CONTEXT RETENTION

. translation and editing of text: Context retention

2. I. Principles of Equivalence

3. 1.1 Vinay and Darbelnet and their definition of equivalence in translation

 viewed equivalence-oriented translation as a procedure which 'replicates the same

situation as in the original, whilst using completely different wording'

 They also suggest that, if this procedure is applied during the translation process, it can
maintain the stylistic impact of the SL text in the TL text.

 Equivalence is therefore the ideal method when the translator has to deal with proverbs,
idioms, clichés, nominal or adjectival phrases and the onomatopoeia of animal sounds.

4.  With regard to equivalent expressions between language pairs, Vinay and Darbelnet
claim that they are acceptable as long as they are listed in a bilingual dictionary as 'full
equivalents'.

 They conclude by saying that 'the need for creating equivalences arises from the
situation, and it is in the situation of the SL text that translators have to look for a solution'.

 Indeed, they argue that even if the semantic equivalent of an expression in the SL text is
quoted in a dictionary or a glossary, it is not enough, and it does not guarantee a successful
translation.

Jakobson and the concept of equivalence in difference: introduced the notion of

'equivalence in difference'. Roman Jakobson's study of equivalence gave newimpetus to the
theoretical analysis of translation sincehe introduced the notion of 'equivalence in
difference'. On the basis of his semiotic approach to language and his aphorism 'there is no
signatum without signum', he suggests three kinds of translation:  Intralingual (within one
language, i.e. rewording or paraphrase)  Interlingual (between two languages) 
Intersemiotic (between sign systems)

Jakobson claims that, in the case of interlingual translation, the translator makes use of
synonyms in order to get the ST message across. This means that in interlingual translations
there is no full equivalence between code units.  According to his theory, 'translation
involves two equivalent messages in two different codes' Jakobson goes on to say that from
a grammatical point of view languages may differ from one another to a greater or lesser
degree, but this does not mean that a translation cannot be possible, in other words, that
the translator may face the problem of not finding a translation equivalent.

He acknowledges that 'whenever there is deficiency, terminology may be qualified and

amplified by loanwords or loan-translations, neologisms or semantic shifts, and finally, by
circumlocutions. Jakobson provides a number of examples by comparing English and
Russian language structures and explains that in such cases where there is no a literal
equivalent for a particular ST word or sentence, then it is up to the translator to choose the
most suitable way to render it in the TT.

 The role of the translator as the person who decides how to carry out the translation is
emphasized in both theories. Both Vinay and Darbelnet as well as Jakobson conceive the
translation task as something which can always be carried out from one language to
another, regardless of the cultural or grammatical differences between ST and TT.

Nida and Taber: Formal correspondence and dynamic equivalence

 Nida argued that there are two different types of equivalence, namely: 1. formal
equivalence—which in the second edition by Nida and Taber (1982) is referred to as formal
correspondence 'focuses attention on the message itself, in both form and content 2.
dynamic equivalence. --- is based upon 'the principle of equivalent effect' .

Formal correspondence consists of a TL item which represents the closest equivalent of a SL

word or phrase. Nida and Taber make it clear that there are not always formal equivalents
between language pairs. They therefore suggest that these formal equivalents should be
used wherever possible if the translation aims at achieving formal rather than dynamic
equivalence. The use of formal equivalents might at times have serious implications in the
TT since the translation will not be easily understood by the target audience.

 Dynamic equivalence is defined as a translation principle according to which a translator

seeks to translate the meaning of the original in such a way that the TL wording will trigger
the same impact on the TC audience as the original wording did upon the ST audience.

They argue that 'Frequently, the form of the original text is changed; but as long as the
change follows the rules of back transformation in the source language, of contextual
consistency in the transfer, and of transformation in the receptor language, the message is
preserved and the translation is faithful

Catford and the introduction of translation shifts

 Catford's approach to translation equivalence clearly differs from that adopted by Nida
since Catford had a preference for a more linguistic-based approach to translation and this
approach is based on the linguistic work of Firth and Halliday.

 His main contribution in the field of translation theory is the introduction of the concepts
of types and shifts of translation.

12. Catford proposed very broad types of translation in terms of three criteria:

1. The extent of translation (full translation vs partial translation);

2. The grammatical rank at which the translation equivalence is established (rank-bound

translation vs. unbounded translation);

3. The levels of language involved in translation (total translation vs. restricted translation).

rank-bound translation - an equivalent is sought in the TL for each word, or for each
morpheme encountered in the ST. unbounded translation - equivalences are not tied to a
particular rank, and we may additionally find equivalences at sentence, clause and other
levels. Catford finds five of these ranks or levels in both English and French, while in the
Caucasian language Kabardian there are apparently only four.  Thus, a formal
correspondence could be said to exist between English and French if relations between
ranks have approximately the same configuration in both languages, as Catford claims they
do.

14. Catford argues that there are two main types of translation shifts, namely : 1. level
shifts, where the SL item at one linguistic level (e.g. grammar) has a TL equivalent at a
different level (e.g. lexis), and 2. category shifts which are divided into four types: a.
Structure-shifts, which involve a grammatical change between the structure of the ST and
that of the TT; b. Class-shifts, when a SL item is translated with a TL item which belongs to a
different grammatical class, i.e. a verb may be translated with a noun; c. Unit-shifts, which
involve changes in rank; d. Intra-system shifts, which occur when 'SL and TL possess systems
which approximately correspond formally as to their constitution, but when translation
involves selection of a non- corresponding term in the TL system, For instance, when the SL
singular becomes a TL plural.

15. 1.5 House and the elaboration of overt and covert translation

 House (1977) is in favour of semantic and pragmatic equivalence and argues that ST and
TT should match one another in function. House suggests that it is possible to characterize
the function of a text by determining the situational dimensions of the ST.
 In fact, according to her theory, every text is in itself is placed within a particular situation
which has to be correctly identified and taken into account by the translator. After the ST
analysis, House is in a position to evaluate a translation; if the ST and the TT differ
substantially on situational features, then they are not functionally equivalent, and the
translation is not of a high quality.

16.  Central to House's discussion is the concept of overt and covert translations. 1. In an
overt translation the TT audience is not directly addressed and there is therefore no need at
all to attempt to recreate a 'second original' since an overt translation 'must overtly be a
translation' 1. By covert translation, on the other hand, is meant the production of a text
which is functionally equivalent to the ST. House also argues that in this type of translation
the ST 'is not specifically addressed to a TC audience

17. 1.6 Baker's approach to translation equivalence She distinguishes between: 1.

Equivalence that can appear at word level and above word level, when translating from one
language into another. Baker acknowledges that, in a bottom-up approach to translation,
equivalence at word level is the first element to be taken into consideration by the
translator. 2. Grammatical equivalence, when referring to the diversity of grammatical
categories across languages. She notes that grammatical rules may vary across languages
and this may pose some problems in terms of finding a direct correspondence in the TL.

18. 3. Textual equivalence, when referring to the equivalence between a SL text and a TL
text in terms of information and cohesion. Texture is a very important feature in translation
since it provides useful guidelines for the comprehension and analysis of the ST which can
help the translator in his or her attempt to produce a cohesive and coherent text for the TC
audience in a specific context 4. Pragmatic equivalence, when referring to implicatures and
strategies of avoidance during the translation process. Implicature is not about what is
explicitly said but what is implied. Therefore, the translator needs to work out implied
meanings in translation in order to get the ST message across.

19. II. Back Translation

20. A "back-translation" is a translation of a translated text back into the language of the
original text, made without reference to the original text.  Comparison of a back-
translation with the original text is sometimes used as a check on the accuracy of the
original translation, much as the accuracy of a mathematical operation is sometimes
checked by reversing the operation. But the results of such reverse- translation operations,
while useful as approximate checks, are not always precisely reliable.
21.  Back-translation must in general be less accurate than back-calculation because
linguistic symbols (words) are often ambiguous, whereas mathematical symbols are
intentionally unequivocal.  In the context of machine translation, a back- translation is also
called a "round-trip translation."  When translations are produced of material used in
medical clinical trials, such as informed-consent forms, a back-translation is often required
by the ethics committee or institutional review board.

22.  When a historic document survives only in translation, the original having been lost,
researchers sometimes undertake back-translation in an effort to reconstruct the original
text.  when historians suspect that a document is actually a translation from another
language, back-translation into that hypothetical original language can provide supporting
evidence by showing that such characteristics as idioms, puns, peculiar grammatical
structures, etc., are in fact derived from the original language

23. III. Fidelity Vs. Transparency

24. FIDELITY TRANSPARENCY Faithfulness is the extent to which a translation accurately

renders the meaning of the source text, without distortion Transparency is the extent to
which a translation appears to a native speaker of the target language to have originally
been written in that language, and conforms to its grammar, syntax and idiom Fidelity (or
faithfulness) and transparency, dual ideals in translation, are often at odds. A 17th-century
French critic coined the phrase "les belles infidèles" to suggest that translations, like
women, can be either faithful or beautiful, but not both.

25.  A translation that meets the first criterion is said to be "faithful"; a translation that
meets the second, "idiomatic". The two qualities are not necessarily mutually exclusive. The
criteria for judging the fidelity of a translation vary according to the subject, type and use of
the text, its literary qualities, its social or historical context, etc.  The criteria for judging
the transparency of a translation appear more straightforward: an unidiomatic translation
"sounds wrong"; and, in the extreme case of word-for-word translations generated by many
machine-translation systems, often results in patent nonsense.

26. IV. Equivalence

27. The question of fidelity vs. transparency has also been formulated in terms of,
respectively, "formal equivalence" and "dynamic [or functional] equivalence". The latter
expressions are associated with the translator Eugene Nida and were originally coined to
describe ways of translating the Bible, but the two approaches are applicable to any
translation.
28. Formal equivalence Dynamic equivalence  corresponds to "metaphrase  "literal"
translation” ) attempts to render the text literally, or "word for word" (the latter
expression being itself a word-for-word rendering of the classical Latin verbum pro verbo)
— if necessary, at the expense of features natural to the target language  corresponds to
"paraphrase" "functional equivalence"  conveys the essential thoughts expressed in a
source text — if necessary, at the expense of literality, original sememe and word order, the
source text's active vs. passive voice, etc.

29. V. Understanding Jargon

30.  By definition, it is the language, esp. the vocabulary, peculiar to a particular trade,
profession, or group: medical jargon.  It is also unintelligible or meaningless talk or writing;
gibberish. Some may say, it is specialized language concerned with a particular subject,
culture, or profession or the terminology or idiom of a particular activity or group. Jargon
is the collective name for words that only make sense to certain people. Jargon is ‘the
technical vocabulary of a profession or group’. The word is used as a form of criticism when
such terms are used unnecessarily for communication outside a group.

31.  Jargon can be a useful form of communication between members of the same group.
It acts as a ‘shorthand’ which eliminates the need for lengthy explanations. The most
important thing about jargon is that it should only be used when communicating with
people in the same group. Some items of jargon eventually pass into common use because
they seem to fill a need. Academic study has its own jargon too, depending upon the
subject in question. Terms such as hegemony (political philosophy) discourse analysis
(linguistics) and objective correlative (literary studies) would not be recognizable by an
everyday reader, though they might be understood by someone studying the same subject.
 Whatever the jargon of your own discipline, it should be used with precision, accuracy,
and above all restraint.

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