliday (1992) states that any piece of discourse represents the mapping of
three simultaneous structures with three different constituents of meaning (i.e.
ideational, interpersonal and textual). Halliday recommends examining all these
meanings, including the ‘writer’s construction of his or her own subjectivity and
that of the audience, of attitude to and distance from the subject-matter and so
on’ (Halliday, 1992, p. 20). Another context mentioned by Halliday is ‘discourse
semantics’, which, for example, includes grammatical metaphor. Other contexts
are those of situation (Halliday, 1992, p. 21), and culture (Halliday, 1992, p. 23),
as one cannot decide on the meaning of a word without considering the situation
and culture as factors that contribute to meaning-making. To return to the defini-
tion of translation as a ‘guided creation of meaning’, Halliday argues that such
creation of meaning is constructed through the context of a situation, which results
from analysis of the text. Thus, such context of situation will ‘guide’ the creation
of the new translated text.
However, there are various types of meaning, and a variety of classifications
according to a number of semanticists and linguists. For example, Cruse (1997)
identified four types of lexical meaning: propositional meaning, expressive mean-
ing, presupposed meaning and evoked meaning. The term ‘propositional meaning’
is used to describe the relation between a word and its real or imaginary meaning.
For example, socks are ‘a kind of cloth worn on feet’. This kind of meaning can be
judged in terms of true or false. This meaning is referred to by other semanticists
(e.g. Palmer, 1981; Hurford et al., 2014) as ‘denotational meaning’. ‘Expressive
meaning’ refers to the speaker’s feelings or attitudes. Thus, this meaning cannot
be judged in terms of true or false. For example, ‘cruel’ and ‘unkind’ are words
that denote the meaning of disapproval of someone’s attitude: of the two words,
‘cruel’ has the stronger and most negative meaning. Some words have proposi-
tional and expressive meaning (e.g. whinge); some have expressive meaning only
(e.g. bloody); and others have propositional meaning only (e.g. book).
The third type of meaning is ‘presupposed meaning’, whereby meaning arises
from restrictions occasioned by co-occurrence. These restrictions include selec-
tional restrictions and collocational restrictions. Selectional restrictions are always
observed, with the exception of the figurative use of language. For example, the
verb ‘speak’ is expected to refer to a human being, while ‘meow’ to non-human
creatures. Collocational restrictions, on the other hand, refer to arbitrary semantic
co-occurrences. For example, a law is broken in English, whereas in Arabic it is
contradicted, not broken. The last type of meaning is the ‘evoked’ meaning, which
arises from differences in dialect and register. Propositional meaning is the only
type of meaning to fall into the true/false category.
Leech identified seven types of meaning in semantics: conceptual, associative,
affective, collocative, connotative, reflected and thematic. ‘Conceptual meaning’
is sometimes referred to as ‘denotative’, ‘designative’, ‘cognitive’, or ‘descriptive’
meaning. It is the primary meaning of a lexeme, and is based on contractiveness
6 1 Translational Concepts

and constituent structures. This meaning can be found in dictionaries—wherein

certain lexical features are identified (constituent structures), and other lexical
features are excluded (contractiveness structures)—and can be syntactically ana-
lysed. ‘Associative meaning’ refers to the individual mental understandings of
the speaker. It is subdivided into six categories: connotative, collocative, social,
affective, reflected and thematic. ‘Connotative meaning’ is the real-world meaning;
it is associated with a specific lexeme, based on the user’s experience, and it is
subjective. It includes ‘social meaning’, which differs from one person to another
depending on factors such as age, gender and so on. For example, the word
‘home’ may encompass meanings for the language user that differ from those
of another. For some, ‘home’ implies ‘love’, ‘wife’, ‘family’; for others, it may
imply ‘boredom’ and ‘monotony. ‘Affective meaning’ is the meaning that commu-
nicates the emotions of the language user. For example, ‘I am awfully sorry for
doing that’ is an expression of regret, or feeling sorrow. Intonation and voice tim-
bre can affect this kind of meaning. ‘Reflected meaning’ is the meaning that arises
from the use of word in a specific context; for example, ‘pray’ can have a v­ ariety
of meanings, depending on the context. ‘Collocative meaning’ is the meaning that
collocates with specific words; for example, ‘pretty’ and ‘handsome’ refer to the
same denotative meaning but they are used in a collocatively different manner.
As for ‘thematic meaning’, it depends on the order of words and how they affect
meaning. In other words, it depends on the theme (i.e. what is being talked about).
Transferring meaning from an ST to a TT is a complex process due to the
complicated nature of the notion of meaning, on which there is no particular
agreement. Meaning has no precise definition; Ogden and Richards (1923) listed
16 different meanings for the word ‘meaning’ itself. Meaning is an ambiguous
and fuzzy concept that lacks clear-cut understanding. Such ambiguity of mean-
ing is a characteristic of all languages (Bock, 1986). Ghazala (2008) identifies
meaning as the linguistic components: grammar, vocabulary, style and phonol-
ogy. Grammar, by turn, includes sentence, clauses, word order, tenses and such
matters. Vocabulary includes the sense relations (e.g. synonymy, antonymy and
so on), idioms, collocations, proverbs, metaphor, culture and such. Style includes
ambiguity, repetition, redundancy, nominalization, verbalization, fronting, for-
mality and so forth. Phonology includes rhyme, rhythm, assonance, alliteration
and so on. Together, these elements shape meaning. Though, in translation, gram-
mar may not be translated in a straightforward manner, it nonetheless affects the
meaning and the message conveyed (Ghazala, 2008). Hence, as Ghazala (2008)
states, only meaning—which includes grammar, style, vocabulary and pho-
nology—is translated; there are a few exceptions, however, such as in poetry,
in which prosody may be the primary aim, rather than meaning. Meaning is
regarded as the total components of words, grammar, style and sounds (Ghaz-
ala, 2008). Ghazala mentions that it is difficult to translate meaning and form
simultaneously. Ghazala’s perspective on the difficulty of preserving meaning
and form simultaneously is consistent with Larson’s (1998) perspective of trans-
lation. Quine (1959) proposed a different notion of meaning in translation. He
introduced what he called ‘empirical meaning’. Empirical meaning is defined as
1.3 Meaning in Translation 7

‘what remains when, given discourse together with all its stimulatory conditions,
we peel away the verbiage’ (Quine, 1959, p. 94). As for Cruse (1997), each word
is assumed to have canonical traits that cannot be discarded. For example, a bird
has the canonical trait of flying.
Translating such meaning from one language to another is challenging.
Nugroho (1999) argues that rendering meaning is a process that involves aspects
such as diction, grammatical structure, communication setting, and cultural con-
text of the ST. He adds that meaning in an ST should be equivalent to meaning in
a TT. In short, translation is basically about translating meaning from one SL to a
different TL. This process of transferring meaning is complicated, and many prob-
lems must be faced.

Exercises

1. According to Leech, what types of meaning describe the following words?

Provide appropriate translations for these words.
A. Girl: [+HUMAN-ADULT+FEMALE]
B. Secondhand in: (a) a second-hand car
(b) a second-hand smoker
C. Mother vs. mama
2. Meaning is an important concept in translation studies and has been defined
in different ways. Explain.
3. Explain, with examples, the seven types of meaning proposed by Leech.
4. Cruse identified three types of meaning. Explain these types, with examples.

References
Ahmed, M. F. (2006). Investigating some semantic problems in the translation of the Holy
Quran. Adab al-Rafidayn, 2(43), 61–72.
Bassnett, S. (2005). Translation studies. Vasa (3rd ed.). New York: Routledge; Taylor & Francis.
Bock, J. K. (1986). Syntactic persistence in language production. Cognitive Psychology, 18(3),
355–387. https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0285(86)90004-6.
Cruse, D. A. (1997). Lexical semantics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ghazala, H. (2008). Translation as problems and solution. Beirut: Dar El-Ilm Lilmalayin.
Halliday, M., Macintosh, A., & Strevens, P. (1965). The linguistic sciences and language teach-
ing. London: Longman Publishing House.
Halliday, M. A. K. (1992). Language theory and translation practice. Rivista Internazionale Di
Tecnica Della Traduzione, 1(1), 15–25.
Halliday, M. A. K., & Matthiessen, C. (2014). Halliday’s introduction to functional grammar
(4th ed.). New York: Routledge; Taylor & Francis. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203431269.
Hatim, B., & Munday, J. (2004). Translation: An advanced resource book. London and New
York: Routledge; Taylor & Francis.
House, J. (2001). Translation quality assessment: Linguistic description versus social evaluation.
Meta: Journal Des Traducteurs, 46(January), 243. https://doi.org/10.7202/003141ar.
Hurford, J. R., Heasley, B., & Smith, M. B. (2014). Semantics: A coursebook. Cambridge: Cam-
bridge University Press.
Larson, M. (1998). Meaning-based-translation. Oxford: University Press of America.
8 1 Translational Concepts

Levý, J. (1967). Translation as a decision process. In L. Venuti (Ed.), To honour Roman Jakobson
on the occasion of his seventieth birthday (Vol. 2, pp. 1171–1182). The Hague: Mouton.
Levy, J. (1976). Translating as a decision process. In L. Venuti (Ed.), The translation studies
reader (pp. 148–189). London: Routledge.
Manfredi, M. (2014). Translating text and context: Translation studies and systemic functional
linguistics. Volume 2: From theory to practice. In Quaderni del CeSLiC. Functional gram-
mar studies for non-native speakers of English (p. 158). Bologna: Centro di Studi Linguisti-
co-Culturali (CeSLiC). https://doi.org/10.6092/unibo/amsacta/3219.
Newmark, P. (1988). A textbook of translation. Hertfordshire: Pearson Education Limited.
Nugroho, A. B. (1999). Meaning and translation. Journal of English and Education, 2(3),
94–112.
Ogden, M., & Richards, I. A. (1923). The meaning of meaning. New York and London: Harcourt
Brace Jovanovich.
Ordudari, M. (2007). Translation procedures, strategies and methods. Translation Journal, 3(5),
781–789.
Palmer, F. (1981). Semantics: A new outline. London and New York: Cambridge University Press.
Quine, W. V. O. (1959). Translation and meaning. In R. A. Brower (Ed.), On translation. Cam-
bridge, MA: Harvard University Press (Reprinted in L. Venuti (Ed.). (2000). The translation
studies reader (pp. 94–112). London: Routledge).
Reiss, K. (2004). Type, kind and individuality of text: Decision making in translation. In L.
Venuti (Ed.), The translation studies reader (2nd ed., pp. 168–179). New York: Routledge.
Venuti, L. (2004). The translation studies reader. London and New York: Routledge.
Widdowson, H. (1978). Teaching language as communication. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Translation Theory
2

Overview

This chapter briefly explains the stages of translation theory: the linguistic stage,
the communicative stage, the functionalist stage and the ethical/aesthetic stage.
It also presents the notion of equivalence in translation theories, with reference
to the most prominent theories in translation, supported by examples.
The chapter covers the following topics:

Stages of translation theories

The notion of equivalence in translation theories
The following research works support the contents of this chapter:

1. Direct and Oblique Translation (Vinay & Darbelnet, 1958/2004)

2. 
Van Leuven-Zwart’s Comparative-descriptive Model of Translation
Shifts (1989)
3. Overt and Covert Translations (House, 1997)
4. Jakobson’s Equivalence (1959)
5. Dynamic Equivalence and Formal Equivalence (Nida, 1964)
6. Communicative and Semantic Translation (Newmark, 1981, 1988)
7. Form-Based and Meaning-based Translation (Larson, 1998)
8. Halliday’s Typology of Equivalence
9. Catford’s Typology of Equivalence (1965)
10. Mona Baker’s Typology of Equivalence (1992/2011)
11. Koller’s Notion of Equivalence
12. Popovič (1976) Types of Equivalence
13. The Cognitive Approach in Translation (Bell, 1991)
14. The Functionalist Approach
15. Non-Equivalence Approach (Skopos Theory)
16. The PolySystems Theory

© The Author(s) 2020 9

N. Abdelaal, Translation between English and Arabic,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34332-3_2
10 2 Translation Theory

2.1 Stages of Translation Theories

In his discussion of translation theory, Munday (2009) explains that translation the-
ory was controlled by the West until recent times. He adds that, in Western Europe,
the topic of word-for-word or sense-for-sense translation was the subject of heated
debate until the twentieth century. Further, Munday (2009) states that ‘translation
studies’ as a discipline did not emerge until the second half of the twentieth cen-
tury; it arose from the branches of applied comparative linguistics and modern lan-
guages. The concept of translation studies was first introduced by James Holmes as
a substitute for ‘translation science’, or ‘translatology’, in 1972. However, Newmark
(2009) favours ‘translation theory’ over ‘translation studies’. He views theory as an
important framework that should be taught to translation students, though he states
that learning a theory is not fundamental to being a good translator. Peter Newmark
(2009) identified four stages of translation theory: linguistic, communicative, func-
tionalist and ethical/aesthetic. Each stage is marked with a unique approach.

2.1.1 Linguistic Stage

Covering the period up to 1950, this stage was basically concerned with literary
texts—that is, poetry, short stories, plays, novels and autobiographies. This stage
was predominantly concerned with the discussion of the word-for-word translation
(literal), as opposed to sense-for-sense translation (natural, liberal, or idiomatic).
During this period, there was preference for sense-for-sense or contextual trans-
lation over word-for-word translation. This, as Newmark states, marks the inter-
pretive theory of translation. The most prominent work of translation theory in
this period was Essay on the Principles of Translation by Alexander Tytler (1790).
Tytler (1797, pp. 14–15), as cited in Newmark (2009), defined a good translation
as one in which ‘the merit of the original work is so completely transfused into
another language as to be as distinctly apprehended, and as strongly felt, by a
native of the country to which that language belongs, as it is by those who speak
the language of the original work’. Newmark adds that what can be inferred from
Tytler’s statement is that a good translation should completely convey the message
of the ST; it should also follow the same style and manner of the original, and
should have all the ease of the original composition (p. 23). George Steiner’s After
Babel (1975) marks the end of this linguistic stage.

2.1.2 The Communicative Stage

Beginning in around 1950, this stage marked the application of linguistics to trans-
lation studies; it mainly covered non-literary and literary texts. It was concerned
with the categorization of text registers, the participation of a range of readership
groups (from the less well-educated to the expert) and the identification of types of
procedures for translating various segments of a text.
Another Random Scribd Document
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 Astronomy - Instructor Guide
Third 2021 - Center

Prepared by: Teaching Assistant Davis

Date: July 28, 2025

Abstract 1: Practical applications and examples

Learning Objective 1: Historical development and evolution
• Interdisciplinary approaches
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Learning Objective 2: Assessment criteria and rubrics
• Literature review and discussion
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Learning Objective 3: Historical development and evolution
• Fundamental concepts and principles
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
Learning Objective 4: Interdisciplinary approaches
• Critical analysis and evaluation
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
Learning Objective 5: Key terms and definitions
• Practical applications and examples
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Practice Problem 5: Comparative analysis and synthesis
• Experimental procedures and results
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Example 6: Fundamental concepts and principles
• Comparative analysis and synthesis
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
Remember: Assessment criteria and rubrics
• Best practices and recommendations
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Remember: Fundamental concepts and principles
• Critical analysis and evaluation
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
[Figure 9: Diagram/Chart/Graph]
Practice Problem 9: Critical analysis and evaluation
• Practical applications and examples
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
[Figure 10: Diagram/Chart/Graph]
Methodology 2: Current trends and future directions
Remember: Learning outcomes and objectives
• Case studies and real-world applications
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Remember: Comparative analysis and synthesis
• Practical applications and examples
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
[Figure 12: Diagram/Chart/Graph]
Practice Problem 12: Problem-solving strategies and techniques
• Study tips and learning strategies
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Example 13: Historical development and evolution
• Case studies and real-world applications
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
[Figure 14: Diagram/Chart/Graph]
Practice Problem 14: Research findings and conclusions
• Practical applications and examples
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Practice Problem 15: Case studies and real-world applications
• Learning outcomes and objectives
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
Practice Problem 16: Learning outcomes and objectives
• Best practices and recommendations
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Definition: Assessment criteria and rubrics
• Comparative analysis and synthesis
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
Key Concept: Learning outcomes and objectives
• Statistical analysis and interpretation
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
[Figure 19: Diagram/Chart/Graph]
Definition: Current trends and future directions
• Ethical considerations and implications
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
Methodology 3: Historical development and evolution
Key Concept: Historical development and evolution
• Problem-solving strategies and techniques
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Definition: Learning outcomes and objectives
• Experimental procedures and results
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
Definition: Case studies and real-world applications
• Practical applications and examples
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Definition: Assessment criteria and rubrics
• Study tips and learning strategies
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
[Figure 24: Diagram/Chart/Graph]
Practice Problem 24: Historical development and evolution
• Learning outcomes and objectives
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Note: Study tips and learning strategies
• Current trends and future directions
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Key Concept: Assessment criteria and rubrics
• Critical analysis and evaluation
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
Practice Problem 27: Practical applications and examples
• Problem-solving strategies and techniques
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Practice Problem 28: Best practices and recommendations
• Key terms and definitions
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Example 29: Ethical considerations and implications
• Ethical considerations and implications
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Background 4: Ethical considerations and implications
Practice Problem 30: Practical applications and examples
• Study tips and learning strategies
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
Practice Problem 31: Interdisciplinary approaches
• Statistical analysis and interpretation
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
Practice Problem 32: Fundamental concepts and principles
• Ethical considerations and implications
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Example 33: Problem-solving strategies and techniques
• Assessment criteria and rubrics
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Definition: Best practices and recommendations
• Key terms and definitions
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
[Figure 35: Diagram/Chart/Graph]
Key Concept: Research findings and conclusions
• Learning outcomes and objectives
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
Important: Best practices and recommendations
• Practical applications and examples
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
[Figure 37: Diagram/Chart/Graph]
Key Concept: Study tips and learning strategies
• Best practices and recommendations
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
Definition: Literature review and discussion
• Learning outcomes and objectives
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Definition: Critical analysis and evaluation
• Statistical analysis and interpretation
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
Background 5: Key terms and definitions
Note: Ethical considerations and implications
• Study tips and learning strategies
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
Practice Problem 41: Statistical analysis and interpretation
• Experimental procedures and results
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
Note: Critical analysis and evaluation
• Interdisciplinary approaches
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Important: Practical applications and examples
• Assessment criteria and rubrics
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Important: Theoretical framework and methodology
• Comparative analysis and synthesis
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Remember: Current trends and future directions
• Practical applications and examples
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Example 46: Problem-solving strategies and techniques
• Historical development and evolution
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Practice Problem 47: Literature review and discussion
• Theoretical framework and methodology
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Note: Critical analysis and evaluation
• Best practices and recommendations
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Practice Problem 49: Study tips and learning strategies
• Interdisciplinary approaches
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
Topic 6: Key terms and definitions
Important: Key terms and definitions
• Experimental procedures and results
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
Remember: Assessment criteria and rubrics
• Key terms and definitions
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Remember: Case studies and real-world applications
• Fundamental concepts and principles
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
Remember: Research findings and conclusions
• Case studies and real-world applications
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Example 54: Fundamental concepts and principles
• Best practices and recommendations
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
[Figure 55: Diagram/Chart/Graph]
Practice Problem 55: Experimental procedures and results
• Fundamental concepts and principles
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Example 56: Critical analysis and evaluation
• Literature review and discussion
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Practice Problem 57: Critical analysis and evaluation
• Literature review and discussion
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
Remember: Ethical considerations and implications
• Case studies and real-world applications
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
Practice Problem 59: Assessment criteria and rubrics
• Study tips and learning strategies
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
References 7: Research findings and conclusions
Example 60: Interdisciplinary approaches
• Literature review and discussion
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
Example 61: Assessment criteria and rubrics
• Critical analysis and evaluation
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
Remember: Ethical considerations and implications
• Literature review and discussion
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Formula: [Mathematical expression or equation]
Key Concept: Study tips and learning strategies
• Experimental procedures and results
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
[Figure 64: Diagram/Chart/Graph]
Important: Assessment criteria and rubrics
• Study tips and learning strategies
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
[Figure 65: Diagram/Chart/Graph]
Example 65: Interdisciplinary approaches
• Interdisciplinary approaches
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
Definition: Experimental procedures and results
• Practical applications and examples
- Sub-point: Additional details and explanations
- Example: Practical application scenario
- Note: Important consideration
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