A book

1. A Textbook of
Translation
For my
daughter
Clare
Peter Newmark
Centre for
Translation and
Language Studies
University of Surrey

2. X
CONT
ENTS
1
Words
and
context
The
translat
ion of
dialect
You
and the
comput
er 195
Functio
n and
descrip
tion
The
translat
ion of
epony
ms and
acrony
ms 198
Familia
r
alternat
ive
terms
201
When
and
how to
improv
e a text
204
Colloc
ations
212
The
translat
ion of
proper
names
214
The t
ranslati
on of
puns
217
The
translat
ion of
weight
s,
measur
es,
quantit
ies and
currenc
ies 217
Ambig
uity
218
1
2
Intr
odu
cto
ry
not
e
229
Tex
t1
'Po
we
r
nee
ds
cle
ar
eye
s',
Th
e
Ec
on
om
ist
23

3. 1
Te
xt
2
'U
pp
er
gas
tro
int
est
ina
l
en
do
sco
py'
,
Br
itis
h
M
edi
cal
Jo
ur
na
l
23
4
Te
xt
3
Br
ide
sh
ea
d
Re
vis
ite
d
(W
au
gh)
23
8
Te
xt
4
'U
ne
cer
tai
ne
ide
e
de
la
Fr
an
ce'
(D
e
Ga
ull
e)
24
2
Te
xt
5
'Le
Pa
rti
So
cia
list
e'
(S
ou
rce
un
kn
ow
n)
24
5
Te
xt
6
Al
a
Re
ch
er
ch
e
du
Te
m
ps
Pe
rd
u
(Pr
ous
t)
24
8
Te
xt
7
'Pr
ese
nta
tio
n
d'u
nca
sde
tox
opl
as
mo
se',
flo
rJe
a«
x
Me
dic
al
25
0
Te
xt
8
'Di
aly
seb
eha
ndl
un
g
bei
ak
ute
m
Ni
ere
nv
ers
age
n',
De
uts
ch
e
Medizinisc
he
Wochensc
hrift
254
Te
xt
9
Al
ex
an
de
r
vo
n
Hu
mb
ol
dt
{H
em
)
25
9
Te
xt
10
L'
Ad
or
ati
on
(B
ore
l)
26
4
Te
xt
11
Di
e
Bl
as
se

4. A
nn
a
(B
oll
)
26
7
Te
xt
12
La
So
ci
et
e
Fr
an
ca
is
e
(D
up
eu
x)
27
2
Te
xt
13
'Z
u
m
W
oh
lea
lle
r',
5C
A
Li
4
27
7
G
bs
sa
ry
28
2
A
bb
re
vi
at
io
ns
28
6
A
ut
ho
r's
P
ub
lis
he
d
P
ap
er
s
28
7
M
ed
ic
al
te
r
m
in
ol
o
gy
2
8
8
Bi
bl
io
gr
a
p
hy
2
8
9
N
a
m
e
in
de
x
29
1
Su
bj
ec
t
in
de
x
29
2
I
fh
T
e
sp
eci
al
ter
ms
I
us
e
are
ex
pla
ine
d
in
the
tex
t
an
d
in
the
gl
os
sar
y.
I
I
T
h
I
x

5. Xll
PREF
ACE
a
s
M
u
A
g
W
r
T
h
PA
R
T
P
ri
nc
ip
le
s
2
2
2
2
2
6
2
2
8
1
9

6. I
war
mly
than
k
Paul
ine
Ne
wm
ark,
Eliz
abet
h
Ne
wm
ark
and
Mat
the
w
Ne
wm
ark,
who
m I
hav
e
cons
ulte
d so
freq
uent
ly;
Vau
gha
n
Jam
es,
who
has
help
ed
so
muc
h at
ever
y
stag
e;
Vera
Nort
h,
who
cop
ed
s
o
T
he
a
u

7. CHAPTER
1
Introduction
My purpose in this book is to offer a course in translation principles
and methodology for final-year-degree and post-graduate classes as
well as for autodidacts and home learners. Further, I have in mind
that I am addressing non-English as well as English students, and I
will provide some appropriate English texts and examples to work
on.
I shall assume that you, the reader, are learning to translate into
your language of habitual use, since that is the only way you can
translate naturally, accurately and with maximum effectiveness. In
fact, however, most translators do translate out of their own language
('service' translation) and contribute greatly to many people's hilarity
in the process.
Further, I shall assume that you have a degree-level 'reading and
comprehension' ability in one foreign language and a particular
interest in one of the three main areas of translation: (a) science and
technology, (b) social, economic and/or political topics and
institutions, and (c) literary and philosophical works. Normally, only
(a) and (b) provide a salary; (c) is free-lance work.
Bear in mind, however, that knowing a foreign language and
your subject is not as important as being sensitive to language and
being competent to write your own language dexterously, clearly,
economically and resourcefully. Experience with translationese, for
example,
Strauss' Opus 29 stands under the star of Bierbaum who in his
lyric poems attempted to tie in the echoes of the German love
poetry with the folk song and with the impressionistic changes.
Opus 29 steht im Zeichen Bierbaums, der als Lyriker versuchte,
Nachklange des Mirmesangs mil dent Volkslied und mil
impressiontstischen Wendungen zu verkntipfen.
(Record sleeve note)
shows that a good writer can often avoid not only errors of usage but
mistakes of fact and language simply by applying his common sense
and showing sensitivity to language.
Being good at writing has little to do with being good at
'essays', or at 'English' as you may have learned it at school. It means
being able to use the

8. 3

9. 4
PRINC
IPLES
INTRODU
CTION
5
a
p
F
i
A
I
W
A
text
may
ther
efor
e be
pull
ed
in
ten
diff
eren
t
dire
ctio
ns,
as
foll
ows
:
29 T
h
e
i
n
d
i
v
i
d
u
a
l
s
t
y
l
e
o
r
i

10. d
i
o
l
e
c
t
o
f
t
h
e
S
L
a
u
t
h
o
r
.
W
h
e
n
s
h
o
u
l
d
i
t
b
e
(
a
)
p
r
e
s
e
r
v
e
d
,
(
b
)
n
o
r
m
a
l
i
s
e
d
?
30 T
h
e
c
o
n
v
e
n
t
i
o
n
a
l
g
r
a
m
m
a
t
i
c
a
l
a
n
d
i
n
g
l
e
x
i
c
a
l
u
s
a
g
e
t
h
e
f
o
r
t
h
i
s
t
y
p
e
o
f
t
e
x
t
,
d
e
p
e
n
d
o
n
t
o
p
i
c
a
n
d
t
h
e
s
i
t
u
a
t
i
o
n
.
31 C
o
n
t
e
n
t
i
t
e
m
s
r
e
f
e
r
r
i
n
g
s
p
e
c
i
f
i
c
a
l
l
y
t
o
t
h
e
S
L
,
o
r
t
h
i
r
d
l
a
n
g
u
a
g
e
(
i
.
e
.
n
o
t
S
L
o
r
T
L
)
c
u
l
t
u
r
e
s
.
32 T
h
e
t
y
p
i
c
a
l
f
o
r
m
a
t
o
f
a
t
e
x
t
i
n
a
b
o
o
k
,
p
e
r
i
o
d
i
c
a
l
,
.
,
a
s
i
n
f
l
u
e
n
c
e
d
b
y
t
r
a
d
i
t
i
o
n
a
t
t
h
e
n
e
w
s
p
a
p
e
r
,
t
i
m
e
.
33 T
h
e
e
t
c
e
x
p

11. e
c
t
a
t
i
o
n
s
o
f
t
h
e
p
u
t
a
t
i
v
e
r
e
a
d
e
r
s
h
i
p
,
b
e
a
r
i
n
g
i
n
m
i
n
d
t
h
e
i
r
e
s
t
i
m
a
t
e
d
k
n
o
w
l
e
d
g
e
o
f
t
h
e
t
o
p
i
c
a
n
d
t
h
e
o
f
s
t
y
l
e
t
h
e
o
f
l
a
n
g
u
a
g
e
t
h
e
y
u
s
e
,
e
x
p
r
e
s
s
e
d
i
n
t
e
r
m
s
l
a
r
g
e
s
t
c
o
m
m
o
n
f
a
c
t
o
r
,
s
i
n
c
e
o
n
e
s
h
o
u
l
d
n
o
t
t
r
a
n
s
l
a
t
e
,
d
o
w
n
f
o
r
(
,
o
r
3
u
p
)
t
o
t
h
e
r
e
a
d
e
r
s
h
i
p
.
(
6
)
,
(
7
)
(
8
)
A
s
2
,
a
n
d
4
r
e
s
p
e
c
t
i
v
e
l
y
,
b
u
t
r
e
l
a
t
e
d
t
o
t
h
e
T
L
.
(
9
)
W
h
a
t
i
s
b
e
i
n
g
d
e
s
c
r
i
b
e
d
o
r
r
e
p
o
r
t
e
d
,
a
s
c
e
r
t
a
i
n
e
d
o
r
v
e
r
i
f
i
e
d
(
t
h
e
r
e
f
e
r
e
n
t
i
a
l
trut
h),
wh
ere
pos
sibl

12. e
ind
epe
nde
ntl
y
of
the
SL
tex
t
and
the
exp
ect
ati
ons
of
t
hub
s
ject
ive
, or
ma
y
be
soc
ial
and
cul
tur
al,
inv
olv
ing
the
tra
nsl
ato
r's
'gr
ou
p
loy
alt
y
fac
tor'
,
wh
ich
ma
y
refl
ect
the
nat
ion
al,
pol
itic
al,
eth
nic
,
reli
gio
us,
soc
ial
cla
ss,
sex
,
etc.
ass
um
pti
ons
of
the
tra
nsl
ato
r.
N
F
i
W
h

13. 6
PRINC
IPLES
INTROD
UCTION
7
s
a
D
a
T
r h
W
ilst
acc
epti
ng
that
a
few
goo
d
tran
slat
ors
(lik
ea
few
goo
d
acto
rs)
are
'

14. n
a
o
n
l
s
o
w
r
a
p
p
e
d
u
p
i
n
p
o
i
n
t
l
e
s
s
a
r
g
u
m
e
n
t
s
a
b
o
u
t
i
t
s
f
e
a
s
i
b
i
l
i
t
y
,
t
h
a
t
i
t
w
o
u
l
d
b
e
n
e
f
i
t
s
t
u
d
e
n
t
s
o
f
t
r
a
n
s
l
a
t
i
o
n
a
n
d
w
o
u
l
d
b
e
t
r
a
n
s
l
a
t
o
r
s
t
o
f
o
l
l
o
w
a
c
o
u
r
s
e
b
a
s
e
d
o
n
a
w
i
d
e
v
a
r
i
e
t
y
o
f
t
e
x
t
s
a
n
d
e
x
a
m
p
A
s
f
o

15. T
r
g
T
h
A
s

16. 8
PRINC
IPLES
INTROD
UCTION
9
d
i
Qu'
une
mal
lle
saut
at
parf
ois
a ce
tiss
u de
perf
ecti
on
auq
uel
Bri
gitt
e
Pia
n
trav
aill
ait
ave
c
une
vigi
lan
ce
de
tout
es
les
sec
ond
es,
c'ila
it
dan
s
I'or
dre
el
elk
s'en
con
sola
it
pou
rvu
que
cefu
t
san
s
tem
oin.
(
m
That
a
stitc
h
sho
uld
som
etim
es
brea
k in
that
tissu
e of
perf
ecti
on
at
whi
ch
Brig
itte
Pian
was
wor
king
with
a
vigil
ance
to
whi
ch
she
dev
oted
ever
y
seco

17. nd,
this
was
in
orde
r
and
she
con
sole
d
hers
elf
for
it
pro
vide
d it
was
with
out
witn
ess.
w
d
e
:
If
Brig
itte
Pian
som
etim
es
drop
ped
a
stitc
h in
the
admi
rable
mate
rial
she
was
wor
king
on
with
such
unre
mitti
ng
vigil
ance
, it
was
in
the
natu
ral
orde
r of
thin
gs
and
she
foun
d
cons
olati
on
for
it,
prov
ided
she
had
no
witn
esse
s.
A
t
r
a
n
s
l
a
t
o
r
,
p
e
r
h
a
p
s
m
o
r
e
t
h
a
n
a
n
y
o
t
h
e
r
p
r
a
c
t
i
t
i
o
n
e
r
o
f
a
p
r
o
f
e
s
s
i
o
n
,
i
s
c
o
n
t
i
n
u
a
l
l
y
f
a
c
e
d
w
i
t
h
c
h
o
i
c
e
s
,
f
o
r
i
n
s
t
a
n
c
e
w
h
e
n
h
e
h
a
s
t
o
t
r
a
n
s
l
a
t
e
w
o
r
d
s
d
e
n
o
t
i
T
h
i
t

18. n
t
Y
o
e
r
s
e
t
z
u
n
g
s
w
i
s
s
e
n
s
c
h
a
f
t
i
n
G
e
r
m
a
n
s
p
e
a
k
i
n
g
c
o
u
n
t
r
i
e
s
,
'
T
r
a
n
s
l
a
t
i
o
n
S
t
u
d
i
e
s
'
i
n
t
h
e
N
e
t
h
e
r
l
a
n
d
s
a
n
d
B
e
l
g
i
u
m
)
;
t
h
i
s
b
o
o
k
i
s
i
n
t
e
n
d
e
d
t
o
i
n
t
r
o
d
u
c
e
i
t
t
o
y
o
u
.
I
n
a
n
a
r
r
o
w
s
e
n
s
e
,
t
r
a
n
s
l
a
t
i
o
n
t
h
e
o
r
y
i
s
c
o
n
c
e
r
n
I
e
T
r
35 E
W 34 T
I
T 36 x
n
r

19. 10
PRINC
IPLES
pu
ult
bli
to
cit
cal
y,
cul
rec
ate
ipe
the
s,
nu
lett
mb
ers
er
,
or
rep
the
ort
lan
s,
gu
bu
ag
sin
es
ess
of
for
tra
ms
nsl
,
ati
do
on
cu
s
me
on
nts
an
,
y
etc
lar
.
ge
Th
sca
ese
le.
no
3
w
7
3
vas 39 8
T
tly 40 h
T
out
r
I
nu
n
mb
er
s
bo
u
ok
m
s,
,
so
it
i
is
t
dif
fic

20. a
T
Y
p
u
r
p
o
s
e
s
:
f
i
r
s
t
,
t
o
u
n
d
e
r
s
t
a
n
d
w
h
a
t
i
t
i
s
a
b
o
u
t
;
s
e
c
o
n
d
,
t
o
a
n
a
l
y
s
e
i
t
f
r
o
m
a
'
t
r
a
n
s
l
a
t
o
r
'
s
'
p
o
i
n

21. t
U
n
C
l
II

22. 12
PRINC
IPLES
THE ANALYSIS
OF A TEXT
13
t
r
I
A
W
h
A
g
A
U
r
a
t
h
e
r
t
h
a
n
h
o
w
t
o
a
d
a
p
t
t
h
e
m
i
n
o
r
d
e
r
t
o
p

23. e
r
s
u
a
d
e
a
g
a
i
n
,
o
r
h
e
i
n
s
t
r
u
c
t
m
a
y
a
n
e
w
T
L
r
e
a
d
e
r
s
h
i
p
A
n
d
b
e
t
r
a
n
s
l
a
t
i
n
g
a
m
a
n
u
a
l
o
f
i
n
s
t
r
u
c
t
i
o
n
s
f
o
r
a
l
e
s
s
e
d
u
c
a
t
e
d
r
e
a
d
e
r
s
h
i
p
,
s
o
t
h
a
t
t
h
e
e
x
p
l
a
n
a
t
i
o
n
i
n
h
i
s
t
r
a
n
s
l
a
t
i
o
n
m
a
y
b
e
muc
h
larg
er
than
the
'repr
odu
ctio
n'.
TE
XTS
TY
LES
Foll
owi
ng
Nid
a,
we
disti
ngui
sh
four
type
s of
(lite
rary
or
nonliter
ary)
text:
41 N
a
r
r
a
t
i
v
e
:
a
d
y
n
a
m
i
c
s
e
q
u
e
n
c
e
o
f
e
v
e
n
t
s
,
w
h
e
r
e
t
h
e
e
m
p
h
a
s
i
s
i
42 s
D
e
b
43 s
D
i

24. 4
4
O
n
t
h
e
b
a
s
i
s
o
f
t
h
e
v
a
r
i
e
t
y
o
f
l
a
n
g
u
a
g
e
u
s
e
d
i
n
t
h
e
o
r
i
g
i
n
a
l
,
y
o
u
a
t
t
e
m
p
t
t
o
c
h
a
r
a
c
t
e
r
i
s
e
t
h
e
r
e
ader
ship
of
the
origi
nal
and
then
of
the
trans
latio
n,
and
to
deci
de
how
muc
h
atten
tion
you
have
to
pay
to
the
TL
read
ers.
(In
the
case
of a
poe
m or
any
wor
k
writt
en
prim
arily
as
selfexpr
essi
on
the
amo
unt
is, I
sugg
est,
very
little
.)
You
may
try
to
asse
ss
the
level
of
educ
atio
n,
the
class
, age
and
sex
of
the
read
ershi
p if
thes
e
are'
mar
ked'.
T
he
aver
age
text
for
trans
latio
n

25. 14
PRINC
IPLES
THE ANALYSIS
OF A TEXT
/5
y or
diffi
cult
y:
Sim
ple
'The
floor
of
the
sea
is
S
cove
red
C
with
A
rows
L
of
E
big
mou
S
ntai
ns
T
and
Strevens. I
deep
Officialese
pits.'
Pop
Official
ular
Formal
'The
Neutral
floor
Informal
of
Colloquial
the
ocea
ns is
cove
A
Simi red
larly, with
I
grea
sugg t
est
mou
the
ntai
follo n
wing chai
scale ns
of
and
gene deep
ralit tren
S
T
Y
L
I
S
T
I
C

26. ches
.'
Neu
tral
(usi
ng
basi
c
voca
bula
ry
only
)
'A
grav
eyar
d of
ani
mal
and
plan
t
rem
ains
lies
buri
ed
in
the
eart
h's
crust
.'
Edu
cate
d
'The
lates
t
step
in
verte
brate
evol
utio
n
was
the
toolmaki
ng
man.
'
Tec
hnic
al
'Crit
ical
path
anal
ysis
is an
oper
atio
nal
rese
arch
tech
niqu
e
used
in
man
agemen
t.'
Opa
quel
y
tech
nica
l
(co
mpr
ehen
sible
only
to
an
expe
rt)
'Neu
rami
nic
acid
in
the
form
of its
alkal
istabl
e
meth
oxy
deriv
ative
was
first
isola
ted
by
Klen
k
from
gang
liosi
des.'
(Lett
er to
Natu
re,
Nov
emb
er
1955
,
quot
ed in
Quir
k,
1984
.)
I
sugg
est
the
follo
wing
scale
of
emot
ional
tone:
Inte
nse
(prof
use
use
of
inten
sifer
s)
('hot'
)
'Abs
olute
ly
won
derfu
l. . .
ideal
ly
dark
bass
...
enor
mou
sly
succ
essfu
l. . .
supe
rbly
contr
olled
'
War
m
'Gen
tle,
soft,
heart
war
ming
melo
dies'
F
a
c
t
u
a
l
(
'
c
o
o
l
'
)
'
S
i
g
n
i
f
i
c
a
n
t
,
e
x
c
e
p
t
i
o
n
a
l
l
y
w
e
l
l
j
u
d
g
e
d
,
p
e
r
s
o
n
a
b
l
e
,
p
r
e
s
e
n
t
a
b
l
e
,
c
o
n
s
i
d
e
r
a
b
l
e
'
Und
erst
ate
men
t
('col
d')
'Not
..
undi
gnifi
ed'
N
o
t
e
t
h
a
t
t
h
e
r
e
i
s
s
o
m
e
c
o
r
r
e
l
a
t
i
o
n
b
e
t
w
e
e
n
f
o
r
m
a
l
i
t
y
a
n
d
e
m
o
t
i
o
n
a
l
t
o
n
e
,
i
n
t
h
a
t

27. a
n
o
f
f
i
c
i
a
l
s
t
y
l
e
i
s
l
i
k
e
l
y
t
o
b
e
f
a
c
t
u
a
l
,
w
h
i
l
s
t
c
o
l
l
o
q
u
i
a
l
i
s
m
s
a
n
d
s
l
a
n
g
t
e
n
d
t
o
b
e
e
m
o
t
i
v
e
.
I
n
t
r
a
n
s
l
a
t
i
n
g
,
t
h
e
e
f
f
u
s
i
v
e
n
e
s
s
o
f
I
t
a
l
i
a
n
,
t
h
e
f
o
r
m
a
l
i
t
y
a
n
d
s
t
i
f
f
n
e
s
s
o
f
G
e
r
m
a
n
a
n
d
R
u
s
s
i
an,
the
impe
rson
ality
of
Fren
ch,
the
infor
malit
y
and
unde
rstat
ement
of
Engl
ish
have
to be
take
n
into
acco
unt
in
certa
in
type
s of
corre
spon
ding
pass
age.
ATT
ITU
DE
In
pass
ages
mak
ing
eval
uati
ons
and
reco
mm
enda
tions
,
you
have
to
asse
ss
the
stan
dard
s of
the
writ
er. If
he
writ
es
'goo
d',
'fair'
,
'aver
age',
'com
pete
nt',
'ade
quat
e',
'satis
fact
ory',
'mid
dlin
g',
'poo
r',
'exc
ellen
t
'S
i
S
Y

28. 16
PRINC
IPLES
THE ANALYSIS
OF A TEXT
17
T
Y
T
h
Bro
F
ma
tran
slato
r's
poin
t of
vie
w
this
is
the
only
theo
retic
al
disti
ncti
on
b

29. e
t
a
c
e
s
o
u
r
c
e
s
(
e
.
g
.
p
o
l
y
s
e
m
y
,
w
o
r
d
p
l
a
y
,
s
o
u
n
d
e
f
f
e
c
t
,
m
e
t
r
e
,
r
h
y
m
e
)
e
x
p
e
n
d
e
d
o
n
a
t
e
x
t
,
t
h
e
m
o
r
e
d
iffic
ult it
is
likel
y to
be
to
trans
late,
and
the
mor
e
wort
hwh
ile.
A
satis
fact
ory
restr
icted
trans
latio
n of
any
poe
m is
alwa
ys
poss
ible,
thou
gh it
may
wor
k as
an
intro
duct
ion
to
and
an
inter
pret
atio
n of
rath
er
than
as a
recr
eatio
n of
the
origi
nal.
TH
E
LAS
T
RE
ADI
NG
Fina
lly,
you
shou
ld
note
the
cultu
ral
aspe
ct of
the
SL
text;
you
shou
ld
unde
rline
all
neol
ogis
ms,
meta
phor
I
I
I
n

30. 18
PRINC
IPLES
i
t
s
p
r
a
c
t
i
c
e
.
A
p
r
o
f
e
s
s
i
o
n
a
l
t
r
a
n
s
l
a
t
o
r
w
o
u
l
d
n
o
t
u
s
u
T
o

31. C
H
A
P
T
E
R
INTRODUCTION
P
r
o
c
e
s
s
My description of translating procedure is operational. It begins with
choosing a method of approach. Secondly, when we are translating,
we translate with four levels more or less consciously in mind: (1) the
SL text level, the level of language, where we begin and which we
continually (but not continuously) go back to; (2) the referential level,
the level of objects and events, real or imaginary, which we
progressively have to visualise and build up, and which is an essential
part, first of the comprehension, then of the reproduction process; (3)
the cohesive level, which is more general, and grammatical, which
traces the train of thought, the feeling tone (positive or negative) and
the various presuppositions of the SL text. This level encompasses
both comprehension and reproduction: it presents an overall picture,
to which we may have to adjust the language level; (4) the level of
naturalness, of common language appropriate to the writer or the
speaker in a certain situation. Again, this is a generalised level, which
constitutes a band within which the translator works, unless he is
translating an authoritative text, in which case he sees the level of
naturalness as a point of reference to determine the deviation - if any between the author's level he is pursuing and the natural level. This
level of naturalness is concerned only with reproduction. Finally,
there is the revision procedure, which may be concentrated or
staggered according to the situation. This procedure constitutes at
least half of the complete process.
o
f
THE RELATION OF TRANSLATING TO TRANSLATION
THEORY
3
T
h
e
T
r
a
n
s
l
a
t
i
n
g
The purpose of this theory of translating is to be of service to the
translator. It is designed to be a continuous link between translation
theory and practice; it derives irom a translation theory framework
which proposes that when the main purpose of the text is to convey
information and convince the reader, a method of translation must be
'natural'; if, on the other hand, the text is an expression of the peculiar
innovative (or cliched) and authoritative style of an author (whether it
be a lyric, a
19

32. 20
PRINC
IPLES
THE PROCESS OF
TRANSLATING
21
T
r
p
a
T
n
h
I
s
f
l
a
practice
t
i
A functional theor
o
of language
n
T
A
i
s
f
o
r
d
i
s
c
u
s
s
i
o
n
.
B
o
t
h
i
n
i
t
s
r
e
f
e

33. r
e
n
t
i
a
l
a
n
d
i
t
s
p
r
a
g
m
a
t
i
c
a
s
p
e
c
t
,
i
t
h
a
s
a
n
i
n
v
a
r
i
a
n
t
f
a
c
t
o
r
,
b
u
t
t
h
i
s
f
a
c
t
o
r
c
a
n
n
o
t
b
e
p
r
e
c
i
s
e
l
y
d
e
f
i
n
e
d
s
i
n
c
e
i
t
d
e
p
e
n
d
s
o
n
t
h
e
r
e
q
u
i
r
e
m
e
n
t
s
a
n
d
c
o
n
s
t
r
a
i
n
t
s
e
x
e
r
c
i
s
e
d
b
y
o
n
e
o
r
i
g
i
n
a
l
o
n
o
n
e
t
r
a
n
s
l
ation.
All
one
can do
is to
produ
ce an
argum
ent
with
transl
ation
exam
ples to
suppo
rt it.
Nothi
ng is
purely
object
ive or
subjec
tive.
There
are no
castiron
rules.
Every
thing
is
more
or
less.
There
is an
assum
ption
of
'norm
ally'
or
'usuall
y' or
'com
monly
'
behin
d each
wellestabli
shed
princi
ple; as
I have
stated
earlier
,
qualificatio
ns
such
as
'alway
s',
'never'
,
'must'
do not
exist there
are no
absolu
tes.
G
iven
these
caveat
s,
I
am
nevert
heless
going
to
take
you
throug
h my
tentative
transl
ating
proces
s.
T
here
a
r
e
t
w
o
a
p
p
r
o
a
c
h
e
s
t
o
t
r
a
n
s
l
a
t
i
n
g
(
a
n
d
m
a
n
y
c
o
m
p
r
o
m
i
s
e
s
b
e
t
w
e
e
n
t
h
e
m
)
:
(
1
)
y
o
u
s
t
a
r
t
t
r
a
n
s
l
a
t
i
n
g

34. s
e
n
t
e
n
c
e
b
y
s
e
n
t
e
n
c
e
,
f
o
r
p
h
o
r
c
h
a
p
t
e
r
,
t
o
g
e
t
t
h
e
s
a
y
f
e
e
l
t
h
e
a
n
d
f
i
r
s
t
t
h
e
p
a
r
a
g
r
a
f
e
e
l
i
n
g
t
o
n
e
o
f
t
h
e
t
e
x
t
,
a
n
d
t
h
e
n
y
o
u
d
e
l
i
b
e
r
a
t
e
l
y
s
i
t
b
a
c
k
,
r
e
v
i
e
w
t
h
e
p
o
s
i
t
i
o
n
,
a
n
d
r
e
a
d
t
h
e
r
e
s
t
o
f
t
h
e
S
L
t
ext;
(2)
you
read
the
whole
text
two or
three
times,
and
find
the
intenti
on,
regist
er,
tone,
mark
the
diffic
ult
words
and
passa
ges
and
start
transl
ating
only
when
you
have
taken
your
bearin
gs.
W
hich
of the
two
metho
ds you
choos
e may
depen
d on
your
tempe
ramen
t, or
on
wheth
er you
trust
your
intuiti
on
(for
the
first
metho
d) or
your
power
s
of
analys
is (for
the
secon
d).
Altern
atively
, you
may
think
the
first
metho
d
more
suitabl
e for a
literar
y and
the
secon
d for a
techni
cal or
an
institu
tional
text.
The
d
a
n
g
e
r
o
f
t
h
e
f
i
r
s
t
y
o
u
w
i
t
h
t
o
o
m
u
c
h
m
e
t
h
o
d
r
e
v
i
s
i
o
n
i
s
t
o
t
h
a
t
d
o
i
t
m
a
y
l
e
a
v
e
o
n
t
h
e
e
a
r
l
y
p
a

35. r
t
,
a
n
d
i
s
t
h
e
r
e
f
o
r
e
t
i
m
e
w
a
s
t
i
n
g
.
T
h
e
s
e
c
o
n
d
m
e
t
h
o
d
(
u
s
u
a
l
l
y
p
r
e
f
e
r
a
b
l
e
)
c
a
n
b
e
m
e
c
h
a
n
i
c
a
l
;
r
a
n
s
l
a
t
i
o
n
a
l
t
e
x
t
a
n
a
l
y
s
i
s
i
s
u
s
e
f
u
l
a
s
a
a
p
o
i
n
t
o
f
t
r
e
f
e
r
e
n
c
e
,
b
u
t
i
t
s
h
o
u
l
d
n
o
t
i
n
h
i
b
i
t
t
h
e
f
r
e
e
p
l
a
y
of
your
intuiti
on.
Altern
atively
, you
may
prefer
the
first
appro
ach
for a
relativ
ely
easy
text,
the
secon
d for a
harder
one.
From
the
point
of
view
of the
transla
tor,
any
scienti
fic
investi
gation,
both
statisti
cal
and
diagra
mmati
c
(some
linguis
ts and
transla
tion
theoris
ts
make
a
fetish
of
diagra
ms,
schem
as and
model
s), of
what
goes
on in
the
brain
(mind
?
nerves
?
cells?)
during
the
proces
s of
transla
ting is
remote
and at
presen
t
specul
ative.
The
contri
bution
of
psych
olingu
istics
to
transla
tion is
limite
d: the
positiv
e,
n
e

36. 22
PRINC
IPLES
•THE PROCESS OF
TRANSLATING
23
o
f
W
Y
o
Y
F
o
r
e
a
c
h
s
e
n
t
e
n
c
e
,
w
h
e
n
i
t
i
s
n
o
t
c
l
e
a
r
,
w
h
e
n
t
h
e
r
e
i
s
a
n
a
m
b
i
g
u
i
t
y
,
w
h
e
n
t
h
e
w
r
i
t
i
n
g

37. i
s
a
b
s
t
r
a
c
t
o
r
f
i
g
u
r
a
t
i
v
e
,
y
o
u
h
a
v
e
e
l
f
:
W
h
a
t
i
s
a
c
t
u
a
l
l
y
h
a
p
p
e
n
i
n
g
F
o
r
s
e
?
w
h
a
t
C
a
n
r
e
a
s
o
n
,
o
n
w
h
a
t
g
r
o
u
n
d
s
,
t
o
h
e
r
e
?
a
s
k
a
n
d
w
h
a
t
y
o
u
r
s
w
h
y
?
p
u
r
p
o
f
o
r
y
o
u
see it
in
your
mind?
Can
you
visual
ise it}
If you
canno
t, you
have
to
'suppl
ement'
the
lingui
stic
level,
the
text
level
with
the
refere
ntial
level,
the
factua
l level
with
the
necess
ary
additi
onal
infor
matio
n (no
more)
from
this
level
of
reality
, the
facts
of the
matter
.
In
real
life,
what
is the
setting
or
scene,
who
are
the
actors
or
agents
, what
is the
purpo
se?
This
may
or
may
not
take
you
away
tempo
rarily
from
the
words
in the
text.
And
certai
nly it
is all
too
easy
to
immer
se
yourse
lf in
langua
g
e
a
n
d
t
o
d
e
t
a
c
h
y
o
u
r
s
e
l
f
f
r
o
m
t
h
e
r
e
a
l
i
t
y
,
r
e
a
l
o
r
i
m
a
g
i
n
a
r
y
,
t
h
a
t
i
s
b
e
i
n
g
d
e
s
c
r
i
b
e
d
.
F
a
r
m
o
r
e

38. a
c
u
t
e
l
y
t
h
a
n
w
r
i
t
e
r
s
w
r
e
s
t
l
i
n
g
w
i
t
h
o
n
l
y
o
n
e
l
a
n
g
u
a
g
e
,
n
y
o
u
a
n
d
b
e
c
o
m
e
o
b
j
e
c
t
s
,
a
w
a
r
e
o
f
t
h
e
a
w
f
u
l
g
a
p
b
e
t
w
e
e
w
o
r
d
s
s
e
n
t
e
n
c
e
s
a
n
d
a
c
t
i
o
n
s
(
o
r
p
r
o
c
e
s
s
e
s
)
,
g
r
a
m
m
a
r
a
n
d
m
o
o
d
s
(
o
r
a
t
t
i
t
u
d
e
s
)
.
Y
o
u
have
to
gain
perspe
ctive
(dista
cco,
recul)
,
to
stand
back
from
the
langu
age
and
have
an
image
of the
reality
behin
d the
text, a
reality
for
which
you,
and
not
the
author
(unles
s it is
an
expres
sive
or an
author
itative
text),
are
respo
nsible
and
liable.
T
he
refere
ntial
goes
hand
in
hand
with
the
textua
l
level.
All
langu
ages
have
polyse
mous
words
and
struct
ures
which
can be
finally
solved
only
on the
refere
ntial
level,
begin
ning
with a
few
multipurpo
se,
overlo
aded
prepo
sitions
and
conju
nctions,
throug
h
dangli
n
g
D
o

39. 24
PRINC
IPLES
THE ANALYSIS
OF A TEST
25
m
a
T
h
M
y
T
H
E
L
E
V
E
L
O
F
N
A
T
U
R
A
L
N
E
S
S
W
i
t
h
a
t
,
f
o
r
a
l
l
t
e
x
t
s
(
e
x
c
e
p
t
t
h
e
o
n
e
s
y
o
u
a
l
l
k
n
o
w
t
h
a
r
e

40. '
o
d
d
'
o
r
b
a
d
l
y
w
r
i
t
t
e
n
b
u
t
a
u
t
h
o
r
i
t
a
t
f
v
e
,
i
n
n
o
v
a
t
o
r
y
o
r
'
s
p
e
c
i
a
l
'
,
e
.
g
.
,
w
h
e
r
e
a
w
r
i
t
e
r
c
u
l
i
a
r
w
a
y
o
f
w
r
i
t
i
n
g
w
h
i
c
h
h
a
s
t
o
b
e
a
r
e
p
r
o
d
u
c
e
d
p
e
s
h
a
s
o
f
o
r
p
h
i
l
o
s
o
p
h
y
,
H
e
i
d
e
g
g
e
r
,
S
a
r
t
r
e
,
H
u
s
s
e
r
l
;
s
o
f
o
r
f
icti
on
an
y
sur
rea
list
,
bar
oq
ue,
an
d
cer
tai
n
Ro
ma
nti
c
wr
ite
rs)
for
the
va
st
ma
jor
ity
of
tex
ts,
yo
u
ha
ve
to
en
sur
e:
(a)
tha
t
yo
ur
tra
nsl
ati
on
ma
ke
s
se
ns
e;
(b)
tha
t it
rea
ds
nat
ur
all
y,
tha
t it
is
wr
itt
en
in
or
di
na
ry
lan
gu
ag
e,
the
co
m
m
on
gr
am
ma
r,
idi
o
ms
an
d
wo
r
d
s
y
o
u
t
h
a
t
c
a
n
m
e
e
t
t
h
a
t
k
i
n
d
o
f
s
i
t
u
a
t
i
o
n
.
N
o
r
m
a
l
l
y
,
o
n
l
y
d
o
t
h
i
s
b
y
t
e
m
p
o
r
a
r
i
l
y
d
i
s
e
n
g
a
g
i
n
g

41. y
o
u
r
s
e
l
f
f
r
o
m
t
h
e
S
L
t
e
x
t
,
b
y
r
e
a
d
i
n
g
y
o
u
r
o
w
n
t
r
a
n
s
l
a
t
i
o
n
a
s
t
h
o
u
g
h
n
o
o
r
i
g
i
n
a
l
e
x
i
s
t
e
d
.
Y
o
u
g
e
t
a
p
i
e
c
e
l
i
k
e
:
U
n
e
d
o
c
t
r
i
n
e
n
e
e
d
a
n
s
u
n
e
f
r
a
c
t
i
o
n
d
u
c
l
e
r
g
i
d
e
I
'
A
m
e
r
i
q
u
e
l
a
t
i
n
e
q
u
i
f
o
i
s
o
n
n
e
s
o
u
s
di
ve
rs
es
pl
u
me
s
el
da
ns
di
ve
rs
es
ch
ap
ell
es
et
qu
i
co
nn
ait
de
jd
un
de
bu
t
d'
ap
pli
ca
tio
n
au
tor
ita
ire
so
us
la
tut
ell
e
de
I'
Et
at.
(L'
Ex
pr
es
s,
Jul
y
19
85
.)
Th
e
pa
ssa
ge
ha
s
va
rio
us
mi
sle
adi
ng
co
gn
ate
s,
an
d
yo
u
ca
n
re
du
ce
it
to
se
ns
e
by
gr
ad
u
a
l
l
y
e
l
i
m
i
n
a
t
i
n
g
a
l
l
t
h
e
p
r
i
m
a
r
y
s
e
n
s
e
s
(
f
r
a
c
t
i
o
n
,

42. n
e
N
o
A
The
fun
nel
unr
avel
s an
eno
rmo
us
mas
s of
blac
k
smo
ke
like
a
plai
t of
hor
seh
air
bei
ng
un
wo
und
.
La
che
min
ee
divi
de
une
eno
rm
efu
me
e
noi
re,
par
eill
ea
une
tres
se
de
cri
n
qu'
on
det
ord
.
(
A
still
ne
w
pati
ent,
a
thin
and
qui
et
per
son
,
wh
o
had
fou
nd
a
pla
ce
wit
h
his
equ
ally
thin
and
qui
et
fian
cee
at
the
goo
d
Rus
sian
Tabl
e,
prov
ed,
just
whe
n
the
mea
l
was
in
full
swi
ng,
to
be
epil
epti
c, as
he
suff
ered
an
extr
eme
atta
ck
of
that
type
,
with
a
cry
who
se
dem
onic
and
inhu
man
char
acte
r
has
ofte
n
bee
n
desc
ribe
d,
fell
hea
vily
on
to
the
floo
r
and
stru
ck
arou
nd
with
his
arm
s
and
legs
next
to
his
chai
r
with
the
mos
t
ghas
tly
cont
orti
ons.
Ein
noc
h
neu
er
Pati
ent,
ein
ma
ger
er
und
still
er
Me
nsc
h,
der
mit
sein
er
e
b
e
n
f
a
l
l
s
m
a
g
e
r
e
n
u
n
d
s
t
i
l
l
e
n
P
l
a
t
z
g
e
f
u
n
d
e
n
h
a
t
t
e
,
e
n
v
i
e
s
B
r
a
u
t
s
i
c
h
,
a
m
d
a
G
u
t
e
n
e
b
e
n
R
u
s
s
e
n
t
i
s
c
h
E
s
s
e
n
d
a
s
i
n
vol
lem
Ga
ng
war
,
als
epil
epti
sch
ind
em
er
ein
en
kra
sse
n
Anf
all
die
ser
Art
erli
tt,
mit
jen
em
Sch
rei
des
sen
da
mo
nis
che
r
un
d
aus
ser
me
nsc
hlic
her
Ch
ara
ckt
er
oft
ges
chi
lde
rt
wo
rde
n
ist,
zu
Bo
den
stii
rzt
e
un
d
neb
en
sei
ne
m
Siu
hl
unt
er
den
sch
eus
slic
hst
en
Ver
ren
kun
gen
mit
Ar
me
n
un
d
Bei
nen
urn
sic
h
sch
lug
.
(
Y
W
h

43. 26
27
PRINCI
PLES
blue eyes'. Again St le regard du pasteur se promenait sur la pelouse,
itait-ce pourjouir de la parfaite plenitude verte ou pour у trouver des
idies (Drieu la Rochelle) is translated as something like: 'If the
pastor's gaze ran over the lawn, was it to enjoy its perfect green
fullness, or to find ideas', rather than 'Whenever the pastor cast a
glance over the lawn it was either to enjoy its perfect green richness,
or to find ideas
in it'.
Again, son visage etait mauve, 'his face was mauve', sein
Gesicht war mauve (malvenfarben) are virtually precise translation
equivalents. 'Mauve' is one of the few secondary colours without
connotations (though in France it is the second colour of mourning,
'his face was deathly mauve' would be merely comic), and normally,
like 'beige', associated with dress - compare a mauve woman, a violet
woman ('shrinking violet'?), but a scarlet woman is different. In the
'mauve' example, a retreat from the unnatural 'mauve' to the natural
'blue' would only be justified if the SL text was both 'anonymous' and
poorly written.
You have to bear in mind that the level of naturalness of natural
usage is grammatical as well as lexical (i.e., the most frequent
syntactic structures, idioms and words that are likely to be
appropriately found in that kind of stylistic context), and, through
appropriate sentence connectives, may extend to the entire text.
In all 'communicative translation', whether you are translating an
informative text, a notice or an advert, 'naturalness' is essential. That
is why you cannot translate properly if the TL is not your language of
habitual usage. That is why you so often have to detach yourself
mentally from the SL text; why, if there is time, you should come
back to your version after an interval. You have to ask yourself (or
others): Would you see this, would you ever see this, in The Times,
The Economist (watch that Time-Life-Spiegel style), the British
Medical Journal, as a notice, on the back of a board game, on an
appliance, in a textbook, in a children's book? Is it usage, is it
common usage in that kind of writing? How frequent is it? Do not
ask yourself: is it English? There is more English than the patriots
and the purists and the chauvinists are aware of.
Naturalness is easily defined, not so easy to be concrete about.
Natural usage comprises a variety of idioms or styles or registers
determined primarily by the 'setting' of the text, i.e. where it is
typically published or found, secondarily by the author, topic and
readership, all of whom are usually dependent on the setting. It may
even appear to be quite 'unnatural', e.g. take any article in Foreign
Trade (Moscow): 'To put it figuratively, foreign trade has become an
important artery in the blood circulation of the Soviet Union's
economic organism', or any other example of Soviet bureaucratic
jargon; on the whole this might occasionally be tactfully clarified
but it should be translated 'straight' as the natural language of
participants in that setting.
Natural usage, then, must be distinguished from 'ordinary
language', the plain non-technical idiom used by Oxford
philosophers for (philosophical) explanation, and 'basic' language,
which is somewhere between formal and informal, is easily
understood, and is constructed from a language's most frequently
used syntactic structures and words - basic language is the nucleus
of a language produced naturally. All three varieties - natural,
ordinary and basic - are

44. THE PROCESS OF TRANSLATING
formed exclusively from modern language. However, unnatural
translation is marked by interference, primarily from the SL text,
possibly from a third language known to the translator including his
own, if it is not the target language. 'Natural' translation can be
contrasted with 'casual' language (Voegelin), where word order,
syntactic structures, collocations and words are predictable. You have
to pay special attention to:
(1) Word order. In all languages, adverbs and adverbials are the most
mobile
components of a sentence, and their placing often indicates the
degree
of
emphasis on what is the new information (rheme) as well as
naturalness.
They
are the most delicate indicator of naturalness:
He regularly sees me on Tuesdays. (Stress on 'regularly'.)
He sees me regularly on Tuesdays. (No stress.)
On Tuesdays he sees me regularly. (Stress on 'Tuesdays'.)
(2) Common structures can be made unnatural by silly one-to-one
translation
from
any language, e.g.:
45 Athanogore put his arm under that of (sous celui de) the young
man: ('under the young man's').
46 After having given his meter a satisfied glance (apres avoir
lance): ('after giving').
Both these translations are by English students.
(c) The packaging having (etant muni de) a sufficiently clear label,
the
cider vinegar consumer could not confuse it with . . . : ('as the
packaging
had. . .').
47 Cognate words. Both in West and East, thousands of words are
drawing nearer to each other in meaning. Many sound natural
when you transfer them, and may still have the wrong meaning:
'The book is actually in print' (Le livre est actuellement sous
presse). Many more sound odd when you transfer them, and are
wrong - avec, sans supplement, le tome VII, 'with, without a
supplement, Vol.7' ('without extra charge'). Thousands sound
natural, have the same meaning, are right.
48 The appropriateness of gerunds, infinitives, verb-nouns (cf. 'the
establishment of, 'establishing', 'the establishing of, 'to establish').
49 Lexically, perhaps the most common symptom of unnaturalness is
slightly old-fashioned, now rather 'refined', or 'elevated' usage of
words and idioms possibly originating in bilingual dictionaries,
e.g.
Ilfitses necessites: 'He relieved nature.'
Je m'en sipare avec beaucoup de peine: 'I'm sorry to part with
it.'
Er straubte sich mitHdnden undFussen: 'He defended himself
tooth and nail.'
Note (a) the fact that the SL expression is now old-fashioned or
refined is irrelevant, since you translate into the modern target
language; (b) however, if such expressions appear in dialogue,
and are spoken (typically or say) by middle-aged or elderly
characters, then a correspondingly 'refined' translation

45. PRINCIP
LES
28
is appropriate; (c) naturalness has a solid core of agreement, but
the periphery is a taste area, and the subject of violent, futile
dispute among informants, who will claim that it is a subjective
matter, pure intuition; but it is not so. If you are a translator, check
with three informants if you can. If you are a translation teacher,
welcome an SL informant to help you decide on the naturalness or
currency (there is no difference), therefore degree of frequency of
an SL
expression. (6) Other 'obvious' areas of interference, and therefore
unnaturalness, are in the use of the articles; progressive tenses; nouncompounding; collocations; the currency of idioms and metaphors;
aspectual features of verbs; infinitives. How do you get a feel for
naturalness, both as a foreigner and as a native speaker? The too
obvious answer is to read representative texts and talk with
representative TL speakers (failing which, representative TV and radio)
- and to get yourself fearlessly corrected. Beware of books of idioms they rarely distinguish between what is current (e.g. 'keep my head
above water') and what is dead (e.g. 'dead as a door nail').
There is a natural tendency to merge three of the senses of the
word 'idiom': (a) a group of words whose meaning cannot be
predicted from the meanings of their constituent words (e.g. dog in
the manger; Spielverderber; I'empecheurde tourneren rond; (b) the
linguistic usage that is natural to native speakers of a language; (c) the
characteristic vocabulary or usage of a people. (Elle avait frappe a la
bonne pone. (Ca, c'est dufrancaisl) when the original was merely Elle
avait trouve la solution ('She had found the solution'), which is also
perfectly good French.) The danger of this procedure is that it tends to
devalue literal language at the expense of 'idiomatic' language, as
though it were unnatural. If anything, the reverse is the case.
Certainly, idiomatic language can, being metaphor, be more pithy and
vivid than literal language, but it can also be more conventional,
fluctuate with fashion, and become archaic and refined ('he was like a
cat on a hot tin roof) {sur des charbons ardents; wie aufgliihenden
Kohlen sitzen), and, above all, it can be a way of avoiding the (literal)
truth. In translating idiomatic into idiomatic language, it is
particularly difficult to match equivalence of meaning with
equivalence of frequency.
Check and cross-check words and expressions in an up-to-date
dictionary (Longmans, Collins, COD). Note any word you are
suspicious of. Remember, your mind is furnished with thousands of
words and proper names that you half take for granted, that you seem
to have known all your life, and that you do not properly know the
meaning of. You have to start checking them. Look up proper names
as frequently as words: say you get Dax, cite de petites H.L.M. - 'Dax,
a small council flat estate' may sound natural, but looking up Dax
will show you it is incorrect, it must be 'Dax, a town of small
council flats' - always assuming that 'council flat' is good enough for
the reader.
Naturalness is not something you wait to acquire by instinct. You
work towards it by small progressive stages, working from the most
common to the less common features, like anything else rationally,
even if you never quite attain it. There is no universal naturalness.
Naturalness depends on the relationship

46. THE PROCESS OF TRANSLATING
29
between the writer and the readership and the topic or situation. What
is natural in one situation may be unnatural in another, but everyone
has a natural, 'neutral' language where spoken and informal written
language more or less coincide. It is rather easy to confuse naturalness
with: (a) a colloquial style; (b) a succession of cliched idioms, which
some, particularly expatriate teachers, think is the heart of the
language; (c) jargon; (d) formal language. I can only give indications:
(avant tout) (F)
50 first of all
51 before you can say Jack Robinson
52 in the first instance
53 primarily
plus ou moins
(F)
54
55
56
57
more or less
give or take
within the parameter of an approximation
approximately
COMBINING THE FOUR LEVELS
Kunststuck, tour deforce, 'feat of skill', dimostrazione di virtuosismo:
summarising the process of translating, I am suggesting that you keep
in parallel the four levels - the textual, the referential, the cohesive, the
natural: they are distinct from but frequently impinge on and may be in
conflict with each other. Your first and last level is the text; then you
have to continually bear in mind the level of reality (which may be
simulated, i.e. imagined, as well as real), but you let it filter into the
text only when this is necessary to complete or secure the readership's
understanding of the text, and then normally only within informative
and vocative texts. As regards the level of naturalness, you translate
informative and vocative texts on this level irrespective of the
naturalness of the original, bearing in mind that naturalness in, say,
formal texts is quite different from naturalness in colloquial texts. For
expressive and authoritative texts, however, you keep to a natural level
only if the original is written in ordinary language; if the original is
linguistically or stylistically innovative, you should aim at a
corresponding degree of innovation, representing the degree of
deviation from naturalness, in your translation - ironically, even when
translating these innovative texts, their natural level remains as a point
of reference. For sincirite explosive, 'impassioned, enthusiastic, intense
or violent, sincerity' may be natural, but sincerite explosive is what the
text, a serious novel, says, so 'explosive sincerity' is what you have to
write, whether you like it or not (you will get accustomed to it, on
s'yfait a tout) - unless, of course, you maintain (I disagree) that the
figurative sense of explosif (temperament explosif) has a wider
currency than the figurative sense of 'explosive' ('an explosive
temperament'), when you are justified in translating explosif by
another word you claim comes within its semantic range ('fiery
sincerity'?).

47. 30
PRINC
IPLES
THE PROCESS OF
TRANSLATING
31
P
a
T
h
N
MB
,
arr
ite
a
Per
igu
eux
le
13
fev
rier
,
obs
erv
e
act
uell
em
ent
une
gre
ve
de
la
far
m.
M
B,
wh
o
wa
s
arr
est
ed
in
Per
igu
eux
on
13t
h
Feb
rua
ry,
is
at
pre
sen
t
obs
ervi
ng
a
hun
ger
stri
ke.

48. Y
o
S
i
Di
e
Vi
gn
ett
e
hat
te
Th
or
wa
lds
en
18
05
in
Ro
m
ent
wo
rfe
n.
Th
e
vig
net
te
wa
s
des
ign
ed
by
Th
or
wa
lds
en
in
18
05
in
Ro
me
.
Y
L'
ab
ol
iti
on
de
ce
qu
i
su
bs
ist
mt
de
s
tu
tel
le
s
et
la
re
or
ga
ni
sa
ti
on
du
co
nl
ro
le
de
le
ga
lil
i,
no
ta
m
m
en
t
pa
r
la
cr
eat
io
n
de
s
ch
am
br
es
re
gi
on
ale
s
de
s
co
mp
tes
, le
tra
nsf
ert
au
x
pr
esi
de
nts
d'a
sse
mb
lee
s
del
ibe
ra
nte
s
de
la
fo
nct
io
n
ex
ec
uti
ve,
la
cr
eat
io
n
de
re
gi
on
s
de
ple
in
ex
er
cic
e,
Г
ext
en
sio
n
de
la
ca
pa
cit
e
d'i
nte
rv
ent
io
n
ec
on
om
iq
ue
de
s
col
lec
tiv
ite
s
ter
rit
ori
ale
s,
le
tra
nsf
ert
pa
r
bl
oc
s
au
x
dif
f
e
r
e
n
t
e
s
c
a
t
e
g
o
r
i
e
s
d
e
c
o
l
l
e
c
t
i
v
i
t
e
s
d
e
c
o
m
p
e
t
e
n
c
e
s
a
n
t
e
r
i
e
u
r
e
m
e
n
t
e
x
e
r
c
e
e
s
p
a
r
I
'
E
t
a
t
,
l
e
t
r
a
n
s
f
e
r
t
a
u
x
m
i
m
e
s
c
o
l
l
e
c
t
i
v
i
t
e
s
d
e
s
re
ss
ou
rc
es
d'
Et
at
co
rr
es
po
nd
an
te
s,
I'i
nt
ro
du
c-

49. 32
PRINC
IPLES
THE PROCESS OF
TRANSLATING
33
lio
n
de
par
tic
ula
ris
ms
da
ns
la
leg
isl
ati
on,
la
cre
ati
on
d'u
ne
fon
cti
on
pu
bli
qu
e
ter
rit
ori
ale
,
I'a
da
pta
tio
n
des
reg
ies
ant
eri
eur
es
de
dec
on
cen
tra
tio
n
au
x
no
uve
au
x
rap
por
ts
ent
re
Eta
t el
col
lec
tiv
es
loc
ale
s
ont
сгё
ё
un
e
eff
erv
esc
enc
e
ins
titu
tio
nn
ell
e
co
m
me
not
re
ad
mi
nis
tra
tio
n
loc
ale
n'e
n
av

50. ail
pas
co
nn
ue
de
pui
s
un
sie
cle
.
(
M
Y
Th
e
foll
ow
ing
me
asu
res
hav
e
pro
fou
ndl
y
sha
ken
Fre
nch
inst
itut
ion
s in
a
wa
y
tha
t
has
not
bee
n
kn
ow
n
in
loc
al
go
ver
nm
ent
for
a
cen
tur
y:
wh
at
has
re
ma
ine
d
of
go
ver
nm
ent
sup
erv
isio
n
has
bee
n
abo
lish
ed;
con
trol
of
pro
ced
ura
l
leg
alit
y
has
bee
n
reo
rga
nis
ed
and
reg
ion
al
aud
it
offi
ces
esta
blis
hed
;
exe
cuti
ve
po
wer
has
bee
n
tran
sfer
red
to
the
chai
rme
n of
deli
ber
ativ
e
asse
mbl
ies;
regi
ons
wit
h
full
po
wer
s
hav
e
bee
n
crea
ted;
po
wer
s of
eco
no
mic
inte
rve
ntio
n
hav
e
bee
n
exte
nde
d to
regi
ona
l
and
loca
l
aut
hori
ties;
po
wer
s
pre
vio
usly
exe
rcis
ed
by
the
Stat
e
hav
e
bee
n
tran
sfer
red
in
co
mpl
ete
stag
es
to
the
vari
ous
typ
es
of
aut
hori
ties;
corr
esp
ond
ing
Stat
e
r
e
s
o
u
r
c
e
s
h
a
v
e
b
e
e
n
t
r
a
n
s
f
e
r
r
e
d
t
o
t
h
e
s
e
a
u
t
h
o
r
i
t
i
e
s
;
s
p
e
c
i
f
i
c
l
o
c
a
l
c
h
a
r
a
c
t
e
r
i
s
t
i
c
s
h
a
v
e
b
e
e
n
i
n
t
r
o
d
u
c
e
d
i
n
t
o
le
gisl
ati
on;
a
terr
itor
ial
civ
il
ser
vic
e
has
bee
n
cre
ate
d
and
pre
vio
us
dev
olu
tio
n
reg
ula
tio
ns
hav
e
bee
n
ada
pte
d
to
the
ne
w
rel
ati
ons
bet
we
en
the
Sta
te
and
the
loc
al
aut
hor
itie
s.
T
B
e
O
t
H

51. D
i
I
f
W
e
maiso
n
eleme
nt
poire
metie
r
Zug
Pfeife
M
y
e
Ot
her
pos
sib
le
sol
uti
ons
to
the
'wo
rd
pro
ble
m'
are
tha
t
the
wo
rd
ma
y
ha
ve
an

52. 34
PRINC
IPLES
THE PROCESS OF
TRANSLATING
35
a
r
B
u
S
o
A
n
'
O
n
Y
B
e
I
n

53. 36
PRINC
IPLES
THE PROCESS OF
TRANSLATING
37
p
l
c
I
n
D
B
u
'
B
M
a
T
I
t
I
thi
nk
tha
t,
aca
de
mi
cal
ly,
tra
nsl
ati
on
ca
n
be
reg
ard
ed
as
sch
ola
rsh
ip
if:
U)

54. 38
PRINC
IPLES
or
p
hi
lo
s
o
p
hi
c
al
te
xt
w
ri
tt
e
n
in
in
n
o
v
at
or
y
or
o
b
sc
ur
e
or
di
ff
ic
ul
t
or
a
n
ci
e
nt
la
n
g
u
a
g
e.
58 t
5
I think
transla
tion
'qualifi
es' as
researc
h if:
6
61 i
62 t
T

55. C
Lan
A
c
T
T
63 S
64 A
65 u
A
u
39

56. 40
PRINC
IPLES
LANGUAGE FUNCTIONS, TEXTCATEGORIES AND TEXT-TYPES
41
p
H
Functionl
o
Core
Writer T
Author's status
'Sacred' h h
T
Type
e
sec
on
d
fac
tor
is
Other areas of
events tha
Figure t
the
Language
se
functions,
tex
ts
textmu
categories
and text-st
be
types wri
tte
n
in
T
O
a
n
lan
gu
age
tha
t is

57. 42
PRINC
IPLES
LANGUAGE FUNCTIONS, TEXTCATEGORIES AND TEXT-TYPES
43
i
m
F
e
I
T
D
e
I
n
p
M
e
W
h
I
a
«
P
^
•
|
r
a

58. 44
PRINC
IPLES
'
a
N
o
I
T
T
h
I
put
it
in
the
for
m
of
a
flat
ten
ed
V
dia
gra
m:
S
W
o
L
i
F
a
S
e
THE METHODS
Word-for-word translation
"is is often demonstrated as interlinear translation, with the TL
immediately elow the SL words. The SL word-order is preserved and the
words translated
45

59. 46
PRINC
IPLES
TRANSLATION
METHODS
47
s
i
T
s
A
C
S
C
S
e
S
a
l
n
o
"
l
T
F
I

60. 48
PRINC
IPLES
TRANSLATION
METHODS
49
c
a
T
h
I
•
I
n
I
n
a
n
H
o
C
o
E
I

61. 50
PRINCIP
LES
METHODS AND TEXT-CATEGORIES
Considering the application of the two translation methods (semantic
and communicative) to the three text-categories, I suggest that
commonly vocative and informative texts are translated too literally,
and expressive texts not literally enough. Translationese is the bane of
tourist material and many public notices (toute circulation est
interdite de 22 h a 6 h; jeglicher Verkehr ist verboten von 22 bis 6
Uhr, 'all sexual intercourse is forbidden between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.').
In the UK the standard of foreign language (FL) publicity and notices
is now high but there are not enough of them. In 'informative' texts,
translationese, bad writing and lack of confidence in the appropriate
linguistic register often go hand in hand; the tendency with familiarlooking but unfamiliar collocations (station hydrominerale;
'hydromineral station' - read 'spa') is simply to reproduce them. On the
other hand, the inaccuracy of translated literature has much longer
roots: the attempt to see translation as an exercise in style, to get the
'flavour' or the 'spirit' of the original; the refusal to translate by any TL
word that looks the least bit like the SL word, or even by the SL
word's core meaning (I am talking mainly of adjectives), so that the
translation becomes a sequence of synonyms (grammatical shifts, and
one-word to two- or three-word translations are usually avoided),
which distorts its
essence.
In expressive texts, the unit of translation is likely to be small,
since words rather than sentences contain the finest nuances of
meaning; further, there are likely to be fewer stock language units
(colloquialisms, stock metaphors and collocations, etc.) than in other
texts. However, any type and length of cliche must be translated by
its TL counterpart, however badly it reflects on the writer.
Note that I group informative and vocative texts together as
suitable for communicative translation. However, further distinctions
can be made.
Unless informative texts are badly/inaccurately written, they are
translated more closely than vocative texts. In principle (only!), as
they are concerned with extra-linguistic facts, they consist of third
person sentences, non-emotive style, past tenses. Narrative, a
sequence of events, is likely to be neater and closer to translate than
description, which requires the mental perception of adjectives and
images.
The translation of vocative texts immediately involves
translation in the problem of the second person, the social factor
which varies in its grammatical and lexical reflection from one
language to another. Further, vocative texts exemplify the two poles
of communicative translation. On the one hand translation bv
standard terms and phrases is used mainly for notices: 'transit
lounge', Transithalle, salle de transit. On the other hand, there is, in
principle, the 'recreative' translation that might be considered
appropriate for publicity and propaganda, since the situation is more
important than the language. In fact, provided there is no cultural
gap. such skilfully written persuasive language is often seen to
translate almost
literallv.
Scanning the numerous multilingual advertising leaflets
available today, I

62. TRANSLATION METHODS
5/
notice: (a) it is hardly possible to say which is the original: (b) how
closely they translate each other; (c) the more emotive their language,
the more they vary from each other; (d) the variants appear justified.
Thus:
Young, fresh and fashionable. Jung, frisch und modisch. Jeune.
frais et elegant.
Indeed, this is Vanessa. In der Tat, so konnen Sie Vanessa
beschreiben. Tels snnt les qualificatifs de Vanessa.
This model links up with the latest trends in furniture design.
Dieses Model schliesst bei den letzten Trends im Mobeldesign an.
Ce modile est le dernier cri dans le domame des meubles design.
The programme exists out of different items. Das Programm
besteht aus verschiedenen Mobeln. Son programme se compose
de differents meubles. . . . which you can combine as you want . . .
die Sie nach eigenem Bedurfnis zusammenstellen konnen . . . a
assembler selon vos besoins . . . (The three versions reflect the
more colloquial style of the English (two phrasal verbs') and the
more formal German, as well as English lexical influence
('design', 'trend').)
Where communicative translation of advertisements works so
admirably, producing equivalent pragmatic effect, there seems no need
to have recourse to 'co-writing', where two writers are given a number
of basic facts about one product and instructed to write the most
persuasive possible advert in their respective languages.
I should mention that I have been describing methods of
translation as products rather than processes, i.e., as they appear in the
finished translation.
TRANSLATING
As for the process of translation, it is often dangerous to translate more
than a sentence or two before reading the first two or three paragraphs,
unless a quick glance through convinces you that the text is going to
present few problems. In fact, the more difficult - linguistically,
culturally, 'referentially' (i.e., in subject matter) - the text is, the more
preliminary work I advise you to do before you start translating a
sentence, simply on the ground that one misjudged hunch about a keyword in a text - say, humoral in le bilan humoral (a fluid balance
check-up) or Laetitia in I'actrice, une nouvelle Laetitia (a Roman
actress or an asteroid) - may force you to try to put a wrong
construction on a whole paragraph, wasting a lot of time before (if
ever) you pull up and realise you are being foolish. This is another Wav
of looking at the word versus sentence conflict that is always coming
up. ranslate by sentences wherever you can (and always as literally or
as closely as you can) whenever you can see the wood for the trees
or get the general sense, and then °iake sure you have accounted for
(which is not the same as translated) each word in
ne SL text. There are plenty of words, like modal particles, jargonwords or Stammatically-bound words.which for good reasons you
may decide not to transate. But translate virtually by words first if they are 'technical',
whether they are

63. 52
PRINC
IPLES
TRANSLATION
METHODS
53
'
l
R
e
la
t
o
r,
w
h
o
w
a
s
o
u
ts
ta
n
d
i
n
g
l
y
m
o
r
e
a
c
c
u
r
at
e
t
h
a
n
h
is
i
m
it
at
o
rs
.

64. I
q
u
o
te
ti
n
y
s
c
r
a
p
s
o
f
R
it
c
h
ie
's
w
e
a
k
n
e
s
s
e
s:
L
a
N
o
tr
e
D
a
m
e
a
v
a
n
c
a
'
T
h
e
N
o
tr
e
D
a
m
e
w
o
r
k
e
d
h
e
r
w
a
y
i
n'
;
L
a
p
l
u
i
e
b
r
o
u
il
l
a
l
e
s
o
bj
et
s
'T
h
e
ra
in
o
bs
c
ur
e
d
e
v
er
yt
hi
n
g'
;
C
et
te
vi
e
se
s
u
r
p
a
ss
er
a
p
a
r
le
m
a
rt
yr
e,
et
le
m
a
rt
yr
e
n
e
ta
r
d
er
a
pl
u
s
'T
h
at
lif
e
w
as
to
tr
a
ns
ce
n
d
it
se
lf
th
ro
u
g
h
m
ar
ty
rd
o
m
a
n
d
n
o
w
m
a
r
t
y
r
d
o
m
w
a
s
n
o
t
t
o
b
e
l
o
n
g
i
n
c
o
m
i
n
OTHER
g
'
.
T
hes
e
last
two
con
cep
ts
are
min
e,
and
onl
y
pra
ctic
e
can
sho
w
wh
eth
er
the
y
will
be
use
ful
as
ter
ms
of
refe
ren
ce
in
tran
slat
ion.
MET
HODS
As a
postscr
ipt to
this
chapter
, I add
further
definiti
ons of
translat
ion
metho
ds.
66 S
e
r
v
i
c
e
t
r
a
n
s
l
a
t
i
o
n
,
i
.
e
.
t

65. r
a
n
s
l
a
t
i
o
n
f
r
o
m
o
n
e
'
s
l
a
n
g
u
a
g
e
o
f
h
a
b
i
t
u
a
l
u
s
e
i
n
t
o
s
e
d
,
a
n
o
t
h
e
r
b
u
t
l
a
n
g
u
a
g
e
.
T
h
e
t
e
r
m
i
s
n
o
t
w
i
d
e
l
y
u
a
s
t
h
e
p
r
a
c
t
i
c
e
i
s
n
e
c
e
s
s
a
r
y
i
n
m
o
s
t
c
67 P
l
a
i
n
p
r
o
s
e
t
r
a
n
s
l
a
t
i
o
n
.
T
h
e
p
r
o
s
e
t
r
a
n
s
l
a
t
i
o
n

66. o
f
e
u
p
o
e
m
s
f
o
r
a
n
d
p
o
e
t
i
c
d
r
a
m
a
i
n
i
t
i
a
t
e
d
b
y
P
e
n
g
u
i
n
B
o
o
k
s
.
U
s
u
a
l
l
y
s
t
a
n
z
a
s
V
.
b
e
c
o
m
e
R
i
p
a
E
.
r
a
g
r
a
p
h
s
,
p
r
o
s
e
p
u
n
c
t
u
a
t
i
o
n
i
s
i
n
t
r
o
d
u
c
e
d
,
o
r
i
g
i
n
a
l
m
e
t
a
p
h
o
r
s
a
n
d
S
L
c
u
l
t
u
r
e
r
e
t
a
i
n
e
d
,
w
h
i
l
s
t

67. 68 I
n
f
o
r
m
a
t
i
o
n
t
r
a
n
s
l
a
t
i
o
n
.
T
h
i
s
c
o
n
v
e
y
s
a
l
l
t
h
e
i
n
f
o
r
m
a
t
i
o
n
i
n
a
n
o
n
l
i
t
e
r
a
r
y
t
e
x
t
,
s
o
m
e
t
i
m
e
s
r
e
a
r
r
a
n
g
e
d
i
n
a
m
o
r
e
l
o
g
i
c
a
l
f
o
r
m
,
i
a
l
l
y
s
u
m
m
a
r
i
s
e
d
,
a
n
d
n
o
t
i
n
t
h
e
s
o
m
e
t
i
m
e
s
f
o
r
m
p
a
r
t
p
a
r
a
o
f
a

68. C4
)
C
o
g
n
i
t
i
v
e
t
r
a
n
s
l
a
t
i
o
n
.
T
h
i
s
r
e
p
r
o
d
u
c
e
s
t
h
e
i
n
f
o
r
m
a
t
i
o
n
i
n
a
S
L
t
e
x
t
c
o
n
v
e
r
t
i
n
g
t
h
e
S
L
g
r
a
m
m
a
r
t
o
i
t
s
n
o
r
m
a
l
T
L
t
r
a
n
s
p
o
s
i
t
i
o
n
s
,
n
o
r
m
a
l
l
y
r
e
d
u
c
i
n
g
a
n
y
f
i
g
u
r
a
t
i
v
e
t
o
l
i
t
e
r
a
l
l
a
n
g
u
a
g
e
.
I
d
o

69. n
o
t
k
n
o
w
t
o
w
h
a
t
e
x
t
e
n
t
t
h
i
s
i
s
m
a
i
n
l
y
a
t
h
e
o
r
e
t
i
c
a
l
o
r
a
u
s
e
f
u
l
c
o
n
c
e
p
t
,
b
u
t
a
s
a
p
r
e
t
r
a
n
s
l
a
t
i
o
n
p
r
o
c
e
d
u
r
e
i
t
i
s
a
p
p
r
o
p
r
i
a
t
e
i
n
a
d
i
f
f
i
c
u
l
t
,
c
o
m
p
l
i
c
a
t
e
d
s
t
r
e
t
c
h
o
f
t
e
x
t
.
A
p
r
a
g
m
a
t
i
c
c
o

70. m
p
o
n
e
n
t
m
u
n
i
c
a
t
i
v
e
i
s
a
d
d
e
d
t
o
p
r
o
d
u
c
e
a
s
e
m
a
n
t
i
c
o
r
a
c
o
m
(5)
t
r
a
n
s
l
a
t
i
o
n
.
A
c
a
d
e
m
i
c
t
r
a
n
s
l
a
t
i
o
n
.
T
h
i
s
i
s
h
t
y
p
e
u
n
i
v
e
r
s
i
t
i
e
s
,
o
f
t
r
a
n
s
l
a
t
i
o
n
,
p
r
a
c
t
i
s
e
d
i
n
s
o
m
e
B
r
i
t
r
e
d
u
c
e
s
a
n
o
r
i
g
i
n
a
l
S
L
t
e
x
t

71. t
o
a
n
'
e
l
e
g
a
n
t
'
i
d
i
o
m
a
t
i
c
e
d
u
c
a
t
e
d
T
L
v
e
r
s
i
o
n
w

72. UNIT OF TRANSLATION AND
DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
55
C
T
h
e
U
n
i
t
o
f
T
r
a
n
s
l
a
t
i
o
n
a
n
d
D
i
s
c
o
u
r
s
e
A
n
a
l
y
s
i
s
*
D

73. y
and
lexically
and
coherence which is the
notional and
logical unity
of a text.
There is
at present a
confusing
tendency for
translation
theorists to
regard
the
whole text,
the basis of
discourse
analysis, as
the unit of
translation
(UT), which
is
the
opposite of
Vinay's and
Darbelnet's
original
concept.
Vinay
and
Darbelnet
define
the
unit
of
translation as
'the smallest
segment of
an utterance
whose
cohesion of
signs is such
that
they
must not be
separately
translated' in
other
words,
the
minimal
stretch
of
language that
has to be
translated
together, as
one unit. The
argument
about
the
length of the
UT, which
has been put
succinctly by
W. Haas, 'as
short as is
possible, as
long as is
necessary', is
a
concrete
reflection of
the age-old
conflict
between free
and
literal
translation the freer the
translation,
the
longer
the UT; the
more literal
the
translation,
the shorter
the UT, the
closer to the
word, or, in
poetry, even
to
the
morpheme.
Free
translation
has always
favoured the
sentence;
literal
translation
the
word.
Now, since
the rise of
text
linguistics,
free
translation
h
a
I
t
i
s
a
f
u
t
i
l
e
,
u
n
p
r
o
f
i
t
a
b
l
e
a
r
g
u
m
e
n
t
,
t
h
o
u
g
h
i
t
•
F
r
o
m
R
e
v
u
e
d
e
P
h
o
n
e
u
q
u
e
A
p
p
l
i
q
u
i
e
,
V
o

74. ls. 66-8,
1983 (Mons,
Belgium).
Amended.
Clearly
the
text
cannot be the
UT in the
'narrow'
sense defined
by Vinay and
Darbelnet.
That would
be chaos. The
largest
quantity of
translation in
a text is done
at the level of
the word, the
lexical unit,
the
collocation,
the
group,
the
clause
and
the
sentence
rarely
the
paragraph,
never the text
- probably in
that
order.
The text can
rather
be
described as
the ultimate
court
of
appeal; every
stretch
at
every level of
the
translation
has
to
conform to
the unity of
the text, its
integrating
properties,
what Delisle
calls
its
'textual
organicity', if
s
u
n
T
h
l
a
M
y

75. 'anonymous'
in Delisle's
sense,
its
expressive
element (all
texts
have
expressive
elements) can
be eliminated
by
the
translator.
For example:
L 'avantage
de
ces
medicaments
est pourtant
obere par ses
inconvenient
s
'The
advantages of
these drugs,
however, are
outweighed
by
their
disadvantage
s.'
Expressi
ve
texts,
which I call
'sacred' texts,
are normally
translated at
the author's
level;
informative
and vocative
at
the
readership's.
The
other aspects
of
text
linguistics
affecting
a
translation
are:
(a)
notional; (b)
lexical and
grammatical;
(c) relating to
punctuation.
COHEREN
CE
he
more
cohesive, the
more
formalised a
text,
the
more
information
it, as a unit,
atiords
the
translator.
Consider first
its genre. A
Greek
or
seventeenthcentury
rench
tragedy; the
agenda
or
minutes of a
wellorganised
meeting;
a
recipe,
a
marriage
service or a
ceremony all
these
compel the
translator to
follow either
SL
?£Л^
Practice as
closely
as
possible.
Similarly, if a
narrative has
a formulaic
opening
Once upon a
time') and a
formulaic
close ('They
all
lived
h
a
p
p
i
l
y
e
v
e
r
a
f
t
e
r
'
)
t
h
e
f
a
n
s
l
a
t
o
r
h
a
s
t
o
f
i
n
d
s
t
a
n
d
a
r
d
p
h
r
a
s
e
s
i
f
t
h
e
y
e
x
i
s
t
.
O
t
h
e
r
s
t
e
r
e
o
t
y
p
e
s
-

76. weather
Ports,
surveys,
enquiries,
official
forms,
medical
articles
may
have
standard
ormS)
a
house-style.
Recent work
on
e
conversation
s
of
all
kinds,
stemming
from
"ce s
implicatures
and cooperative
principle,
tends rather
optimisticall
y to
5
4

77. 56
PRINC
IPLES
UNIT OF TRANSLATION AND
DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
57
s
u
F
o
N
e
I
I
F
o
C
o
'I
wis
h
you
'd
co
me'
Ich
hof
fe
du
ko
mm
st
'I
wis
h
you
cou
ld'
Si
seu
lem
ent
tu
po
uva
is
'I
wis
h
you
'd
sto
p
talk
ing'
Tu
ne
рей
х

78. do
ne
pas
te
tair
e?
'Wo
uld
you
car
e
to'
Vo
ule
zvou
s
Me
n
|
Wo
uld
you
min
d'
Ca
ne
te
fait
rie
n si
'I
wo
nde
r if
you
'
Je
ne
sai
s
pas
si
tu
^Se
e if
you
can
'
Ver
suc
h's
vie
llei
cht
ka
nns
t
du
'}
war
»
you
to'
hh
mo
cht
e,
daf
i
du
'If
you
'd
just
co
me
her
e'
Bit
te
ko
m
m
her
See
wha
t
hap
pen
s if
Du
wei
sst
was
ges
chi
eht
wen
n
e
a
ra
C'est
'),
and
the
international
ism 'O.K.'
'isare' tne tags ',tnat^ere
Vfly l are
used t0 kee
P a
йа
88ш8
conversati n
on going:
l
»', 'see',
'you
know',
which
require a
standard
response.

79. 58
PRINCIPLES
The translator has to bear in mind the main differences between
speech and dialogue: speech has virtually no punctuation ('The
sentence is virtually irrelevant in speech': Sinclair et al., 1975), is
diffuse, and leaves semantic gaps filled by gesture and paralingual
features.
PUNCTUATION
Punctuation can be potent, but is so easily overlooked that I advise
translators to make a separate comparative punctuation check on their
version and the original. The succession of French dashes - to
indicate enumerations a, b, c, or 1, 2, 3, or dialogue inverted commas
(rarer in French than in English), or parenthesis (often translated by
brackets) is obvious. The use of semi-colons to indicate a number of
simultaneous events or activities, not isolated or important enough to
be punctuated by full stops or exclamation marks, is probably more
frequent in French and Italian than in English. The translator has to
make a conscious decision whether to drop or retain them. E. W.
Baldick, translating L'Education sentimentale, often drops them and
unnecessarily connects the sentences (in the name of good old
smoothness and naturalness), which, this being a 'sacred' text, is a
pity. However, perhaps this is a triviality? My question-mark here
indicates irony (I do not think it is a triviality), rather than doubt,
scepticism or enquiry. Again, a colon may be made more explicit and
improved, being translated as 'namely' or 'which includes', and
profuse exclamation marks may signal frustration, emotionalism or
limited powers of self-expression.
Punctuation is an essential aspect of discourse analysis, since it
gives a semantic indication of the relationship between sentences and
clauses, which may vary according to languages: e.g. French
suspension points indicate a pause, where in English they indicate the
omission of a passage; exclamation marks in German are used for
drawing attention, for emotive effects and emphasis, for titles of
notices (but no longer for 'Dear Mary', in letters) and may be
doubled; semi-colons indicate cohesion between sentences; French
tends to use commas as conjunctions.
SOUND-EFFECTS
Further, sound-effects, even at the level beyond the sentence, should
be taken into account, not only in poetry, but in jingles, where
succulent s's can sometimes be transferred, or in realistic narrative,
such as All Quiet on the Western Front, where the continual repetition
of sounds and syllables, zer- and ver- words and interjections has a
powerful effect. Thus: Granaten, Gasschwaden und Tankflotillen
-zerstampfen, zerfressen, Tod . . . Wiirgen, Verbrennen, Tod- 'Shells,
gas-clouds and flotillas of tanks - shattering, corroding, death, . . .
Scalding, choking, death' (trans. A. W. Wheen, 1931). Here the
translator has to some extent extended the sound, as he considered
this effect to be more important than the meaning of wiirgen and
verbrennen.
59 UNIT OF TRANSLATION AND DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
COHESION
Next we consider the relations between sentences. The most common
forms these take are connectives denoting addition, contradiction,
contrast, result, etc. These connectives are tricky when they are
polysemous, since they may have meanings contradicting each other,
e.g. cependant ('in the meantime', 'nevertheless'), inverse-ment, par
centre ('however', 'on the other hand'), d'autre part ('moreover', 'on
the other hand'), d'ailleurs ('besides', 'however'), toujours, encore
('always', 'nevertheless'), aussi ('therefore', 'consequently', 'also'), tout
en + present participle ('whilst', 'although', etc.); cf. 'still' pertanto
(It.), vse (R), zhe (R), 'why' ('for what reason', 'for what purpose', 'on
what ground'), 'so that', des lors, ('from then on', 'that being the case',
'consequently'), en effet.
German notably uses modal connectives (rnots-charnieres) such
as aber, also, derm, dock, schliesslich, eben, eigentlich, einfach,
etwa, gerade, halt, ja, mal, nun, schon, vielleicht, so uberhaupt,
bitte, bestimmt - all these in talk three times as often as in
newspapers and six times as often as in 'literature' (Helbig).
Normally, these words can only be over-translated and therefore they
are often rightly and deliberately omitted in translation: their purpose
is partly phatic, i.e. they are used partly to maintain the reader's or
listener's interest, usually with the nuance that the accompanying
information is just a reminder, they should know it already.
Note here English's tendency to turn SL complex into coordinate sentences on the lines of Si tu marches, je cours, 'You can
walk but I'll run.'
REFERENTIAL SYNONYMS
Sentences cohere through the use of referential synonyms, which
may be lexical, pronominal or general. Thus referential synonyms, as
in J'ai achete I'Huma: ce journal m'intiressait, may have to be
clarified: 'I bought Humanite. The paper interested me.' Note also
familiar alternatives as referential synonyms, such as 'The Emerald
Isle', 'John Bull's Other Country', 'the land of the shamrock' or 'of St

80. Patrick' (cf. 'Hibernian', 'Milesian'), or 'Napoleon', 'the Emperor',
'Boney', 4e Petit CaporaV, 'the Bastard', 'he' in more or less
consecutive sentences; SL pronouns and deictics including le
premier, le second (cf. 'the former', 'the latter') are often replaced by
English nouns, since the range of some English pronouns, (it, 'they',
'this one') is much wider than in languages with nouns split between
fwo or three genders. An example of mistranslation of pronouns is in
the Authorised Version, Isaiah 37,36: 'Then the angel of the Lord
went forth and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and
four score and five thousand. And when they arose early in the
morning, behold, they were all dead.' Today's English Version: An
Angel of the Lord went to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000
soldiers. At dawn the next day, there they lay, all dead.'
Note tale (It.), tel (Fr.) are also used as pronoun synonyms. Lastly,
words at
1 degrees of generality can be used to connect sentences, from
general words
Uhing', 'object', 'case', 'affair' (cf. Vetsh (Cz.) Makropoulos),
machin, true,

81. 60
PRINC
IPLES
UNIT OF TRANSLATION AND
DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
61
p
h
I
n
E
L
W
o
F
i
E
l
N
o
F
(
W
(
3
>
P
u
i
s
,
U
r
e
c
u
t
l
a
p
e
r
m
i
s
s
i
o
n
d
e
p
a
r
t
i
r
.

82. w
e
m
a
y
p
e
r
h
a
p
s
a
s
s
u
m
e
t
h
a
t
:
c
o
g
n
i
t
i
v
e
l
y
,
1
c
o
m
e
s
c
l
o
s
e
s
t
t
o
t
h
e
E
n
g
l
i
s
h
;
У
'
s
t
i
c
a
l
l
y
,
2
c
o
m
e
s
c
l
o
s
e
s
t;
f
u
n
c
ti
o
n
a
ll
y
,
3
c
o
m
e
s
c
l
o
s
e
s
t,
w
h
il
s
t
4
i
s
a
p
o
s
s
i
b
l
e

83. 63
62
PRINCIPLES
compromise. The translator therefore has to establish his priorities,
which he can do only by considering the text as a whole.
Both French and German have a tendency to put adverbials
(prepositional phrases) in the first position even when they are
rhematic:
En silence Us longerent encore deux pates de maisons - They
walked the next two blocks in silence - Schweigend gingen sie
an den nachsten Blocks entlang.
DerrUre ses lunettes, son visage rond itait encore enfantin - Her
round face was still childish behind her glasses - Hinter ihrer
Brille war ihr rundes Gesicht noch kindisch (adapted from
Guillemin-Flescher, 1981). (Cf. In diesen Gebieten nimtnt das
Saarland eine besondere Stellung - The Saarland occupies a
special position in these areas (adapted from Wilss, 1982).)
German has a tendency to start complex sentences with thematic
subordinate clauses, which are finally completed by a brief rhematic
main clause; English; reverses this sequence for the sake of clarity and
because, unlike German, it is not: used to waiting so long for the main
verb: Alles, was er ihr erzdhlte daruber . . . war ihr schon bekannt 'She already knew . . . everything he told her about this.'
Thus in considering the functional, semantic and syntactic
aspects of a] sentence, the translator may have to weigh the writer's
functional purposes against the particular language's word-order
tendencies (not rules).
One of Firbas's most important perceptions is to point out that
the nominal-isation of the verb has gone further in English than it has
in other languages. (I believe this is a general trend due to reification,
materialism, emphasis on objects rather than activities, etc.) In
particular, when a SL verb appears as rheme it is likely to be
translated in English as empty verb + verbal noun: elle rit- 'she gave a
laugh'; elle les entrevit - 'she caught a glimpse of them' to mark what
Nida (1975) calls a particularised event. However the tendency to use
verb-nouns as jargon, illustrated in Kenneth Hudson's 'The conversion
operation is of limited duration', i.e. 'It doesn't take long to convert
the equipment' (Hudson, 1979), which has gone far in English and
German, has to be resisted by the translator of any informative text,
unless it is an authoritative text where the form has to be reproduced
(i.e. a 'sacred' text). For this reason, there is a tension between
actualisation (verb), emphasis and jargon in the translation of, say, the
sentence La cuisine francaise apprecie depuis longtemps la saveur
delicate de I'ecrevisse (from Guillemin-Flescher, 1981):
69 'The delicate flavour of crayfish has long been appreciated in
French cooking.' (Actualisation.)
70 'With its delicate flavour, the crayfish has long found favour in
French cuisine.' (Emphasis on French cuisine.) (Emphasis on
'favour' can be increased by putting 'In French cuisine' at the
head of the sentence.)
71 'With its delicate flavour, the crayfish has long found
appreciation in French cooking.' (Jargon.)

84. UNIT OF TRANSLATION AND DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
Further aspects of FSP which are of interest to a translator are the
various devices for heightening or frustrating expectation, which may
differ in two languages. Thus in the sentence: 'There was an uproar in
the next room. A girl broke a vase' (Palkova and Palek; Dressier, 1981)
the translator may want to show whether the second event is the
explanation or the consequence of the first one. Longacre (Dressier,
1981) has pointed out that climax or 'peak' may be attained through
tense shifts (e.g. from past to historical present), which is more
common in French than in English, or from transition from indirect to
direct speech (probably common in many languages).
The presence of an 'expectancy chain' ('He killed, cooked and . . .
it'; 'he was hoping to succeed but he . . .') is more helpful to the
interpreter than to the translator, unless the gap is filled by a
neologism, which can then more easily be deciphered.
CONTRASTS
Climax or focus can also be marked by a negative-positive sequence,
where the negative is likely to introduce an opposite or a heightened
meaning. Again, this may be useful in assessing neologisms, or
unfindable words (I define these as words whose meaning, for any
reason whatsoever, escapes you): thus, 'not so much self-confidence as
triumphalism'; pas un bikini mais un tanga; 'it wasn't conviction, it
was mere tokenism'.
Less frequently, the contrast is from positive to negative, the
latter being signalled as exceptional: Lesous-marin a une
formeparfaitement hydrodynamique; seul le gouvernail fait saillie.
The contrast here is between 'smooth' and 'uneven' (Delisle, 1981).
Contrasts or oppositions are one of the most powerful cohesive
factors in discourse. When they introduce clauses (d'une part. . .
d'autre part, etc.) there is no problem, except to bear in mind that in
non-literary texts, si (F) or se (It.) usually translate as 'whilst',
'whereas', or 'although' rather than 'if. However, contrasts between
objects or actions are just as common. Take De Gaulle's La
diplomatic, sous des conventions de forme, ne connait que les
realites, where the main contrast between forme and les realites may
well be strengthened: 'Diplomacy, behind some conventions of form
(purely formal conventions), recognises only realities.' Or later: tant
que nous etions depourvus, nous pouvions emouvoir les hommes;
nous touchions peu les services. The oppositions between (a)
emouvoir and touchions peu and (b) les hommes and les services
indicate their meanings: 'As long as we were destitute, we could stir
men's emotions but we had no effect on government departments.'
Again, Mais aujourd'hui, Vunite franqaise renaissante, cela pese et
cela compte. Here there is balance rather than contrast, and as above
the shift from SL Verb to English empty verb plus verbal noun
strengthens the balance: 'But today, as French unity is reviving, that
counts and carries weight'. (Note again that

85. 64
PRINC
IPLES
UNIT OF TRANSLATION AND
DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
65
'
c
O
t
R
h
N
o
S
e
G
e
T
h
T
I
T
h
72 W
7
3
7
4
W
e
m
e
x
n
e
°
>
w
o

86. 66
PRINC
IPLES
UNIT OF TRANSLATION AND
DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
67
c
o
T
h
CONC
LUSIO
N
I
h
a
v
e
t
r
i
e
d
t
o
s
h
o
w
t
h
a
t
a
l
l
l
e
n
g
t
h
s
o
a
c

87. f
l
a
n
g
u
a
g
e
c
a
n
,
a
t
d
i
f
f
e
r
e
n
t
m
o
m
e
n
t
s
a
n
d
a
l
s
o
s
i
m
u
l
t
a
n
e
o
u
s
l
y
,
b
e
u
s
e
d
a
s
u
n
i
t
s
o
f
t
r
a
n
s
l
a
t
i
o
n
i
n
t
h
e
c
o
u
r
s
e
o
f
t
h
e
t
r
a
n
s
l
a
t
i
o
n

88. LITERAL
TRANSLATIO
N
69
C
L
T
o
n

89. ed
in
an
y
pl
ac
e
by
ap
pe
ali
ng
to
th
e
te
xt
as
an
ov
err
idi
ng
au
th
ori
ty.
Th
e
pr
ev
ail
in
g
ort
ho
do
xy
is
lea
di
ng
to
th
e
rej
ect
io
n
of
lit
er
al
tra
nsl
ati
on
as
a
le
git
im
ate
tra
nsl
ati
on
pr
oc
ed
ur
e.
Th
us
Ne
ub
ert
(1
98
3)
sta
tes
th
at
on
e
w
or
d
of
an
SL
te
xt
an
da
TL
w
o
r
I
n
Le
s
aut
res
pa
ys
ont
au
gm
ent
s
leu
rs
de
pe
ns
es
pu
bli
qu
es
rel
ati
ves
a
I'e
ns
eig
ne
me
nt
su
pe
rie
ur
plu
s
qu
e
la
Gr
an
deBr
eta
gn
e
pe
nd
ant
les
an
nie
s
19
68
19
70.
(L
e
tau
x
mo
ye
n
d'a
ccr
ois
seme
nt
an
nu
el
de
s
de
pe
ns
es
rel
ati
ves
a
I'e
ns
eig
ne
me
nt
su
pe
rie
ur
est
24,
71
en
Fr
an
ce,
18,
07
au
Ja
po
n,
28,

90. 0
9
e
n
S
u
e
d
e,
m
a
ts
s
e
u
le
m
e
n
t
8,
1
2
e
n
G
r
a
n
d
e
B
r
et
a
g
n
e.
)
M
a
is
n
o
ir
e
p
o
u
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e
d
u
P
N
B
c
o
n
s
a
c
r
e
a
u
x
d
e
p
e
n
s
e
s
d
a
n
s
I'
e
n
s
ei
g
n
e
m
e
n
t
s
u
p
e
ri
e
u
r
e
st
q
u
a
n
d
mi
me
plu
s
gr
an
d
qu
e
cel
ui
de
pre
sq
ue
tou
s
no
s
voi
sm
s.
Th
e
oth
er
cou
ntri
es
hav
e
inc
rea
sed
thei
r
pu
blic
exp
end
itur
e
rela
tive
to
hig
her
edu
catio
n
mo
re
tha
n
Gre
at
Bri
tain
in
the
yea
rs
196
870.
(Th
e
ave
rag
e
ann
ual
inc
rea
se
in
exp
end
itur
e
rela
tive
to
hig
her
edu
cati
on
is
24.
71
in
Fra
nce
,
18.
07
in
Jap
an,
28.
09
in
Sw
ede
n,
but
onl
y

91. 8.
1
2
in
G
re
at
B
rit
ai
n.
)
B
ut
o
ur
pe
rc
en
ta
ge
of
G
N
P
de
v
ot
ed
to
ex
pe
n
di
tu
re
o
n
hi
g
he
r
ed
uc
at
io
n
is
ne
ve
rt
he
le
ss
gr
ea
te
r
th
an
th
at
of
al
m
os
t
al
l
o
ur
ne
ig
h
b
o
ur
s.
I
d
o
no
t
thi
nk
th
e
Fr
en
ch
tra
nsl
ati
on
co
ul
d
be
im
pr
ov
ed
on
,
alt
ho
ug
h
y

92. al
tra
nsl
ati
on
is
co
rre
ct
an
d
m
us
t
no
t
be
av
oi
de
d,
if
it
se
cu
re
s
ref
er
en
tia
l
an
d
pr
ag
m
ati
c
eq
ui
va
le
nc
e
to
th
e
ori
gi
na
l.
he
m
e
a
T
b
e

93. ter
of
th
e
pa
ss
ag
e.
Th
us
in
de
rri
er
e
lui
un
ga
rq
on
di
str
ib
ua
it
po
mt
ne
s
ris
so
le
es
et
pe
tit
s
po
is,
th
e
ve
rb
di
str
ib
ua
it
is
m
or
e
lik
el
y
to
be
'w
as
gi
vi
ng
ou
t'
(fr
ie
d
po
tat
oe
s
an
d
pe
as)
th
an
'w
as
dis
tri
bu
tin
g'
w
hi
ch
so
un
ds,
ex
ce
pt
in
so
m
e
idi
o
l
r
,

94. at
ot
he
r
co
llo
cat
io
ns
als
o
off
er
alt
er
na
tiv
es:
for
vi
vr
es,
'di
str
ib
ut
e'
or
'sh
ar
e
ou
t';
co
ur
tie
r,
'de
liv
er'
or
'ha
nd
ou
t';
or
dr
es,
'gi
ve'
or
'de
al
ou
t';
ca
rte
s,
'de
al'
or
'de
al
ou
t';
ar
ge
nt,
'di
str
ib
ut
e'
or
'ha
nd
ro
un
d';
ro
le,
'as
sig
n'
or
'gi
ve
ou
t'.
W
hil
st
th
e
se
co
nd
alt
e
r
t
h
I

95. m
ma
r
an
d
wo
rd
or
der
,
as
we
ll
as
the
pri
ma
ry
me
ani
ng
s
of
all
the
SL
wo
rds
,
int
o
the
tra
nsl
ati
on,
an
d
it
is
no
rm
all
y
eff
ect
ive
onl
y
for
bri
ef
si
mp
le
ne
utr
al
se
nte
nc
es:
'H
e
wo
rks
in
the
ho
us
e no
w',
i/
tra
va
ill
e
da
ns
la
m
ais
on
m
ai
nt
en
an
t.
In
on
etoon
e
tra
nsl
L
i
t

96. ral
tra
nsl
ati
on
ra
ng
es
fro
m
on
e
wo
rd
to
on
e
wo
rd
('h
all'
,
Sa
al,
sa
lle
,
sa
la,
га
Г
)
thr
ou
gh
gr
ou
p
to
gr
ou
p
(u
n
be
au
jar
di
n,
'a
be
aut
ifu
l
ga
rd
en'
,
ei
n
sc
ho
ne
r
G
ar
te
n),
col
loc
ati
on
to
col
loc
ati
on
('
ma
ke
a
sp
ee
ch'
, /
air
e
un
di
sc
ou
rs)
,
cla
us
e
to
cla
us
68

97. 70
PRINCIPLES
out' (but apre son depart, 'after his departure'), since it can be flexible
with grammar whilst it keeps the same 'extra-contextual' lexis. Thus,
'literally', arbre is 'tree' not 'shaft', but words like aufheben,
einstellen, Anlage have no literal translation. Here, as in many other
cases, my definitions are 'operational' to suit translation discussion
(rather than theory), not 'rigorous' or 'exhaustive' (and so on) to suit
linguistics.
I believe literal translation to be the basic translation procedure,
both in communicative and semantic translation, in that translation
starts from there. However, above the word level, literal translation
becomes increasingly difficult. When there is any kind of translation
problem, literal translation is normally (not always) out of the
question. It is what one is trying to get away from, yet one sometimes
comes back to it with a sigh; partly because one has got used to the
sound of what at first seemed so strange and unnatural; beware of
this. Une tentation cuisante: can you get nearer than a 'painful' or an
'intense' temptation? 'Burning temptation' is the nearest, it is still not
literal. Literal translation above the word level is the only correct
procedure if the SL and TL meaning correspond, or correspond more
closely than any alternative; that means that the referent and the
pragmatic effect are equivalent, i.e. that the words not only refer to
the same 'thing' but have similar associations (Mama, 'mum'; le prof,
'the prof) and appear to be equally frequent in this type of text;
further, that the meaning of the SL unit is not affected by its context
in such a way that the meaning of the TL unit does not correspond to
it. Normally, the more specific or technical a word, the less it is likely
to be affected by context. Further, a common object will usually have
a one-to-one literal translation if there is cultural overlap, though
most languages have strange lexical gaps (e.g. 'fingers', 'waist',
'knuckles', 'shins'). A term for a common object sometimes has other
common senses ('bank', 'peace') - so that language, particularly in
English with its monosyllables, appears inefficient.
THE TRANSLATION OF POETRY
The translation of poetry is the field where most emphasis is
normally put on the creation of a new independent poem, and where
literal translation is usually condemned. Thus Rose Marilyn Gaddis,
in her stimulating paper on Walter Benjamin (1982) demonstrating
Stefan George's superiority over Benjamin as a translator of
Baudelaire's Recueillement, states that 'Benjamin's German
translation goes into literal English more easily than George's, and is
not far removed seman-tically from a literal plain prose English
translation of the original' and 'Whereas Benjamin is working with
the word, George works with a larger prosodic unit.'
I agree that George is the better translator - in my experience, the
greatest of all translators of poetry - but what I want to demonstrate is
that he is more literal in his translation of the words as well as the
structures. Compare George's title Sammlung with Benjamin's
Vorbereitung: Benjamin's is way out, George's is materially and
figuratively close. Compare the two opening lines:

98. LITERAL TRANSLATION
/
7
Sois sage О ma douleur, et tiens-toi plus
tranquille (Baudelaire) Set ruhig, О mein kid,
und klage schwdcher (George) Gemach mein
Schmerz und rege du dich minder (Benjamin)
Tu reclamais le Soir; il descend; le
void: (Baudelaire) Du riefst den abend
nieder, sieh er kam! (George) Der
Abend den du anriefst sinkt und gliickt
(Benjamin)
Both lexically and grammatically, George's openings are nearer
to Baudelaire than Benjamin's: even ruhig is closer to sage than is
gemach. Again compare George's:
Dem einen bringt er run, dem
anderen gram (Aux uns portant
la paix, aux autres le souci)
with Benjamin's:
Die jenen friedlich macht und
den bedruckt George's:
Mein leid, gib mir die hand von
ihnen fem (Ma Douleur donne-moi
la main; viens par id)
with Benjamin's:
Gib mir die Hand mein Schmerz lass uns entriickt
and finally George's:
Horch, leure! horch! die nacht die
leise schrdtet! (Entends, ma chere,
entends la douce Nuit qui marche)
with Benjamin's:
Vernimm vernimm sie doch die siisse Nacht die schrdtet.
The word- and clause-order correspondence in George and
Baudelaire is striking.
Purely lexically, George has der sterblichen for des Mortels
(Benjamin: der Menschenkinder); gemeiner for vile (taub); toten for
defuntes (alten); verblichenen for surannees (no word); Reue for
Regret (Verzicht!); wassern for eaux (Flut!); sterben for moribund
(nothing); langes for long (nothing).
Reading George's translations, I am constantly impressed by his
attempts at "teralness, the fact that he abandons literalness only when
he has to. Similarly, Leyris's Hopkins is a miracle of literal
translation; the strength of Michael Hamburger's translation of
Celan's Corona is in its closeness, and he has it easier Slnce he is not
constrained by rhyme or metre. Inevitably, when I look more closely

99. 72
PRINCIPLES
at a good translation of poetry, I find many points of divergence, and
what appeared to me a literal translation and attractive for that reason
(the truth, not the cosmetic) is not one. For me, a translation can be
inaccurate, it can never be too literal. (The reason why destine a is
not normally translated as 'destined for' is not that the latter is too
literal, but because destine a is: (a) current; (b) a loose connective;
and 'destined for' is: (a) heavy; (b) fateful; (c) not common.)
If translation is to be regarded - if only partially - as 'scientific',
it has to: (a) reduce its options to the taste area; (b) in claiming
accuracy and economy as its main aims, reject both the open choices
and the random paraphrasing of free translation; (c) eliminate the
universal negative connotations of and prejudices against literal
translation.
Ordinary or conversational language however must always be
translated by ordinary or conversational language, and this is rarely
literal translation. Quand il penetra dans Г Hotel Mdtignon, il dit:
'Avec nous, c'est le peuple qui entre ici.' ('When he entered the Hotel
Matignon, he said: "With us, it's the people taking over here.'")
FAITHFUL AND FALSE FRIENDS
However, my main point is that we must not be afraid of literal
translation, or, in particular, of using a TL word which looks the same
or nearly the same as the SL word. At school and university I was
told I must never do this, but 'theatre' is theatre is Theater is teatro is
teatr; only in Czech is it divadlo (the same applies to 'music', where
the Czech is hudba). The translation of objects and movements is
usually more literal than that of qualities and ways of moving. Many
common adjectives of feeling cut up meaning in their own way, so
that we cannot trust a transparent translation of 'sincere', 'loyal',
'trivial', 'important', 'truculent', 'brutal'; only one or two like
'excellent' and 'marvellous' are usually transparent. And again, the
more general and abstract words ('phenomenon', 'element', 'affair')
may or may not be translated transparently; there is often a shift at
that abstract level {qualiti as 'property') but the translation is still
usually one-to-one. In general, there are more faithful friends than
faux amis, and we must not hesitate to use them, since any other
translation is usually wrong. This presupposes that, in context, the
readership of О and T have similar interest and language levels.
Otherwise the translation may well be different.
Many theorists believe that translation is more a process of
explanation, interpretation and reformulation of ideas than a
transformation of words; that the role of language is secondary, it is
merely a vector or carrier of thoughts. Consequently, everything is
translatable, and linguistic difficulties do not exist. This attitude,
which slightly caricatures the Seleskovitch School (ESIT, Paris), is
the opposite of the one stating that translation is impossible because
all or most words have different meanings in different languages, i.e.
all words are culture-specific and, to boot, each language has its
peculiar grammar. My position is that

100. LITERAL TRANSLATION
73
everything is translatable up to a point, but that there are often
enormous difficulties.
WORDS IN THEIR CONTEXT
All the same, we do translate words, because there is nothing else to
translate; there are only the words on the page; there is nothing else
there. We do not translate isolated words, we translate words all
more or less (and sometimes less rather than more, but never not at
all) bound by their syntactic, collocational, situational, cultural and
individual idiolectal contexts. That is one way of looking at translation, which suggests it is basically lexical. This is not so. The basic
thought-carrying element of language is its grammar. But since the
grammar is expressed only in words, we have to get the words right.
The words must stretch and give only if the thought is threatened.
I am not making any plea for literal or one-to-one translation,
since, if it is translationese (and there is far too much translationese
published), it is wrong. But the re-creative part of translation is often
exaggerated, and the literal part underestimated, particularly in
literary translation, but also in other types of texts which have
nothing linguistically wrong with them, which are competently
written.
Take the following extracts from an advertisement by Bendicks
Ltd, where we might expect the widest divergences:
(1A) 'B are a unique confection, often copied, never equalled.' (IB)
В sont de confection unique, souvent imites mais jamais igalis,
(1С) / cioccolatini В sono un prodotto senza eguale spesso imitato,
mai eguagliato. (ID) Bistein einzigartigerKonfekt,
deroftnachgeahmtabernienachgemachtworden ist.
(2A) 'Blended together they provide a very distinctive and widely
appreciated
example of the chocolatier's art.' (2B) Ce melange est I'exemple
tris distingue el largement apprecie de I'art du
chocolatier. (2C) La lorofusione e un perfetto esempio dell'arte
distintiva e vastamente apprezzata
del cioccolatiere. (2D) - ein ausgezeichnetes und weithin
geschatztes Beispielfachlichen Konnens.
One notices first how close these translations are; and they
could even be closer, being in some cases elegant (and unnecessary)
variations on the original, which is presumably English (e.g., maw in
IB; senza eguale in 1С, which is blurred by mai eguagliato).
Secondly, syntactical changes in the translation appear to be
Precipitated by the lack of a suitable word for 'blend'. Again, as
German cannot risk chocolatier (a pity), it has recourse to the more
generic fachlich ('professional'), ^erman also introduces an effective
word-play (nachgeahmt, nachgemacht) which alters and improves
the sense of the English. (Nachmachen means both 'to make up'

101. 74
PRINC
IPLES
LITERAL
TRANSLATIO
N
75
a
E
L
i
Be
ndi
cks
of
Ma
yfa
ir
hav
e
est
abl
ish
ed
a
rep
uta
tio
n
res
pec
ted
thr
ou
gh
out
the
wo
rld
for
the
ma
nuf
act
ure
of
cho
col
ate
con
fec
tio
ner
y
of
the
hig
hes
t
qua
lity
.
'Be
ndi
cks
of
Ma
yfa
ir'
ont
eta
bli
le
w
rep
uta
tio
n,
rec
on
nu
e
da
ns
le
mo
nd
e
ent
ier,
po
ur
la
co
nfe
cti
on
de
ch
oc
ola
ts
de
la
plu
s
ha

102. ute
qu
alit
e.
a
T
I
f
'
O
T
N
o
H
S

103. 76
PRINCIPLES
LITERAL
TRANSLATIO
N
77
w
o
N
o
A
L
I
n
e
Qu
e
ce
soit
vot
re
pre
mie
re
ou
voi
re
cin
qu
ant
iem
e
visi
te
en
Gr
an
deBre
tag
ne,
par
ion
s
que
,
ava
nt
la
fin
de
laj
ou
me
e,
vou
s
n'a
ure
z
pas
ma
nq
ue
de
re
ma

104. rquer mille curiosites
nouvelles, typiques du
pays
el
de
ses
habitants.
Ob Du Grofibritannien
гит ersten oder sum
funfzigsten
Mai
besuchst, wetten wir,
dafi Du jeden Tag
immer
noch
neue
Besonderheiten
bei
Land
und
Leuten
entdeckst.
LITERARY
TRANSLATION
It is ironical that modern
literary translators, reacting
against a stiff and literary
style, a 'periphrastic study in
a worn-out poetical fashion',
as T. S. Eliot put it in East
Coker, should neglect 'the
intolerable wrestle with
words
and
meanings',
should continually pursue
what is to them more
natural, more colloquial,
more easy, more relaxed,
than the original, which was
not particularly relaxed
anyway,
for
example,
translating ilfaisait chaud as
'it was a blazing hot
afternoon'; le soleil incendie
les maisons trop seches, 'the
sun bakes the houses bonedry'; d'aspect tranquille as 'a
smug and placid air'; un lieu
neutre as 'a negative place'.
What is the reason for this?
Certainly not the translators'
deficient knowledge of
French
(ignorance
of
German is more common);
they are often bilingual,
perhaps anxious to transfer
their own colloquial, easy,
non-academic,
non-bogus
French to their English
translation. One reason,
then, is their relish for racy,
earthy, idiomatic English,
which is in flagrant contrast
with a neutral original.
THE SUB-TEXT
Another reason may be the
search for the 'hidden
agenda', the pursuit of the
sub-text, the awareness that
when, for instance, the
Mayor in Ibsen's An Enemy
of the People says: 'We have
our splendid new Baths.
Mark my words! The
prosperity of the town will
come to depend more and
more on the Baths. No doubt
about it', he is expressing his
belief in progress and the
established order, which he
will support even when he
learns that it is corrupt,
rather than just praising the
new baths.
Michael Meyer (1974)
has made much of the
concept of the 'sub-text',
what is «nplied but not said,
the meaning behind the
meaning. 'Ibsen', he writes,
'is a supreme master of the
sub-text; almost all his main
characters
are
deeply
inhibited People, and at
certain crises they are
brought to bay with what
they fear, and talk evasively,
saying one thing but
meaning another. To an
intelligent reader, the true
leaning behind the meaning
is
cl
ea
r,
an
d
th
e
tra
ns
lat
or
m
us
t
w
or
d
th
e
se
nt
en
ce
in
su
ch
a
w
ay
th
at
th
e
su
bte
xt
is
eq
ua
lly
cl
ea
r
in
En
gli
sh.
'
th
^C
a
^
ove
stat
eme
nt
is
m
fact
a
Pl
e
a
fo
r
a
c
c
ur
a
c
y,
a
n
d
th
e
i
m
pl
ic
at
io
n
is
th
at
Пе
tr
a
n
sl
at
or
s
h
o
ul
d
n
ot
g
o
b

105. PRINCIP
LES 78
sub-text to the status of the text. Meyer complains of a previous
version of Little Eyolf that the translator 'had repeatedly got the literal
meaning and missed the real point, translated the text but missed the
sub-text'; however, it suggests to i me that this translator, like the
legendary William Archer, had gone wrong not so much in being too
literal (unless he had misunderstood metaphors, idioms, colloquial
language, phaticisms, cultural references) as in translating Norwegian
'ordinary' language by cumbersome, outdated, bookish language
(slightly outdated language is usually comic anyway). Certainly
Meyer's own merit as a translator is in his economy rather than his
accuracy. (These are to my mind the main purposes of a translation,
but accuracy should come first.) One small example: Archer: 'Yes, you
remember. Won't you be good enough to give him a friendly talking to
and perhaps you can make some impression on him.' Meyer: 'You remember? Perhaps you'd give him a friendly talking to - that might
have some
effect.'
Thus the tautness of dialogue. The dramatist can say in five lines
what the
novelist needs a page for, as Terence Rattigan said to Meyer.
The concept of the sub-text is a useful variant term for the
function or the intention of a text, the thin thread which the translator
has to pursue throughout his work. But the concept is dangerous and
misleading if the sub-text starts to obtrude on the text; put differently,
if the description, or the surface text, is partially or wholly replaced
by the function, the deep structure of the text, the symbol by its
meaning, and so on. You cannot normally translate 'When his father
died his mother couldn't afford to send him to Eton any more' by Als
sein Vater starb, konnte seine Mutter es sich nicht mehr leisten, ihn
aufeine der teuren Privatschulen zu schicken (Honig and Kussmaul,
1982). Now, I am not suggesting that a literal translation - transferring
Eton without stating its function - is adequate for an average German
readership, though for an educated one it should be enough. But Eton
is an essential element of the translation, and Eton's function (the
most prestigious school in the UK) is inadequately stated. Thus subtext as a reason for embroidering on the original will not stand. If
someone says one thing while he means another, that is a
psychological feature that has to be cleanly translated; it must be
equally inhibited or concealed in the translation; it may or may not be
culturally induced, but, linguistically, the translation is not affected,
must not be tampered with.
THE NOTION OF THE NO-EQUIVALENT' WORD
The difficulties of literal translation are often highlighted not so
much by linguistic or referential context as by the context of a
cultural tradition. Bagehot wrote about 130 years ago that
'Language is the tradition of nations . . . people repeat phrases
inculcated by their fathers, true in the time of their fathers but now
no longer true.
If you consider Faust's famous struggle to translate the word
logos, a word that is virtually context-free, and therefore has to be
translated for itselt

106. LITERAL TRANSLATION
/У
(Weinrich's notorious slogan 'Words are untranslatable, texts can
always be translated' - see his brilliant book Linguistik der Luge - is
salutary but sometimes the reverse of the truth), how Faust moves
hesitantly and subjectively from Wort ('word'), Sinn ('sense', 'meaning',
'thought'), Kraft ('strength', 'power', 'force') to finally Tat ('deed', 'fact',
'action', 'activity') and making his own comments quite independently
of the Greek or the referential truth ('I can't possibly rate the Word as
highly as that -1 must translate it differently, if only my mind will
make it clear to me, so I'll write "sense", "meaning" and I have to think
carefully, I'll have to think that line out again, not be over-hasty, can it
be "sense" which makes and produces everything, I'll write "force"
("strength", "power") but as I write that, something is warning me I
can't stay with that, so I can safely write "deed", "act", "action"') - all
this illustrates a painful struggle with four key words, one of which,
Kraft according to Gadamer (1976), is conditioned, not by its context
in the play or the New Testament, but by its past - its connection with
Newtonian physics and its development (integration) in the German
public consciousness by Ottinger and Herder: 'the concept of force was
made comprehensible on the basis of the living experience of force. As
this integration occurred, the technical concept grew into the German
language and was individualized to the point of becoming
untranslatable.'
To write off as 'untranslatable' a word whose meaning cannot be
rendered literally and precisely by another word is absurd, particularly
when it could at least be better delineated by componential analysis
into four or five words, though as a footnote, not in the text of the play.
Looking at translation in an ideal sense, Gadamer has pointed out that
'no translation can replace the original . . . the translator's task is never
to copy what is said, but to place himself in the direction of what is
said (i.e. in its meaning) in order to carry over what is to be said into
the direction of his own saying'. Again, this reliance on the vouloirdire and the significance of what the SL text deliberately left unsaid
can be dangerous, and applies only to the most difficult texts, where
some kind of interpretation and hermeneutics are essential if the
translator is to be active, to 'become again the one saying the text'.
Here the moment of period and time, as well as the translator's
personality, the judgments he has made in the course of his emotional
and intellectual development, the pre-judgments (Vorurteile) and
preconceptions with which he meets a particular problem (after a year,
he will translate the same text in a different way: is this chance or
personal change?) - all this is important when one considers translating
texts that appear to be on the borders of language and thought, and the
struggle is with grammar as well as words, the nuances of mood
(modals), and time (tense) and duration (aspect).
But in the vast majority of cases, Gadamer is not going to help the
translator at all. His statement 'No translation is as understandable as the
original' is mis-eading. Many translations have been and are a good,
simple introduction, a lead-in nto the original - particularly
translations of languages such as German with an artificial word-order
inflicted on them by their scribes, their clercs, i.e. the in fact °n-SVO
(subject-verb-object) languages, which postpone the lexical elements
of

107. 80
PRINC
IPLES
t
h
M
A
t
r
a
n
s
l
a
t
o
r
w
i
t
h
h
i
s
e
y
e
o
n
h
i
s
r
e
a
d
e
r
s
h
i
p
i
s
l
i
k
e
l
y
t
o
u
n
d
e
r
t
r
a
n
s
l
a
t
e
,
t
o
u
s
e
m
o
r
e
g
e
n

108. A
H
a
l
f
t
h
e
m
i
s
u
n
d
e
r
s
t
a
n
d
i
n
g
a
b
o
u
t
t
r
a
n
s
l
a
t
i
o
n
i
n
B
r
i
t
a
i
n
i
s
d
u
e
t
o
t
h
e
f
a
c
t
t
h
a
t
s
o
m
a
n
y
t
e
a
c
h
e
r
s
a
n
S
L
t
e
l
l
w
o
r
d
t
h
e
i
r
b
y
p
u
p
i
l
s
t
o
a
v
o
i
d
t
r
a
n
s
l
a
t
i
n
g
a
s
i
m
i
l
a
r
l
o
o
k
i
n
g
T
L
w
o
r
d
w
h
e
n

109. e
v
e
r
p
o
s
s
i
b
l
e
.
T
h
u
s
t
h
e
p
u
p
i
l
s
e
x
p
a
n
d
t
h
e
i
r
T
L
v
o
c
a
b
u
l
a
r
y
a
n
d
d
i
s
t
o
r
t
t
h
e
i
r
t
r
a
n
s
l
a
t
i
o
n
s
.
T
h
e
O
t
h
e
r
T
r
a
n
s
l
a
t
i
o
n
P
r
o
c
e
d
u
r
e
s
T
81

110. 82
PRINC
IPLES
THE OTHER
TRANSLATION
PROCEDURES
83
w
T
h
I
n
I
n
T
h
T
T
c
T
A
T
l

111. 84
PRINC
IPLES
THE OTHER
TRANSLATION
PROCEDURES
85
'
k
I
A
T
I
nnter
I
nati
onal
orga
nisat
ions
are
ofte
n
kno
wn
by
their
acro
nym
s,
whi
ch
may
r
e
F
(
g

112. u
a
)
;
T
r
e
r
i
a
l
a
r
e
a
p
t
t
o
p
u
l
l
u
l
a
t
e
w
i
t
h
i
n
c
o
r
r
e
c
t
t
h
r
o
u
g
h
t
r
a
n
s
l
a
t
i
o
n
s
:
'
h
i
g
h
e
s
t
f
l
o
u
r
i
s
h
i
n
g
'
,
'
p
r
o
g
r
a
m
m
e
building'
,
etc,
which
are
evidence
of
translatio
nese.
Nor
mally,
throughtranslati
ons
should
be used
only
when
they are
already
recognis
ed terms.
SHIFTS
OR
TRANS
POSITI
ONS
A 'shift'
(Catford'
s term)
or
'transpos
ition'
(Vinay
and
Darbelne
t) is a
translatio
n
procedur
e
involvin
g
a
change
in
the
grammar
from SL
to TL.
One
type, the
change
from
singular
to plural,
e.g.
'furniture
';
des
meubles;
'applause
',
des
applaudi
ssements;
'advice',
des
conseils;
or in the
position
of
the
adjective
:
la
maison
blanche,
'the
white
house' is
automati
c
and
offers
the
translato
r
no
choice.
A
second
type of
shift is
required
when an
SL
grammat
ical
structure
does not
exist in
the TL.
H
e
I

113. 86
PRINC
IPLES
THE OTHER
TRANSLATION
PROCEDURES
87
T
h
T
h
I
n
7
7
6
7
7
8
7
9
8
0
H
F
81 S
82 S
8
84 3
S
85 L
S
8
87 6
S
88 L
S
V
uarry wei
c
S
L
e e ready'
b
T
C
A
A
gro
up
of
typi
cal
tran
spo
siti
ons
cen
tre
on
a
Ro
ma
nce
lan
gua
ge
sub
ject
:
>

114. 88
PRINC
IPLES
THE OTHER
TRANSLATION
PROCEDURES
89
89 С
е
9
0
T
r
V
A
s
77
n'a
pas
hes
ite 'He
acte
d at
onc
e'
II
n'es
t
pas
lac
he 'He
is
extr
eme
ly
bra
ve'
Y
I
n
c
a
V
i
T
h
O
f
Y
o
}
m
s
У
о
a
s
e
r
(
^
e
.
e
o
r
s
s
P
'

115. 90
PRINCIPLES
-^E OTHER
TRANSLATION
PROCEDURES
91
T
T
T
T
T
91 S
92 F
o
T
(1) V
D

116. a
matter
of
cultural
equivalence, such as 'Dear
Sir' translated as Monsieur,
'Yours ever' as Amities.
Both
the
above
illuminate what sometimes
happens in the process of
translating, but they are not
usable procedures.
As I see it, there are
about fourteen procedures
within a certain range of
probability which are useful
to the translator.
translations!
You will note my
reluctance to list 'paraphrase'
as a translation procedure,
since the word is often used
to describe free translation.
If it is used in the sense of
the minimal recasting of an
ambiguous
or
obscure
sentence, in order to clarify
it', I accept it.
COUPLETS
Lastly, here are some
suggestions about 'Notes'
(when and when not to use
them)
or
supplying
additional information in a
translation.
The
additional
information a translator may
have to add to his version is
normally
cultural
(accounting for difference
between SL and TL culture),
technical (relating to the
topic)
or
linguistic
(explaining wayward use of
words), and is
ePendent
on
the
requirement of his, as
opposed to the original,
readership. In e*Pressive
texts, such information can
normally only be given
outside the version, a
though brief 'concessions'
for minor cultural details
can be made to the reader,
^•8- perhaps by translating
Hemingway's 'at Handley's'
by dans le bar Handley, in
erHandleyBar,
etc.
In
vocative
texts,
TL
information tends to replace
rather than suPplement SL
Couplets,
triplets,
quadruplets combine two,
three or four of the abovementioned
procedures
respectively for dealing with
a single problem. They are
particularly common for
cultural
words,
if
transference is combined
with a functional or a
cultural equivalent. You can
describe them as two or
more bites at one cherry.
Quadruplets are only
used for metalingual words:
thus, if you translate the
sentence: 'The nominal-tng
clause, a participial clause,
occurs in the subject
position', apart from a more
or less literal translation of
'nominal-tng clause', you
might also: (a) transfer it;
(b) explain, in an adjectival
clause, that the present
participle is used as a kind
of gerund in English; (c)
produce a translation label;
(d) give an example, with
TL literal and functional
NOTES, ADDITIONS,
GLOSSES
informat
ion.
Thus if
you
translate
'you can
pay for
ceramic
tiles

117. 92
PRINC
IPLES
THE OTHER
TRANSLATION
PROCEDURES
93
u
nd
A
diti
ona
l
inf
or
ma
tio
n
in
the
tra
nsl
ati
on
ma
y
tak
e
var
iou
s
for
ms:
(
93 A
s
a
n
a
lt
e
r
n
a
ti
v
e
t
o
t
h
e
tr
a
n
sl
a
t
e
d
w
o
r
d
:
e
.
g
.,
l
a
g
a
b
e
ll
e
b
e
c
o
m
e
s
't
h
e
g
a
b
e
ll
e
,
o
r
s
a
lt
t

118. a
x
'.
94 A
s
a
n
a
d
j
e
c
ti
v
a
l
c
l
a
u
s
e
:
e
.
g
.,
l
a
t
a
il
l
e
b
e
c
o
m
e
s
'l
a
t
a
il
l
e
,
w
h
i
c
h
w
a
s
t
h
e
o
l
d
l
e
v
y
r
a
is
e
d
i
n
f
e
u
d
a
l
ti
m
e
s
fr
o
m
t
h
e
c
i
v
il
i
a
n
p
o
p
ul
at
io
n'
.
9
5
A
s
a
n
o
u
n
in
a
p
p
o
si
ti
o
n:
e.
g.
,
le
s
tr
a
it
e
s
b
e
c
o
m
es
't
h
e
tr
a
it
e
s,
c
u
st
o
m
s
d
u
es
96 A
s
a
p
ar
ti
ci
pi
al
gr
o
u
p:
e.
g.
,
I'
o
ct
r
oi
b
e
c
o
m
es
'V
o
ct
r
oi
,
ta
x
es
i
m
p
os
ed
on
fo
od
stu
ffs
an
d
wi
ne
en
ter
in
g
th
e
to
w
n'.
97 In
br
ac
ke
ts,
oft
en
for
a
lit
er
al
tra
nsl
ati
on
of
a
tra
ns
fer
re
d
w
or
d:
e.g
.
da
s
K
o
m
bi
na
t
be
co
me
s
'th
e
ko
m
bi
na
t
(a
"c
o
m
bi
ne
"
or
"tr
ust
")'.
98 In
pa
re
nt
he
se
s,
th
e
lo
ng
est
for
m
of
ad
dit
io
n:
e.g
.,
a
i
d
e
s
b
e
c
o
m
e
s
'
a
i
d
e
s
-t
h
e
s
e
a
r
e
e
x
c
is
e
d
u
e
s
o
n
s
u
c
h
t
h
i
n
g
s
a
s
d
ri
n
k
s,
t
o
b
a
c
c
o
,
ir
o
n
,
p
r
e
c
i
o
u
s
m
e
t
a
ls
a
n
d
l
e
a
t
h
e
r
w
e
r
e
i
m
p

119. o
s
e
d
i
n
t
h
e
e
i
g
h
t
e
e
n
t
h
c
e
n
t
u
r
y
'.
9
9
C
l
a
s
si
fi
e
r:
e
.
g
.,
S
p
e
y
e
r,
't
h
e
c
it
y
o
f
S
p
e
y
e
r,
i
n
W
e
st
G
e
r
m
a
n
y'
.
R
oun
d
brac
kets
shou
ld
incl
ude
mate
rial
that
is
part
of
the
trans
latio
n.
Use
squar
e
brac
kets
to
make
corre
ction
s of
mate
rial
or
mora
l fact
wher
e
appr
opria
te
withi
n the
text.
W
here
possi
ble,
the
addit
ional
infor
mati
on
shou
ld be
inser
ted
withi
n the
text,
since
this
does
not
interr
upt
the
reade
r's
flow
of
atten
tion
trans
lator
s
tend
to
negle
ct
this
meth
od
too
often
.
How
ever,
its
disad
vanta
ge is
that
it
blurs
the
disti
nctio
n
betw
een
the
text
and
the
trans
lator'
s
contr
ibuti
on,
and
it
ca
nn
ot
be
us
ed
fo
r
le
ng
th
y
ad
dit
io
ns.
100 N
otes at
bottom
of page.
101 N
otes at
end of
chapter.
102 N
otes or
glossary
at end of
book.
The
remainin
g
methods
(2-4) are
placed in
order of
preferenc
e,
but
notes at
the
bottom
of
the
page
become
a
nuisance
when
they are
too
lengthy
and
numerou
s; notes
at
the
back of
the book
should
be
reference
d
with
the book
page
numbers
at the top
too
often I
find
myself
reading a
note
belongin
g to the
wrong
chapter.
Notes at
the end
of
the
chapter
are often
irritating
if
the
chapters
are long
since
they take
too long
to find.
Nor
mally,
any
informati
on you
find in a
reference
book
should
n
o
s

120. I
f
w
h

121. TRANSLATION
AND CULTURE
95
C
T
I
f
r