Transposition and Modulation

+ other techniques
Translation I 2nd module
 Transposition

This is the process where parts of speech change their sequence when they are
translated (blue ball becomes boule bleue in French). It is in a sense a shift of word
class. Grammatical structures are often different in different languages. He likes
swimming translates as Er schwimmt gern in German. Transposition is often used
between English and Spanish because of the preferred position of the verb in the
sentence: English often has the verb near the beginning of a sentence; Spanish can
have it closer to the end. This requires that the translator knows that it is possible
to replace a word category in the target language without altering the meaning of
the source text, for example: English Hand knitted (noun + participle) becomes
Spanish Tejido a mano (participle + adverbial phrase).

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Transposition in Spanish translation occurs frequently because of the
discrepancy in the position of the verb in the English and Spanish
sentences: the verb in the English sentence appears near the beginning
of the sentence while the verb in the Spanish sentence appears near
the end of the sentence. However, it is easier to transpose from English
to Spanish than vice versa because the Spanish word order is more
flexible than the English word order. In order to test the success of the
transposition in Spanish translation, the translator must test the
finished with a native speaker of the language.

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sh/ultimate-guide/process/transposition.htm
Modulation
Modulation consists of using a phrase that is different in the source and target
languages to convey the same idea: Te lo dejo means literally I leave it to you but
translates better as You can have it. It changes the semantics and shifts the point of
view of the source language. Through modulation, the translator generates a change
in the point of view of the message without altering meaning and without
generating a sense of awkwardness in the reader of the target text. It is often used
within the same language. The expressions es fácil de entender (it is easy to
understand) and no es complicado de entender (it is not complicated to understand)
are examples of modulation. Although both convey the same meaning, it is easy to
understand simply conveys "easiness" whereas it is not complicated to understand
implies a previous assumption of difficulty that we are denying by asserting it is not
complicated to understand. This type of change of point of view in a message is
what makes a reader say: "Yes, this is exactly how we say it in our language".

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Review of other Translation techniques
Borrowing
This means taking words straight into another language. Borrowed terms often pass into
general usage, for example in the fields of technology ("software") and culture ("punk").
Borrowing can be for different reasons, with the examples below being taken from usage
rather than translated texts:

•the target language has no (generally used) equivalent. For example, the first man-made
satellites were Soviet, so for a time they were known in English as "sputniks".
•the source language word sounds "better" (more specific, fashionable, exotic or just
accepted), even though it can be translated. For example, Spanish is full or terms like
"soft[ware]", and Spanish accountants talk of "overheads", even though these terms can
be translated into Spanish. 
•to retain some "feel" of the source language. For example, from a recent issue of The
Guardian newspaper: "Madrileños are surprisingly unworldly."
2. Calque
This is a literal translation at phrase level. Sometimes calques work, sometimes they don't. You
often see them in specialized, internationalized fields such as quality assurance (aseguramiento de
calidad, assurance qualité, Qualitätssicherung...).

3. Literal Translation
Just what it says - "El equipo está trabajando para acabar el informe" - "The team is working to
finish the report". Again, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. For example, the Spanish
sentence above could not be translated into French or German in the same way - you would have
to use technique no. 4...

4. Transposition
parts of speech change their sequence when they are translated
 
5. Modulation
using a phrase that is different in the source and target languages to convey the same idea
 
6. Reformulation (sometimes known as équivalence)
Here you have to express something in a completely different way, for example when translating idioms or,
even harder, advertising slogans. The process is creative, but not always easy. Would you have given the name
Sonrisas y lágrimas to the film The Sound of Music in Spanish?

7. Adaptation
Here something specific to the source language culture is expressed in a totally different way that is familiar
or appropriate to the target language culture. Sometimes it is valid, and sometimes it is problematic, to say
the least. Should a restaurant menu in a Spanish tourist resort translate "pincho" as "kebab" in English?
Should a French text talking about Belgian jokes be translated into English as talking about Irish jokes (always
assuming it should be translated at all)? We will return to these problems of referentiality below. 
 
8. Compensation
Another model describes a technique known as compensation. This is a rather amorphous term, but in
general terms it can be used where something cannot be translated from source to target language, and the
meaning that is lost in the immediate translation is expressed somewhere else in the TT. Fawcett defines it as:
"...making good in one part of the text something that could not be translated in another". One example
given by Fawcett is the problem of translating nuances of formality from languages which use forms such as
tu and usted (tu/vous, du/Sie, etc.) into English which only has 'you', and expresses degrees of formality in
different ways. If you want to read more, look at Fawcett 1997:31-33.
Exercises
1.-Select the translation technique used in the following translations.

A.- Original Language: “Samuel likes to eat sandwich” 

Target Language:  “Samuel le gusta comer sandwich”
a. - Borrowing    .    b. - Transposition.    c. - Modulation.

B. - Original Language: “In High school there are many teenagers”

Target Language:    “En la alta escuela alli son muchos adolescentes”
a. - Modulation.    b. - Literal Translation.    c. - Borrowing.

C.-Original Language: “I am seventeen”

Target Language:  “Tengo 17”
a. - Literal Translation.    b. – Compensation.    c. - Transposition.

D.-Original Language: “The second most important city in the country”

Target Language:  “La segunda ciudad en importancia”
a. - Compensation.     b. - Transposition.     c. - Borrowing.
E. - Original Language: “You do a lot of senseless stuff to remain young”
Target Language:  “Haces muchas cosas sin sentido para no envejecer”
a. - Compensation.    b. - Transposition.     c. - Modulation.

F. - Original Language: “The basketball diaries”

Target Language: “Diario de un rebelde”
a. - Equivalence    b. - Reformulation.    c. - Lexical calque

G. - Original Language: “I want to eat pumpkin”

Target Language:  “Quiero Comer Auyama”
a. - Adaptation.     b. - Compensation.     c. – Modulation.

H.-Original Language: “To look for knots in a bulrush”

Target Language:  “Buscarle tres pies al gato”
a.- Reformulation.    b.-Borrowing.    c.- Compensation.

I.- Original Language: “In many cases companies profit from the research grants” 
Target Language: “Muchas empresas sacan provecho de las subvenciones para la investigacion”
a.- Reduction or omission.    b. - Literal translation.     c.- Adaptation
2.- Translate the following words or phases into Spanish using the
translation techniques indicated into the parenthesis.
a.- Creative world________________________________(Literal Translation)

b.- It is easy___________________________________(Negative Modulation)

c.- Get away____________________________________(Reformulation)

d.-By the way_______________________________________ (Reduction)

e.- Teen Wolf_______________________________(Equivalence or

Reformulation)

f.-Planting of soil__________________________________ (Transposition)

3. - Translate into Spanish using the techniques you consider appropriated and name
it.

a. - “The agricultural engineering is a branch of agriculture dealing with agricultural

production and soil” 
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________
b.- “The Agronomist can work in different points in the soil”
_____________________________________________________________
c.-The Hacienda is a large estate or plantation in Spanish-speaking countries.
_____________________________________________________________d. – The
Crop is the process to cultivate plants or agricultural produce, such as grain, vegetables,
or fruit,  
_______________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
4.- Translate Into Spanish the following words using in the appropriated way the
dictionary.