Translation Theories, Strategies And Basic Theoretical Issues By Prof. A. B. As-Safi Petra University
To my beloved wife, a!aa
"ontents Page Preface################.####...iv Part $ne% Preliminaries, Theories & Strategies#........
"ha'ter $ne% Preliminaries% (efinitions and Ty'es ###) ).). Translation% (efinitions ###########.) ).*. Translation% Ty'es##############.+ *.). Ty'es according to "ode##..####..#..###.+ ).*.*. Ty'es according to ode#..#####..#.#.# ).*.*.)."onvergent(ivergent re/uirements#..####. 0 ).*.1. TranslatingInter'reting "onstraints#...........##.. 0 ).*.1.). 2inguistic "onstraints########... . # .3 ).*.1.1. Semantic "onstraints###########. 3 ).*.4. Time 2ag##..#########.#..# # )5 ).*.+. Inter'reting Strategies#..#####.#..###)5 ).*.. 6uality Assessment######.......##..##.)5 *. "ha'ter Two% Translation Theories% A 7istorical Pers'ective ##########..###.###.#.)* ).). The 8irst Period###.##.#.#####..... . .)1 ).*. The Second Period ............................................... ...)4 ).1. The Third Period ###..####..####.#.) ).4. The 8ourth Period#..########## # .) ).+. achine Translation Age###..######....)3 ).. The Arab9s Theori:ation####..######.); ).0. "ontem'orary Status of Translation Theory##. #.....*5
1. "ha'ter Three% Theories of Translation% A
o'os Theory ..##.. .##..##.# . #.. 15 1.+.Socio-linguistic Theories#..####.##........1) 1.+.). Inter'retative Theory####..######..1) 1.. Systems Theories..###########1) 1..). Polysystem Theory#######.####.1) 1..*. ani'ulation Theory##..##.###....# ...1* 1..1. Aesthetic "ommunication Theory##.##......11 1. 0. elevance Theory############...10 1. 3. Towards a "om'rehensive, A''licable Theory#.1; "ha'ter 8our% Translation and Inter'reting Strategies...40 4.).).
4.*.*. Syntactic odification Strategy######.#....+* 4.*.1. Segmenting and "hun>ing Strategy#####.#..+1 4.*.4. 2in>ing U' or 6ueuing Strategy#######....+4 4.*.+. "al/uing Strategy#..############.+4 4.*.. Para'hrasing Strategy###########.#+4 4.*.0. A''ro=imation Strategy###########++ 4.*.3. Borrowing Strategy#############++ 4.*.3. ?lli'sis Strategy##########.####++ Part Two% Basic Theoretical Issues########+ "ha'ter 8ive% ?/uivalence##########..........+3 +.).Ty'ologies #############.##...#+3 +.).)."ollocationalIdiomatic ?/uivalence######.* . "ha'ter Si= % Translation 2oss and o'os (eterminacy##########.....;) 0.*.).1. Process (eterminacy###########.;* 0.*.*. Translation Indeterminacy########.......;0 "ha'ter ?ight. odali:ation and 2e=icali:ation in ?nglishArabic% Pre'ositions As a "ase Study.####### )54 3.). 2e=icali:ation####.##########.#)5
3.*.odali:ation#.###############)5 3.1. ?=em'lification#############..#.)53 3.4. endition of ?nglish 're'ositions into Arabic 2e=icali:ed Items##############))5 3.+. endition of Arabic Pre'ositions into ?nglish 2e=icali:ed Items###############))* 3.. Strategy of odali:ation #########......))1 eferences#################..))
Preface It is 'erha's a=iomatic to say that translation is as old as language, for the different language communities renders translation mandatory for their interaction. ith translation as an indis'ensable activity there emerged diverse theories and theoretical reflections to guide it. This diversity stems from the diverse 'ers'ectives and a''roaches to translation with corollary of a 'lethora of definitions, ty'es and theories scanned in the first three cha'ters of Part $ne. 7istorically, translation theories began with the omans, but they have undergone four 'eriods as 'ro'osed by
a''lication in ?nglish Arabic translations and certain basic relevant issues such as translation loss and gain, determinacy and indeterminacy, and modali:ation and le=icali:ation in Arabic ?nglish translation. It is sincerely ho'ed that the students and others s'eciali:ed or interested in translation will benefit from the 'resent boo>, the writing of which has actually been motivated by A students in the 'ostgraduate translation
'rogramme at Petra University. To them, I would li>e to e='ress my 'rofound a''reciation. Part $ne Preliminaries, Theories & Strategies
"ha'ter $ne Preliminaries% (efinitions and Ty'es ).). Translation% (efinitions There has been a 'lethora of definitions which ?. Cida D);4% ))-)4E has elaborately surveyed . 7e rightly elucidates% (efinitions of 'ro'er translating are almost as numerous and varied as the 'ersons who have underta>en to discuss the sub!ect. This diversity is in a sense /uite understandableF for there are vast differences in the materials translated, in the 'ur'ose of the 'ublication, and in the needs of the 'ros'ective audience D))E. Cevertheless, a definition which is not confined to the mere transference of meaning is furnished by Cida and Taber D);;% )*E who 'ostulate Translation consists in re'roducing in the rece'tor language the closest natural e/uivalent of the source language message, first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style. D?m'hasis is mineE. Bell D);;)% +-E seems to have 'ursued the same line of em'hasis on meaning and style in his translation of the definition given by the 8rench theorist, (ubois D);04E %
Translation is the e='ression in another language Dor the target languageE of what has been e='ressed in another, source language, 'reserving semantic and stylistic e/uivalences. The above definitions also stress the significance of Ge/uivalence9 which underlies the following definitions, among others% given by eetham and 7udson D);0*E and "atford D);+E% Translation is the re'lacement of a te=t in one language by a re'lacement of an e/uivalent te=t in a second language. Deetham and 7udson, );0*% 0)1E Translation is the re'lacement of te=tual material in one language DS2E by e/uivalent te=tual material in another language DT2E. D"atford, );+% *5E $n the other hand, functionalists view translation differently% Translation is the 'roduction of a functional target te=t maintaining a relationshi' with a given source te=t that is s'ecified according to the intended or demanded function of the target te=t. DCord, in shutttleworth and "owie,*550%)3*E
Cord, however, distinguishes between two senses of translation% wide and narrow. Translation is, in a narrow sense, any translational action where a source te=t is
transferred into a target culture and language. According to the form and 'resentation of the source te=t and to the correctibility of )5
the target te=t we distinguish between oral translation D H Ginter'reting9 E and written translation DH Gtranslation9 in the narrow senseE. DCord, *550% )4)E idening the above definitions, Sager maintains that translation should reflect the environment in which the 'rofessional translation activity ta>es 'lace% Translation is an e=tremely motivated industrial activity, su''orted by information technology, which is diversified in res'onse to the 'articular needs of this form of communication. DSager, );;4% *;1E In a similar vein, @oller describes translation as a Gte=t
'rocessing activity and simultaneously highlights the significance of Ge/uivalence9% Translation can be understood as the result of a te=t-'rocessing activity, by means of which a source-language te=t is trans'osed into a target-language te=t.. Between the resulting te=t in 2* Dthe target-language te=tE and the source te=t 2) Dthe sourcelanguage te=tE there e=ists a relationshi' which can be designated as translational, or e/uivalence relation. D@oller, );;+% );E Amongst the above definitions, Cida and Tabers may serve as a basis for our conce't of translation as a T2
'roduct which is as semantically accurate, grammatically correct, stylistically effective and te=tually coherent as the S2 te=t. In other words, the translators main attention ))
should not be focused only on the accurate semantic transference of S2 message into the T2, but also on the a''ro'riate synta= and diction in the T2, which are e='licitly the translators Dnot the source authorsE domain of activity which dis'lays his true com'etence. Indeed, according to ilss D);;%;+E, Jthe notion of translation com'etence,J Jis a'tly assessed in transfer situations that re/uire at least some degree of ada'tation to new and challenging te=tual demands.J 7e describes such situations as Jaccommodatory situationsJ which need Jstructural ad!ustmentJ DibidE and generally te=tual mani'ulation. In 'oint of fact, the com'etent translator 'erforms multi'le tas>s with inevitable intricacies of 'erformance. 7is a''roach to translating e='ressive, emotive or e='ository te=ts in 'articular is deemed to be creativityoriented, that is, hermeneuticmani'ulation rather than routineoriented. In the latter a''roach, S2 words are mechanically re'laced by their T2 e/uivalents, albeit one-to-one e/uivalence rarely, if ever, e=ists between languages, as will be e='licated in "ha'ter 8ive below. ).*. Ty'es There has also been a 'lethora of classifications of ty'es of translation albeit the basically overla''ing and 'olari:ed
dichotomy in a binary o''ositions starting with the oldest Gliteral9 vs DversusE Gfree9. $thers subsume Gliterary9 vs Gnon-literary9, semantic vs communicative, static vs dynamic, among others. The first ty'e of the aforementioned 'airs concerns the closeness , sometimes referred to as fidelity or faithfulness to the ST Dsource te=tE. This ty'e tends to em'hasi:e the inse'arability of form from )*
content. The second ty'e deems the source message conveyable in a different form. The above 'airs are classified according to the criterion of method or a''roach. Two criteria of classification will be elaborated below, namely% code and mode. ).*.). Translation Ty'es according to "ode oman Ka>obson D);+; in Schulte and Biguenet, );;*%)4+E distinguishes three ways of inter'reting a verbal sign% it may be translated into other signs of the same language, into another language, or into another code that is nonverbal system of symbols. These three ty'es are succinctly 'ut as follows% ). Intralingual translation or rewording % It is an inter'retation of verbal signs by means of other signs of the same language. *. Interlingual translation or translation 'ro'er % It is an inter'retation of verbal signs by means of some other language. 1. Intersemiotic translation or transmutation % It is an inter'retation of verbal signs by means of signs of nonverbal sign system. The first ty'e is e=em'lified by synonyms in the same linguistic code or language, 'ara'hrase or re'lacing an idiom such as G'ass away9 by Gdie9. The second ty'e is seen in
re'lacing certain code-units in Sl by e/uivalent codeunits in T2. The third refers to the use of signs or signals for the 'ur'ose of communicationF the most im'ortant semiotic system is human language in contrast to other systems such as sign language and traffic signals. $bviously, this ty'e lies within Ka>obson9s framewor> in which translation is 'erceived as the conversion of a sign into another alternative or e/uivalent sign, be it verbal or nonverbal. DIbid, *1*F and Shuttleworth and "owie, *550% 3+E. )1
).*.*. Translation Ty'es according to ode% ritten vs. $ral% TranslatingInter'reting% s Cida and Taber9s above definition, may best accommodate inter'reting as the re'roduction of L the closest natural e/uivalentM of the S2 message in the T2 serves as a common ground or interface of translating and inter'retingM, the former is not mainly or e=clusively concerned with the accurate, semantic transference. The translated te=t should, at least ideally and theoretically, be as semantically accurate, grammatically correct, stylistically effective and te=tually coherent as the source te=t. $n the other hand, we may analogously 'ostulate the following wor>able definition for inter'reting% Inter'reting consists in conveying to the target language the most accurate, natural e/uivalent of the source language oral message. ).*.*.). "onvergent(ivergent e/uirements for Translating Inter'reting "om'etence There are at least five common or interfacial re/uirements for both translating and inter'reting com'etence visN-vis ten for inter'reting. The five re/uirements for com'etent translators are% mastery or 'roficiency of S2 and T2, thorough >nowledge of source and target cultures, familiarity
with the to'icregister, vocabulary wealth, and finally awareness of the three'hase 'rocess, i.e., S2 decoding, transcoding or S2-T2 transfer and T2 encoding. Inter'reting, on the other hand, re/uires at least five more% shortterm memory for storage and retrieval, ac/uaintance with 'rosodic )4
features and different accents, /uic> wittedness and full attention, >nowledge of short-hand writing for consecutive inter'reting and finally self-com'osure. ).*.1. TranslatingInter'reting "onstraints The constraints im'osed on the inter'reters are more and greater than those on the translator. They also vary in ty'e and degree of intensity as regards the direction of translating or inter'reting, i.e., whether from 2) into 2* or the other way round. Below are the main constraints. ).*.1.). 2inguistic "onstraints% They subsume% ).*.1.*.Syntactic "onstraints. The different word order in S2 and T2 'uts a heavy burden on the inter'reter. A case in 'oint is when inter'reting a verbal sentence from Arabic into ?nglish. The verb may introduce a long nominal 'hrase. The inter'reter has to store the verb and wait for the whole sub!ect before he could retrieve and start the ?nglish rendition. (e'rived of the sufficient time for mani'ulation, structural asymmetry often obliges the inter'reter to commit 'auses and delays among other things.
).*.1.1. Semantic "onstraints These constraints com'el the inter'reter to e=ert a far more laborious effort than those originated by syntactic )+
) constraints, for as Kac>endoff D);;)% ;E'uts it, Lonce one understands the meaning, the synta= follows naturally and automatically.M 2e=ical incom'atibility between S2 and T2 gives rise to sli's, hesitations and even 'auses, due to the inter'reter9s struggle with a difficult !argon term, a neologism or a blended word as in inter'reting words li>e acdonali:ation or the );35s eagonomics. ...................................................... ..................................... .......... To mitigate semantic constraints, the inter'reter should be fully familiar with the s'ea>ers to'ic andor register. ).*.1.4. Phonological and Prosodic "onstraints They include features that are non-e=istent in either S2 or T2 'ertaining to segmental 'honemes D vowels, consonants, consonant clusters, and di'hthongs E, su'rasegmentals and 'rosodic features such as stress, intonation, 'itch, rhythm and tem'o. any scholars rightly maintain that translatinginter'reting is an intercultural communication act that re/uires bicultural com'etence . ).*.1.+. "ultural and Phatic "onstraints to co'e with culture s'ecificities whether religious, 'olitical or social such :a>at, intifada, autocracy and disco in addition to institutional nomenclature e=em'lified in the different com'ounds with the Arabic dar D house E as in
guesthouse. ................ ...... rest house, dar al-istiraha .. ...... ................, or'hanage dar alaytaam .................... ,radio
)0 broadcasting station dar alidaa..a .............. ......, The hereafter dar al-ba/a9 .................... . $ther e=am'les of culture s'ecificities are the modes of address such as r. iss. rs. 2ord, ...... Abu or .... Umm 'lus 'ro'er noun as in Abu Ahmed ................ , Umm Ahmed or honorary titles such as .......... ma..ali, ............ fa>hamat, and 'hatic e='ressions of courtsey and salutaion such as the o'ening and closing greeting% As-salam alai>um wa rahmutul-lahi wa bara>atuhu % ...................................................... .. whose natural e/uivalent in ?nglish could be no more than Ggood morning evening9 or Gthan> you9. ).*.1.. Paralinguistic and Psychological "onstraints These constraints include the s'ea>er9s tone and loudness of voice, the tem'o of delivery and gestures as well as the 'sychological state of the inter'reter andor s'ea>er as regards nervousness instead of self com'osure. The laborious tas> of simultaneous decoding and encoding and hisher concern over accuracy of rendition 'uts himher in a very stressful situation. The act of inter'reting is inversely 'ro'ortional to the above constraints and to such 'sychological factors as fatigue, timidity or stage fright for
inter'reters who have to directly address the audience. The
constraints often trigger omissions, hesitations and even time lag. ).*.4. Time 2ag Time lag refers to the time between the inter'reter9s rece'tion of the s'ea>er9s utterance and hisher 'roduction. It is ear-tongue or hearing-voicing s'an. Time lag varies according to the nature of the S2 message and the number, ty'e and intensity of the aforesaid constraints. 8or e=am'le, the syntactic and le=ical com'le=ities and the 'ile-u' of information segments may oblige the inter'reter to lag behind the s'ea>er to get a clear understanding, or at least the gist, of the message so as to reformulate it in the T2. Such lag 'uts a heavy burden on the short-term memory of the inter'reter who might inevitably miss the subse/uent segments of information and 'roduce 'oorly cohesive structures andor rushed sentences. ).*.+.Inter'reting Strategies % (iscussed in "ha'ter 8our below. ).*.. 6uality Assessment and Audience ece'tion $nly bilingual readers, listeners or critics can accom'lish translatinginter'reting /uality assessment. To be ob!ective, the assessment has to be based on certain criteria, the most
obvious of which is the semanticstylistic fidelity to the original te=tmessage. 8idelity entails such 'arameters as accuracy, grammaticality, acce'tability, idiomaticity, and naturalness among others. Inter'reting, however, re/uires other non linguistic criteria for assessment. )3
$n the other hand, monolingual audience who !ustify the act of translatinginter'reting !udge it in terms of other 'arameters, none of which 'ertains to fidelity which e='licitly necessitates full >nowledge of the two languages involved. The monolingual T2 rece'tors, i.e., readers, !udge translation in terms of their own language% style, grammar and TT intelligibility. The oral message rece'tors, i.e., listeners !udge the inter'reting act according to not only the above mentioned, but to non linguistic criteria, at the to' of which comes the message com'rehensibility, which cannot be gauged in either-or terms but graded along a s'ectrum ranging from fully com'rehensible when the inter'retation is clear and easy to understand to 'artially com'rehensible and to totally incom'rehensible. Besides, the audience rate the inter'reting /uality according to other criteria 'ertaining to smooth and fluent delivery, immediateness, 'leasant voice, natural intonation and articulation, s'eech rate D whether fast or slow E, selfcom'osure, and idiolectal features such as the use of e=aggerated fillers li>e emmm, errr# );
"ha'ter Two Translation Theories% A 7istorical Pers'ective *.5. 8or almost two thousand years, translation theory has been concerned merely with outstanding wor>s of art. The science of translation or Gtranslatology9 has not emerge until the );45s in an attem't to establish itself as a new disci'line involving radical changes in the a''roach and classification, away from the age-old dichotomy of Gword vs. sense9 or Gliteral vs. free9 translation, which has dominated the traditional translation theory since "icero Dcf. Snell-7ornby D);33% )E . In 'oint of fact, history of translation theory deals with the following >inds of /uestions e='licitly stated by Ba>er% hat translators have had to say about their art craft scienceF how translations have been evaluated at different 'eriodsF what >inds of recommendations translators have made, or how translation has been taughtF and this discourse is related to other discourses of the same 'eriod. DBa>er, *55+%)5)E ore s'ecifically,
from "icero to the 'resent, albeit their overla' and loosely chronological structure. *5
*.).The 8irst Period This 'eriod starts with the omans. ?ric Kacobsen Din Bassnett, );33%43 E goes so far as to hy'erbolically 'ro'ound that translation is a oman invention though translation is as old as language itself .Translated documents were discovered in the third and the second millennium B."., in ancient ?gy't and in Ira/. It e=tends from the statements of "icero and 7orace on translation u' to 'ublication of Ale=ander 8raser Tytler9s ?ssay on the Princi'les of Translation in )0;). It is 'erha's the longest 'eriod as it covers a s'an of some )055 years. The main characteristic of this 'eriod is that of Gimmediate em'irical focus9, i.e., the statements and theories from the 'ractical wor> of translating. Both 7orace and "icero, in their remar>s on translation, ma>e an im'ortant distinction between word for word translation and sense for sense translation. The underlying 'rinci'le of enriching the native language and literature through translation leads to stress the aesthetic criteria of the T2 'roduct rather than the more rigid notions of Gfidelity9. 7orace in his Art of Poetry, warns against overcautious imitation of the source model and slavish litertalism % LA theme that is familiar can be made your own 'ro'erty so long as you do not waste
your time on a hac>neyed treatmentF nor should you try to render your original word for word li>e a lavish translator, or in imitating another writer 'lunge yourself into difficulties from the which shame, or rules, you have laid down for yourself, 'revent you from e=tricating yourself.M DBassnett, );33% 4;E *)
This 'eriod concludes by Tytler9s definition of good translation as, LThat in which the merit of the original wor> is so com'letely transfused into another language, as to be as distinctly a''rehended, and as strongly felt, by a native of the country to which that language belongs, as it is by those who s'ea> the language of the original wor>M. Din Bell,);;)% ))E 8rom the above definition, Tytler introduces three Glaws9% ).The translation should give a com'lete transcri't of the ideas of the original wor>. *. The style and manner of writing should be of the same character with that of original. 1. The translation should have all the ease of original com'osition. DIbidE ).*. *.*. The Second Period% This 'eriod, according to Steiner, runs u' to the forties of the twentieth century. It is characteri:ed as a 'eriod of theory and hermeneutic in/uiry with the develo'ment of a vocabulary and methodology of a''roaching translation. G7ermeneutics9 is an inter'retive a''roach develo'ed by word hermeneuein, meaning Gto
understand9. $ne of the early theorists in this 'eriod is the **
*1 8rench humanist ?tienne (olet who had 'ro'ounded in )+45 a short outline of translation 'rinci'les, entitled ..2a maniere de bien traduire d..une langue en aultre D 7ow to Translate ell from $one 2anguage into AnotherE and established five 'rinci'les for the translator Din Bassnett % +3E . ). The translator must fully understand the sense and meaning of the original author, although he is at liberty to clarify obscurities *. The translator should have a 'erfect >nowledge of both S2 and T2. 1. The translator should avoid word-for-word renderings. 4. The translator should use forms of s'eech in common use. +. The translator should choose and order words a''ro'riately to 'roduce the correct tone. (olet9s 'rinci'les , ran>ed as they in a 'recise order, stress the im'ortance of understanding the te=t as a 'rimary re/uisite. 7is views were reiterated by s D)+;3E "ha'man asserts that LThe wor> of a s>ilful and worthy translator is to observe the sentences, figures and forms of s'eech 'ro'osed in his author.M 7e re'eats his theory more fully in the ?'istle to the eader of his translation of The Iliad, Din ibid%+;E stating that a translator must%
). avoid word for word renderingsF *. attem't to reach the Gs'irit9 of the originalF 1.avoid overloose translations, by basing the translation on a sound scholarly investigation of other versions and glosses.
*4 Kohn (ryden D)1)-)055E, in his Preface to $vid..s ?'istle D)35E, tac>led the 'roblems of translation by formulating three basic ty'es Din Bassnett% 4E% ).meta'hrase, or turning an author word by word, and line by line, from one language into anotherF *. 'ara'hrase, or translation with latitude, the "iceronian Gsense-for-sense9 view of translationF 1.imitation, where the translator can abandon the te=t of the original as he sees fit. (ryden claims to have steered Lbetwi=t the two e=tremes of 'ara'hrase and literal translationM which he li>ens to a 'erson dancing on ro'es with fettered legs.DIbidE. *.1. The Third Period% This 'eriod, which is the shortest as it e=tends to less than three decades, starts with the 'ublication of the first 'a'ers on machine translation in the );45s, and is characteri:ed by the introduction of structural and a''lied linguistics, contrastive studies in mor'hology and synta= among others which hel' the translator identify similarities and differences between C2 and 82, and communication theory into the study of translation. It com'rises two eras% first the 'ioneering era D);4;-);+4EF the second the invention of the first generation of machine translation. *.4. The 8ourth Period%
The last 'eriod coe=ists with the third 'eriod as it has its origin in the early );5s, and is characteri:ed by a recourse to hermeneutic in/uiries into translation and inter'retation, i.e., by a revision of translation that sets the disci'line in a wide frame which includes a number of other disci'lines.
This contem'orary 'eriod has witnessed the emergence of many new theories such as the G 'olysystem theory, which has first arisen from the wor> of a grou' ussian literary theorists. The conce't of the G'olysystem9 has received considerable attention in the wor> of certain grou's of translation scholars since the mid-);05s. The theory offers a general model for understanding, analy:ing and describing the functions and evolution of literary systems, its s'ecific a''lication to the study of translated literature. These systems, whether in the original or translated te=ts subsume several levels% linguistic, cultural, and social, all of which overla' and interact with each other. GS>o'os theory9 is another theory which was develo'ed in o'os9 is derived form as a technical term for the 'ur'ose of translation, i.e., s>o'os which must be defined before translation begins. The theory
endeavours to meet the growing need in the latter half of the twentieth century for the translation of non-literary te=ts% scientific, academic 'a'ers, instructions for use, tourist guides, contracts, etc. According to this theory, the conte=tual factors surrounding the translation should not be ignored. These factors include the culture of the intended readers of the target te=t and the client who commissioned it, and more significantly the function which the te=t as'ires to 'erform in that culture for those readers. 2i>ewise, 'ragmatics stresses the 'rinci'le of intentionality in translation, i.e. significance of the te=t or the author9s intention, and that the Gcom'rehension of the intent9, according to Cida, is a vital re/uisite of translation . *+
*.+. Translation "om'uteri:ation ?ra The invention of com'uter has led to as'ire after an automatic machine translation DTE wherein the com'uter is 'rovided with the ST to be re'roduced automatically or with the assistance of man as a semantically e/uivalent and wellformed te=t in the T2. Translation-oriented com'uteri:ed technology in general and machine translation DTE in 'articular can be described as a com'le= and diverse field in which a wide range of Gactors9, such as translation theorists, linguists, engineers among other researchers 'lay a vital role in addition to evaluators of end-user grou's including 'rofessional translators, trainers and translation com'anies. T is sim'ly a translation 'erformed either 'urely automatically by a com'uter or with human assistance which involves the 're'aration of the ST, i.e., 're-editing andor 'roduct editing, i.e., 'ost-editing. 7istorically, T has undergone five 'eriods of develo'ment DAs-Safi, *554%*50-**0E,
starting with the 'ioneering era followed by the second 'eriod which witnessed at mid-fifties the a''earance of the first generation whose systems rely u'on Gdirect translation9 wherein the ST words are re'laced with TT words after conducting the re/uired mor'ho-syntatic changes based on the contrastive differences between the S2 and T2. The third 'eriod is initially characteri:ed by stagnation of research but later by the develo'ment of the indirect a''roach of T. The fourth 'eriod witnessed the a''earance of the second generation, which is the 'roduct of Grule-based a''roaches9 based on the notion of translation as a 'rocess involving the analysis and re'resentation of the ST meaning by T2 e/uivalents. 8urthermore, in this 'eriod there emerged other rule-based a''roaches which, according to Palumbo D55;01-04E rely on rules that convert the abstract S2 re'resentation into an abstract T2 *
re'resentation. These systems re/uire various transfer models for different language 'airs. The fifth 'eriod is mar>ed with the third generation as the 'roduct of Gcor'us-based a''roaches9 which seem to have gained 'o'ularity in the early );;5s. It em'loys a reference cor'us of TTs and STs, 'articularly statistical-based a''roaches which use algorithms to match the new T2 segments with the built-in S2 segments and their e/uivalents contained in the cor'us, then com'ute the 'ossibility that cor'us-based T2 e/uivalents are valid T2 segments for the new te=t to be translated. D6uah, *55% );E *.. Arabs9 Theori:ation The Arabs, according to Ba>er D*55+% 1)3E, are credited with initiating the first organi:ed, large-scale translation activity in history. This activity started during the reign of the Umayads D)-0+5E and reached its :enith under the Abbasids D0+5)*+3E, 'articularly during the reign of Al-9mun D3)1-11E , >nown as the
translation in Arab history. Bait Al-7i>ma D7ouse of isdomE, in Baghdad, functioned as an academy, library and translation bureau which had a 'ersonnel of + translators. Two methods of translation had been ado'ted% the first, associated with uhana Ibn Al-Batri/ and Ibn Ca9ima Al-7imsi, was highly literal and consisted of translating each word with an e/uivalent Arabic word, but when there is no e/uivalent, the word is ado'ted. This method, as in all literal translations, was not successful so that many of their translations were later revised by 7unayn Ibn Isha/ with whom the second method was associated, which e=ercised translating sense-forsense.
*0
Thus it creates fluent translated te=ts which convey the meaning of the original without distorting the T2. Ibn Isha/ and his followers had a''arently given 'riority to the re/uirements of the target language and readers, stressing the significance of readability and accessibility, and em'loying, what he called G'leasant and lim'id style which can be understood by the non-e='ert.9DIbid% 1*)E. A 'ro'onent theorist and one of the best->nown writers in his time , albeit never been a 'ractitioner, is Al-Kahi: Dd.3;E who shar'ly remar>s in his statements about translators and translation, insisting that the translator can never do the original writer !ustice or e='ress him with fidelity. *.0. "ontem'orary Status of Translation Theory It seems that there is no unanimity on the role 'layed by theory in translation 'ractice. Peter ?mery D*555%)5+E cites @leinBraley D);;%*E among others who maintain that Gtheory9 has no 'lace in most university translation 'rogrammes and go so far as to declare that it should be discarded in favour of more 'ractical wor>. But this scientifically and em'irically unfounded view is easily refuted by the general consensus that any translation
'rogramme direly needs some sort of 'rinci'led theoretical bac>ground, let alone a rigorous theory, to guide 'ractice. e strongly concur with Bahumaid D);;%;;E who characteri:es the lac> of theoretical com'onent as a serious drawbac> in most Arab university translation 'rogrammes. *3
"ha'ter Three Translation Theories% A D);3)% );E, translation theory is concerned mainly with determining a''ro'riate translation methods for the widest 'ossible range of te=ts or te=t-categories. It also 'rovides a frame wor> of 'rinci'les, restricted rules and hints for translating te=ts and critici:ing translations, a bac>ground for 'roblem solving. Any theory should also be concerned with translation strategies ado'ted to address difficulties and 'roblems in certain com'licated te=ts. 2i>ewise, e a 'ractical evaluation 'rocedure with s'ecific criteria. A good survey of the theories of translation is 'erha's best furnished by ?. Cida D);0%-0;E who avers that due to the fact that translation is an activity involving language there is a sense in which any and all theories of translation are linguistic Dibid%E. 7e classifies these theories into three% 'hilological theories,
linguistic theories and socio-linguistic theories, the se/uel of three diverse 'ers'ectives and different a''roaches to *;
'rinci'les and 'rocedures of translation. If the em'hasis is on the literary te=ts, the underlying theories of translation are best deemed 'hilologicalF if it is on structural differences between S2 and T2, the theories may be considered linguisticF and finally if it is on a 'art of communication 'rocess, the theories are best described as sociolinguistic. 7owever, a more com'rehensive survey subsumes far more than Cida9s three sets of theories as elaborated below. 1.). Philological Theories Philological theories rely u'on G'hilology9 as the study of the develo'ment of language, and the classical literary studies. They are mainly concerned with the com'arison of structures in the native and foreign languages, es'ecially the functional corres'ondence and the literary genres in addition to stylistics and rhetoric .Cida e='licitly states% The 'hilological theories of translation are, of course based on a 'hilological a''roach to literary analysis. They sim'ly go one ste' furtherF in 'lace of treating the form in which the te=t was first com'osed, they deal with corres'onding structures in the source and rece'tor languages and attem't to evaluate their e/uivalences ##
Philological theories of translation are normally concerned with all >inds of stylistic features and rhetorical devices. DCida, );0% 0-3E 1.*. Philoso'hical Theories The most 'rominent 'ro'onent of these theories is After Babel D);0+E 15
1) is the Gfirst systematic investigation of the theory and 'ractice of translation since the eighteen century.9 7e 'rimarily em'hasi:es the 'sychological and intellectual functioning of the mind of translator. 7e elucidates that meaning and understanding underlie the translation 'rocess, averring that a theory of translation is essentially a theory of semantic transfer from S2 into T2. 7e defines his Ghermeneutic a''roach9 as L the investigation of what it means to G understand a 'iece of oral s'eech or written te=t, and the attem't to diagnose the 'rocess in terms of a general model of meaningM DSteiner,);0+%*4;. 7e introduces his model in what he calls G7ermeneutic otion9 to describe the 'rocess of literary translation. 7e loo>s u'on the act of translation in the conte=t of human communication across barriers of language, culture, time and 'ersonality, thus subdividing this motion into four stages Dor movesE. The first move is termed trust or faith, which consists of the translator9s assum'tion that the source te=t contains Ga sense to be e=tracted and retrieved into and via his own language, although this is generally an unconscious action. The second move is referred to as the
..aggression, 'enetration or deci'herment, in which the translator Linvades, e=tracts and brings homeM the meaning of the original. The third move is termed Gincor'oration, embodiment or a''ro'riative use... Translation can introduce new elements into the target linguistic and cultural system. The fourth and final stage or move is labeled ..com'ensation, restitution or fidelity.. The translator must wor> to restore in his language what he has failed to recover from the original te=t. 1.1. 2inguistic Theories 2inguistic theories of translation, according to Cida D);0% ;E , are based on a com'arison of the 2inguistic
1* structures of the STs and TTs, rather than a com'arison of literary genres and stylistic features of the 'hilological theories. Their develo'ment is due to two factors% first, the a''lication of the ra'idly e='anding linguistics, the scientific study of language, to several fields such as cognitive anthro'ology, semiotics, 'ragmatics, and teaching translationinter'reting s>illsF and second, the emergence of achine Translation DTE which has 'rovided a significant motivation for basing translation 'rocedures on linguistic analysis as well as for a rigorous descri'tion of S2 and T2 DCida, );0% 05E. These theories are 'erha's best re'resented by 'ro'onent figures, such as ?ugene Cida, oger Bell and K.". "atford who o'ens his well->nown boo> GA 2inguistic Theory of Translation.. with the words% L"learly, then, any theory of translation must draw u'on a theory of language a general linguistic theoryM D)+%)E This boo> has been translated into Arabic by As-Safi D);31E. Accordingly, G2inguistic Translation9 D or 2inguistic A''roach E is a 'roduct of these theories which view translation as sim'ly a /uestion of re'lacing the linguistic units of the ST Dsource te=tE with Le/uivalentM T2 units without reference to factors such as conte=t or connotation. "atford
D);+%*5E defines translation Din "ha'ter $ne aboveE as a mere re'lacement of te=tual material in S2 by e/uivalent te=tual material in the T2 . ?='licitly, Ge/uivalence9 which is elaborated in "ha'ter 8ive below is a milestone in the linguistic theories . A c cording to Cida and Taber D);;%)14E it is only a linguistic translation that can be considered Gfaithful9, because it Lis one which only contains elements which can be directly derived from the ST wording, avoiding any >ind of e='lanatory inter'olation or cultural ad!ustment which
can be !ustified on this basis.M Cida D);0%0+E suggests a three-stage model of the translation 'rocess. In this model, ST surface elements Dgrammar, meaning, connotationsE are analy:ed as linguistic >ernel structures that can be transferred to the T2 and restructured to form T2 surface elements. 7is linguistic a''roach basically bears similarity with "homs>y9s theory of synta= and transformational generative grammar. Pertinent to linguistic theories is Cewmar>9s binary classification of translation into semantic and communicative, which somehow resembles Cida9s formal and dynamic e/uivalence. L"ommunicative translation,M Cewmar> D);3)%1;E states, Lattem'ts to 'roduce on its readers an effect as close as 'ossible to that obtained on the original. Semantic translation attem'ts to render, as closely as the semantic and syntactic structures of the second language allow, the e=act conte=tual meaning of the original. These two a''roaches can best be illustrated in the following figure DCewmar>,);3)% 1;E% ST BIAS TT BIAS 2IT?A2 8?? 8AIT78U2 I(I$ATI"
S?ACTI" "$UCI"ATIO? 8igure ) % Cewmar>9s Two A''roaches to Translation
11
The contribution of linguistics to translation is twofold% to a''ly the findings of linguistics to the 'ractice of translation, and to have a linguistic theory of translation, as o''osed to other theories such as the literary theory of translation. There are, however, differences among linguistic theories, the 'rinci'al of which, Cida DIbidE maintains, lies in the e=tent to which the focus is on surface structures or corres'onding dee' structures. Theories based on surface-structures com'arisons involve the use of elaborate sets of rules for matching corres'onding structures, whereas those based on dee'-structures involve transformational analyses em'loyed in teaching the methods of translation. 1.4. 8unctional Theories The );05s and );35s witnessed a shift from the static linguistic ty'ologies of translation and the emergence , in on te=t ty'e and language function, the theory of translational action, s>o'os theory DBa>er, *55+% *1+*13F and Shuttleworth and "owie, *oo0%)+-)+0E and te=tanalysis model. 14.). Te=t- ty'e Theory Built on the conce't of e/uivalence, which is the milestone
in linguistic theories, the te=t, rather than the word or sentence, is deemed the a''ro'riate level at which communication is achieved and at which e/uivalence must be sought Deiss , );00% ))1-)4E. eiss lin>s the functional characteristics of te=t ty'es to translation methods. The main characteristics of each te=t ty'e can be summari:ed as follows D''.)53-;E% 14
1..4.).). Informative% It is concerned with G'lain communication of facts9% information, >nowledge, o'inions, etc. The language dimension used to transmit the information is logical or referentialF the content or Gto'ic9 is the main focus of the communication. 1.4.).*. ?='ressive% It denotes the Gcreative com'osition9 wherein the author uses the aesthetic dimension of the language. *.4.).1. $'erative% The 'ur'ose is to induce behavioural res'onses, i.e., to a''eal to or 'ersuade the reader or Greceiver9 of the te=t to act in a certain way. 1.4.).4. Audiomedial% It refers to films and visual or s'o>en advertisements which su''lement the other three functions with visual images, music, etc. eiss 'ro'oses Dibid, *5E Gs'ecific translation methods according to te=t ty'e9. These methods can be described as follows% ). The TT of an informative te=t should transmit the full referential or conce'tual content of the ST. The translation should be G'lain 'rose9 without redundancy, but with the use of e='lication when re/uired. *. The TT of an e='ressive te=t should transmit the aesthetic and artistic form of the ST. The translation should
use the Gidentifying9 method, with the translator ado'ting the stand 'oint of ST author. 1. The TT of an o'erative te=t should 'roduce the desired res'onse in the TT receiver. The translation should create an e/uivalent effect among TT readers. 4. Audiomedial te=ts re/uire the Gsu''lementary9 method, written words with visual images and music. The te=t ty'e a''roach moves translation theory beyond a consideration of lower linguistic levels, the mere words beyond even the effect they create, towards a consideration of the communicative 'ur'ose of translation Dunday, *55)%0E . 1+
1.4.*. Translational Action Theory This theory views translation as 'ur'ose-driven, 'roduct-oriented or outcome-oriented human interaction with s'ecial em'hasis on the 'rocess of translation as message-transmission or a Gtranslational action from a source te=t, and as a communicative 'rocess involving a series of roles and 'layers the most im'ortant of whom are the ST 'roducer or the original author, the TT 'roducer or the translator and the TT receiver, the final reci'ient of the TT. The theory stresses the 'roduction of the TT as functionally communicative for the reader, i.e., the form and the genre of the TT, for instance, must be guided by what is functionally suitable in the TT culture, which is determined by the translator who is the e='ert in the translational action and whose role is to ma>e sure that the intercultural transfer ta>es 'lace satisfactorily. Cord D*550%)3E elucidates that translating Di.e., translation 'rocessE is essentially a 'ur'oseful activity or behaviour as dis'layed in the following figure DCord9s,*550% )3 ada'tedE in which translation is viewed as a form of mediated intercultural communication% 1
behaviour
non-intentional intentional DHactionE
bi-directional DHinteractionE unidirectional 'erson-'erson 'erson-ob!ect
communicative non-communicative intracultural intercultural with a mediator without a mediator translational action with ST without ST
translating oral DHinter'retingE written 8igure * . Translation as a form of ediated "ommunication 10
1.4.1. S>o'os Theory% As already mentioned in the fourth 'eriod of the historical survey in "ha'ter Two, s>o'os theory stresses the interactional, 'ragmatic as'ects of translation, arguing that the sha'e of the TT should be determined by the function or Gs>o'os9 D the word for Gaim9 or G'ur'ose9E that it is intended to fulfill in the target conte=t9 , and it may vary according to the reci'ient. The corollary is that the translator should use the translation strategies which are most a''ro'riate to achieve the 'ur'ose for which TT is intended, irres'ective of whether they are deemed to be the Gstandard9 way to 'roduce in a 'articular translation conte=tF in short, when 'roducing a TT, Gthe end !ustifies the means.9 It is worth noting that an awareness of the re/uirements of the s>o'os Le='ands the 'ossibilities of translation, increases the range of 'ossible translation strategies, and releases the translator from the corset of an enforced and often meaningless literalness DOermeer,);3;%4*E, It is the target readers who will 'rom't the translator to translate, to 'ara'hrase or even re-edit the TT as the most a''ro'riate strategy to be ado'ted in a given situation. The s>o'os theory is critici:ed by the linguistically oriented
a''roaches on the ground of the oversim'lification that is inherent in functionalism, the focus on the message at the e='ense of richness of meaning and to the detriment of the authority of S2 te=t DCewmar>, );;)F in Ba>er, *55+%*10E. Another criticism of this theory is that even though a translation may indeed fulfill its intended s>o'os 'erfectly well, it may nevertheless be assessed as inade/uate on other counts, 'articularly as far as le=ical, syntactic, or stylistic decisions on the microlevel are concerned. DBa>er, *10E 13
1.+ . Sociolinguistic Theories These theories endeavour to lin> translation to communicative theory and information theory, with s'ecial em'hasis on the rece'tor9s role in the translation 'rocess. They do not com'letely overloo> language structures, instead they deal with it at a higher level in accordance to their functions in the communicative 'rocess. These structures may involve rhetorical devices or figures of s'eech such as simile, meta'hor, irony, hy'erbole, etc., in both literary and non-literary te=ts. These theories re/uire the translator e=hibit language com'etence as well as language 'erformance. 1.+.). Inter'retative Theory Dor Theory of SenseE This theory, originally designed to reflect the 'rocesses which are involved in conference inter'reting, is associated with a grou' of scholars >nown as the Paris School . It is a reaction against some of the restricted views of linguistics of the time. The 'ro'onents of this theory argue that inter'reters do not wor> merely with linguistic meaning, but also need to ta>e into account such factors as the cognitive conte=t of what has already been said, the setting in which the inter'reting is ta>ing 'lace and the
inter'reter9s own world >nowledge D2avault, );;%;0F in Shuttleworth and "owie%*550% 3+E. The corollary is that the focus should be on the intended meaning or the sense rather than the words of the ST. 1. . Systems Theories 1..). Polysystem Theory The 'olysystem theory, Ba>er D*55+%)0E maintains, 'roffers a general model for understanding, analysis and describing the functioning and evolution of literary systems, but focuses 'articularly on s'ecific a''lication to the study of translated literature, which, according to ?venQohar 1;
D*555%))3, in unday,*55)%)5;E is a system in the way that% ). the T2 selects wor>s for translationF *. translation norms, behaviour and 'olicies are influenced by other co-systems. Polysystem theory also offers three insights into translation DBa>er, *55+% )03E% ). It is more 'rofitable to view translation as one s'ecific instance of the more general 'henomena of intersystemic transfer. *. Instead of limiting the discussion to the nature of the e/uivalence between ST and TT, the translation scholar is free to focus on the TT as an entity e=isting in the target 'olysystem. The a''roach to translation would accordingly be target-oriented, aiming at investigating the nature of the TT in terms of the features which distinguish it from other te=ts originating within a 'articular system. 8urthermore, TTs cease to be viewed as isolated 'henomena, but are rather thought of as manifestations of general translation 'rocedures which are currently 'revalent in the target 'olysystem. 1. The TT is not sim'ly the 'roduct of selections from sets of ready-made linguistic o'tions, instead sha'ed by systemic
constraints of a variety of ty'es of language structure in addition to genre and literary taste. 1..*. ani'ulation Theory This theory is ado'ted by a grou' of scholars associated with a 'articular a''roach to the translation of literature, and to what is >nown as Gani'ulation School9 and also as the G(escri'tive, ?m'irical or Systemic School D7ermans, );;+% -*)0 in Shuttleworth% )5)-)5*E. According to this theory, translation im'lies a degree of mani'ulation of the ST for a certain 'ur'ose, because the translation 'rocess brings the 45
TT into line with a 'articular model which should secure social acce'tance in the target culture. LThe a''roach to literary translation,M 7ermans D in Shuttleworth, ibidE asserts, Lis descri'tive, target-oriented, functional and systemicM ?='licitly, the theory is in shar' contrast with linguistic theories because from the start it a''roaches translation not as science, but as an art which 'ermits mani'ulation rather than e/uivalence, thus it is concerned with literary not technical translation. Accordingly, translation 'rocess is deemed a rewriting 'rocess and the translator is a re-writer who can alter or mani'ulate the ST in such a way as to be acce'table in the target language and culture. 1...1. Aesthetic "ommunication theory The above theory, we 'ro'ound, is creativity-oriented s'ecifically for literary translation, which is essentially an aesthetic communication between the translator and the target reader. It is also based on the nature of literature be it original or translated. It is 'erha's cons'icuously indis'utable that literary translation, !ust li>e literary original com'osition, is not only informative, i.e., conveys le=ical meanings, but also e='ressive or emotive. It
'erforms a semantic and aesthetic binary function. In 'oint of fact, information in literary te=ts is aesthetically framed, which distinguishes such te=ts from non-literary ones. 2iterary com'osition, be it original or translated, is a dynamic te=ture of vivid stylistic variations, it has no room for monotony, dullness and stagnation. It caters to arouse the rece'tors9 sus'ense, 'lease them andor invite their interest. To this end, it em'loys a foregrounded structure, highly elevated style and literary diction. DAs-Safi, *55%)5E. 2i>ewise, literary translation which should ideally be a wor> of literature is dynamic rather than static% it should be more li>e AC original rather than T7? original wor> of art. Accordingly an aesthetically communicative, dynamic translation must% 4)
D)E Be dynamic rather than static D As-Safi, );;4E F D*E Be creative and aesthetically informative communicativeF D1E "om'ly with the target linguistic systemF D4E. Be a''ro'riate, i.e., fit the conte=t of the messageF D+E Be natural and free from translationese DAsSafi, );;EF DE Be acce'table to the target audience or literary readershi' andF D0E As'ire to occu'ya 'osition in the target literature as any other original wor>s of art. (ue to the above re/uirements, in addition to the intricate, hybrid and aesthetic nature of literary translation, one may well concur with Adams D);01% ;*-)5)E in asserting that literary wor>s are harder to translate than they were to com'ose, Lfor the original com'osition is the art of choosing the e=actly right word or e='ression, and includes the o'tion of changing and modification as deemed a''ro'riate whereas the art of literary belletristic translation is the art of choosing among a set of 'ossible com'romises.
The following figure illustrates that translation is essentially a communicatively mani'ulated act. 4*
S2 Author
S2 ?ncoder Semantically S2 "reator stylistically S2 essage Te=t
S2 eader
(ecodingA''reciation Translator S2 (ecoder T2 ?ncoder
Te=t T2 essage T2 "reator Stylistically T2 ?ncoder Semantically
Transfer T2 eader
Semantically Accurate
SemanticStylistic (iagram )% Translation as a "ommunicatively ani'ulative Act. 41
The Above diagram demonstrates the multi'le tas> of the translator as a decoder, a''reciator, critic, encoder and creator who maintains an e/uilibrium to transfer the S2 te=t semantically as well as stylistically. By necessity, he reads each word and each sentence in the ST as carefully as a critic before he transfers and finally com'oses it in the T2. Such a transference and com'osition can never be achieved through literal, i.e., word-for-word translation which, Cida and eybum D);3)E rightly maintain, will inevitably tend to distort the meaning of the S2 message or as Andre 2efevere Dcited in Bassnett, );;% 3)E 'uts it, distorts the sense and the synta= of the original. Such a translation im'edes the translators wor> and stifles his creativity which is a manifestation of his com'etence and intelligence. It is, as (ryden Dcited in 2efevere, );;*%)5*E 'uts it % 2i>e dancing on ro'es with fettered legsF a man may shun a fall by using caution, but gracefulness of motion is not to be e='ected% and when we have said the best of it, it9s but a foolish tas>. There is nothing new in re'udiating literalism in translation, on
which there is now almost a general consensus. 2efevere /uotes 7orace as antedating such an attitude% ord-for-word translation do not find mercy in our eyes, not because they are against the law of translation D as an act of communicationE but sim'ly because 44
two languages are never identical in their vocabulary. Ideas are common to the understanding of all men but words and manners of s'eech are 'articular to different nations. DBrac>eting is 2efeveresE. DibidE 3.7. Relevance Theory Relevance theory is associated with pragmatics, which is primarily concerned with how language is used in communication, particularly with the way meaning is conveyed and manipulated by the participants in a communicative situation. In other words, pragmatics deals with ‘speaker’s meaning’ and and the way it is interpreted by the hearers!, in what is known as ‘implicature’. "alumbo. #$$%& '%! In translation, implicature can be seen as one kind or level o( e)uivalence between a *T and and TT at which which can be established. established. The pragmatic e)uivalence e)uivalence is +aker’s seventh kind, discussed in hapter -ive below!. The theory, according to utt, is developed by *perder and /ilson who emphasi0e the ‘interpretive use ‘ o( language’ as distinct (rom the ‘ descriptive use. The (ormer use is e1plicated by utt #$$$$! as (ollows&
The fundamental characteristic of the inter'retive use of language is not !ust the fact that two utterances inter'retively resemble one another, but that one of them is intended to be relevant in virtue of its resemblance with the other utterance. In general terms, in Gre'orted s'eech9 inter'retively used utterances Lachieve relevance by informing the hearer of the fact 4+
that so-and-so has said something or thin>s something.M DThe /uotation is S'erder and ilson9s Ba>er D*55+%)3*E 'oints out that to formulate a com'rehensive, a''licable theory amidst multi'licity,
miscellany and dis'arity of the e=isting theories. Cevertheless, e try tentatively to furnish such a theory, de'ending 'articularly on some authentic references. 8irst 4
comes ebster9s definition of Gtheory9 as a Gbody of generali:ations and 'rinci'les in association with 'ractice in a field of activity.9 anifestly, translation is intrinsically a 'ractical activity from which generali:ations can be inferred, and is in a dire need for 'rinci'les to guide the 'ractice. ewise, Cewmar>
D);3)% );E contends that translation theory9s main concern is to determine La''ro'riate translation methodsM and to 'rovide L a framewor> of 'rinci'les, restricted rules and hints for translating te=ts and critici:ing translations.M $n the same lines, 2ongman (ictionary of Teaching & A''lied 2inguistics D'.;)E defines Gtheory9 as L a statement of a general 'rinci'le, based u'on reasoned argument and su''orted by evidence, that is intended to e='lain a 'articular fact, event, or 'henomena.M Bell D);;)% *4-*+E also e='licitly states L A theory is an e='lanation of a 'henomena, the 'erce'tion of system and order in something observed. 8rom the observation, data is collected to e='lain the theory which, according to Bell D );;)%*4E, will lead to a model, as illustrated in the following figure% 40
P7?C$?CA
observed and collected In the form of (ata whose cohesive character
is e='lained by T7?$ which is transmitted
in the form of a odel 8igure 4% Bell9s Translation odel as a Product of a Theory Another e=am'le of a model is furnished by Cida Din Bassnett% *1E for the translation 'rocess% Source 2anguage ece'tor 2anguage T?RT TACS2ATI$C
ACA2SIS ?STU"TUTC<
TTACS8? 8igure + . Cida9s odel of Translating DH Tr ProcessE
43
Ideally, Bell D'. *0E rightly maintains, a theory must reflect four characteristics% ). em'iricism % it must be testableF *. determinism % it must be able to 'redictF 1. 'arsimony % it must be sim'le and economicF 4. generality % it must be com'rehensive. LA full, inclusive theory of translation,M 7olms Din IbidE maintains, Lmust accommodate many elements which can serve to e='lain and 'redict all 'henomena falling within the domain of translating Di.e., the 'rocessE and translation Di.e., the 'roductE, to the e=clusion of all 'henomena falling outside itM. DBrac>eting is mineE. But instead of one theory which caters for both 'rocess and 'roduct, Bell D'. *E envisages three ty'es of theories of translation% ).A theory of translation as a 'rocess Di.e., a theory of translatingE. This would re/uire a study of information 'rocessing and, within that, such to'ics as DaE 'erce'tion, DbE memory and DcE the encoding and decoding of messages, and would draw heavily on 'sychology and 'sycholinguistics. *. A theory of translation as a 'roduct Di.e., a theory of translated te=tsE This would re/uire a study of te=ts not merely by means of the traditional levels of linguistic analysis Dsynta= and semanticsE but also ma>ing
use of stylistics and recent advances in te=tlinguistics and discourse analysis. 1. A theory of translation both 'rocess and 'roduct Di.e., a theory of translating and translationE. This would re/uire the integrated study of both, and such a general theory is, 'resumably, the long-term goal for translation studies. To the third ty'e, i.e., 'rocess and 'roduct, we add an essential intermediary element between the 'rocess and 4;
the 'roduct, i.e., transfer. Accordingly, translation is a tri'hase activity. In fact, the intricate nature of translation ma>es it mandatory to relate the 'roduct to the tri'hase 'rocess DAs-Safi, );;E, though the constituent 'hases are not autonomously se'arate from each other. 8irst comes the 'hase of decoding, whereby the original te=t is analysed for a thorough ac/uaintance both thematically and stylistically, that is, for full com'rehension and stylistic a''reciation. 7ere the translator 'erforms the tri'le tas> of a reader, a critic and an inter'reter% he has not only to com'rehend the semantic units of the original te=t but also to be aware of the authors style and salient syntactic rhetorical features when dealing with literary belletristic te=t. The initial ste' in the te=tual analysis carried out conventionally and 'erha's subconsciously by most translators is to segment the te=t into a number of units% words, 'hrases, clauses and sentences within each of which the distribution of denotative and connotative meanings are scanned. A 'ertinent test of intelligibility is 'ur'orted by Cida D);4% )45E. In his Jclo:e-techni/ueJ the reader is 'rovided with a te=t in which, for e=am'le, every fifth word is deleted, and he is as>ed to fill in with whatever words that seem to fit the
conte=t best. The degree of com'rehensibility is related to the degree of 'redictability. It is assumed that the easier it is for the reader to guess the ne=t word in a sentence, the easier to com'rehend the word in the given conte=ts and the greater the number of correct guesses, the greater the 'redictability and conse/uently the easier the te=t. The second 'hase is that of JtranscodingJ or transfer. After ac/uainting himself with the original te=t, the translator usually starts to ascertain and record the +5
+) e/uivalence in the target language for each of the elements he has already identified. In most cases, however, e/uivalence is far from being identical, or as "atford D);+% *0E 'uts it, Jnearly always a''ro=imate, since every language is ultimately sui generisJ. Items are said to be e/uivalent in the two languages when they are interchangeable in a given situation. 2e=ically, e/uivalence a''ears to rest on the 'rinci'le of bilingual synonymy% the notion that words are mere labels of real things goes bac> as far as Plato and carries over to some e=tent into (e Saussures conce't of the sign D(e Beaugrande, );03% ;3E. In such a sim'lified view, translation consists of e=changing labels, consulting if need be a dictionary or an informant, and it underlies the aw>ward, literal or wordforword transfer and what (ryden terms meta'hrase. Such a view has been recently /uestioned, by many linguists and celebrated translators, for true synonymy - the 'ro'erty of words to be mutually interchangeable in two conte=ts is /uite rare for most abstract items, let alone the highly emotive or connotative, the languages'ecific and culture-s'ecific ones. In conse/uence, the translator cannot easily or immediately furnish solutions to all 'roblems regarding
e/uivalence albeit resorting to an e=haustive search through all available reference materials. If an e/uivalent e='ression cannot be located, he must find some 'arallel e='ression that will yield a''ro=imately the same >ind of effect 'roduced by the original. Idioms, and figures of s'eech, such as allegory, meta'hor, 'arable or simile, are cases in 'oint. The meta'hor baidha DwhiteE in the Arabic e='ression lailatun baidha ........................ cannot be rendered as such Di.e. white nightE but slee'less nightF similarly, the word teeth becomes arm in Arabic in the following idiomatic utterance% 7e would have given his bac> teeth for such a chance%
+* J .. .. .......... ...... .. .... .. ............ .. . ......... ................ .. ..J And the ?nglish simile% Jas cool as cucumberJ might 'roduce a rather ridiculous effect in Arabic when rendered literally instead of ........................ meaning% calm at time of danger. et even when the tas> of harmoni:ing grammatically correct structures is accom'lished, the 'roduct of transfer may be accurate but 'erha's wooden% it is something more than a gloss and something less than a literary wor>. T h e third and final 'hase is recoding the transferred message in the target language, com'lying with its linguistic as well as literary conventions of the literary te=ts so as to be as semantically accurate and aesthetically effective as the original. A translation of a literary wor> of art can !ustify itself only when it comes to be a literary wor>, occu'ying an a''ro'riate 'osition in the target literature com'arable to the status of the original in the source literature and at the same time resembling the original in every res'ect. And as Adams D);01% )55E 'uts it, Ja 'ro'er literary translation does not sim'ly convey to us the elements of the original in such fullness as may be, but conveys them to us in something of the same order and structure of relatedness as the originalJ. If the 'roduct sounds mediocre, in other words, if it reads as T7?
original and not AC original, the translator has not gone far enough in fulfilling his function, that is, his 'roduct is lac>ing in aesthetic values, as it has failed to transmit the literariness and felicity of the original. The ideas may have been accurately re'roduced but aesthetically wanting. $n t h e other hand, he will have gone too far should his translation de'art too radically from the semantic content andor literary values of the original. This very delicate yet difficult e/uilibrium intensifies the 'light of the literary translator, for his recreation of the original should not render translation as a mere imitation or an artistically embellished edition. Besides his literary or rhetorical com'etence, he has
to be very tactful and eclectic in his a''roach. 8or instance, of the three methods of translation which (ryden distinguishes in his 'reface to the translation of $vids ?'istles D)35E, meta'hrase or word-for-word might shac>le the translator to the original wor> whereas 'ara'hrase or sense-for-sense and imitation, whereby he abandons the te=t of the original, both bestow u'on him a freedom which would necessarily distance him from the original. Therefore, one may well concur with Adams D);01% ))E, who asserts that literary wor>s are harder to translate than they were to com'ose, Jfor the original com'osition is the art of choosing the e=actly right word or e='ression, and includes the o'tion of changing and modification as deemed a''ro'riate whereas the art of translation is the art of choosing among a set of 'ossible com'romisesF it sim'ly does not allow that im'ortant o'tionJ. +1
"ha'ter 8our Translation and Inter'reting Strategies A translation strategy is a 'rocedure for solving a 'roblem encountered in translating a te=t or a segment of it DBa>er, *55+%)33E. ground >nowledge % critical awareness of the style and content of similar te=ts, of linguistic conventions, register and intuitions about what constitutes the target language DibidE. Translation strategies can be categori:ed into general and s'ecific strategies. 4.).).
ty'es 4.).*. S'ecific strategies% they tac>le a certain te=t ty'e, readershi' and s>o'os, i.e. the function or 'ur'ose of translation. These strategies are of five subcategories 4.).*.). (omestication strategy, also called normali:ation or naturali:ation strategy, is em'loyed to bridge cultural ga's and achieve intelligibility in line with the hermeneutic a''roach which focuses on inter'retation and grants the translator the right to mani'ulate the te=t so as to ma>e it natural, com'rehensible and readable Dfor naturalness in translation, see As-Safi, );;0E , an a''roach +4
++ in which the original te=t undergoes ada'tation so as to be re-created to com'ly with the target linguistic and cultural conventions and to fulfill the function or 'ur'ose of translation, i.e. s>o'os. This strategy is often ado'ted by literary translators as seen in the translations of the following e=cer'ts from Sha>es'eare9s The erchant of Oenice into Arabic by @halil utran, GAmer Al-Buhairi, 7ussein Amin and ohammed Al-Anai. They have all re'laced the currency of the time Gducat9, which is not readily understandable by the Arab audience by a contem'orary Gdinar9, and even changed the number Gfourscore9 into Gseventy9. Tubal DAddressing Shyloc>E% our daughter s'ent in mythology such as the sea monster or the great roc> GScylla9 and the swift sea swirl G"harybdis9 of which the Arab audience are ignorant% 2auncelot% T ruly, then, I fear you are damned both by father and mother, thus when I shun Scylla your father, I fall into "harybdis your mother. ell, you are gone both ways. D))). +. )1-)+E ........................................ ,............ ...................................................... ................................
...... .......................................... ,... ...................................................... ... D);4-);1.... %............................ E .. So does Al-a>eel%
+ .................................................. ,.. ...................................................... ........................................ ...................................................... ...................................................... .. ,............................................ D)51 -)5*.... ,............E. utran% ...................................................... .... ,................................................ ............................................ .................... ,...... %........................ ........................ %.......... ................. ........................................ Amin goes so far in his domestication as to allude to a common Arabic 'roverb%.............................................. ........ .......... D................E.................................. , .................. %.................................. .................... ................................... .................. .............. D......................E.................. $bviously Amin is alluding to the Arabic 'oetic line% ...................................................... .............................................. It corres'onds to the ?nglish 'roverb% $ut of the frying 'an into the fire. 4.).*.*. "om'ensation strategy. "om'ensation is, according to Sandor 7ervey and Ian 7iggins D);;*%*43E, the techni/ue of ma>ing u' for the translation loss of significant features of the source te=t Dhenceforth STE a''ro=imating their effects in the target
te=t Dhenceforth TTE through means other than those used in the ST, that is ma>ing u' for ST effects achieved by one means through using another means in the T2. In translating most of the !uris'rudential ma=ims, loss is a''arently inevitable F hence this strategy has been ma=imally utili:ed. This strategy can be categori:ed into four sub-strategies DibidE to which we add a fifth one. 4.).*.*.). "om'ensation in >ind "om'ensating for a 'articular ty'e of a te=tual effect deemed to be untranslatable into the TT by using a te=tual effect of a different ty'e in the TT . An e=am'le for that is
+0 the Arabic em'hatic devices such as the 2am and Coon as in linabluwnna>um DSurely e will try youE, com'ensated by le=ical items such as truly ,verily, surely.. etc., as in the 6ur9anic aya )++ of surat Al-Ba/ara Dthe "owE. 4.).*.*.*. "om'ensation in 'lace "om'ensating for the loss of a 'articular te=tual effect occurring at a given 'lace in the ST, by creating a corres'onding effect at a different 'lace in the TT. An instance for this com'ensatory strategy is em'loyed to ma>e u' for an inevitable loss such as figures of s'eech 'ertaining to schemes or tro'es, as in com'ensating for the loss of alliteration by em'loying assonance or vice versa . 4.).*.*.1. "om'ensation by merging " ondensing the features carried over a relatively longer stretch of the ST into a relatively shorter stretch of TT , as in translating the 'hrase !abara >hatirahu into one single le=ical item, the ?nglish verb consoled or comforted and the le=ical item Gsacrifice9 for three Arabic synonymous words .............................................. 4.).*.*.4. "om'ensation by s'litting (istributing the features carried in a relatively shorter stretch of the source te=t over a relatively longer stretch of the target te=tF as in translating the wordDi!tihad .... .. ......E
which literally means diligence, but in a religiolegal conte=t it is translated into a long stretch of words such as% Lreasoned inference or individual or inde'endent religious o'inion or intellectual effort.M Another e=am'le is the translation of the Islamic term DalIhraam...... .. ....E into ?nglish as La state in which one is 'rohibited to e=ercise
+3 certain deeds and 'ractices that are religiously 'ermitted at another state or circumstance.M 4.).*.*.+. "om'ensation by Addition To com'ensate for the inevitable loss in the translation of (u..a Al-@arawan DThe "all of the "urlewE with its 'oetic style and highly classical and 6uranic language, we have 'ainsta>ingly attem'ted to achieve some gains by adding, for instance, an idiom or a meta'hor that has no counter'art in the original, as e=em'lified in .*. below. 4. ).*.1. Strategy of Addition In translating 2auncelot9s s'eech, GAnani adds 7ellfire to the original te=t% ............................... %..................... . ................................................... ................................ ........ ............................................. ............ .................................... .. D......E................ ................E .................................... ....................... ............................. ... D................E D)+* 4.).*.4. Strategy of ?laboration and ?='lication In order to communicate the original message in an intact manner to the reci'ient, the translator sometimes resorts to elaboration or e='lication. 7ere is again an e=am'le from Sha>es'eare9s The erchant of Oenice % Shyloc>% hat news on the ialto V
ord by word or literal translation unto Arabic is% .................................. Such translation is clearly unintelligible , for the 'ro'er noun could be understood as a name of a 'erson rather
+; th an stoc> mar>et. Anani has re'laced the 'ro'er noun by what it means in Arabic% .................................... By utili:ing the strategy of addition, it can be rendered as .............................................. 4.).*.+. Strategy of A''ro=imation and "om'romise % This strategy endeavours to create an e/uilibrium or balance between the S2 aesthetic and cultural values which are acce'table or unacce'table in the T2. e followed this strategy among others, in translating Taha 7ussein9s (u..a Al-@arawan Dthe "all of the "urlewE into ?nglish, as it is stated in the 'reface% GThe dilemma facing the 'resent translator is how to bring about an e/uilibrium whereby the original aesthetic flavor is transferred into ?nglish without hindering genuine com'rehension or 'roducing something that can be re!ected as totally LUC-?nglishM. In many cases, only an a''ro=imation, rather than com'lete translation, is 'ossible in order to 'resent a natural, acce'table rendition.9 DAs-Safi,);35 E 4.*. Inter'reting Strategies 4.*.). "om'ensation Strategy Unli>e the translator who en!oys the availability of time and resources, the inter'reter is often obliged to have recourse to com'ensation strategies to ease the burden of constraints, to
5 a c h ieve a smooth 'erformance and fluid ideas and to im'rove the 'ace of delivery. 4.*.*. Syntactic odification Strategy To eliminate or reduce delays and to counter the ris> of lagging behind the S2 s'ea>er, the inter'reter starts simultaneously uttering before he 'erceives the whole idea. This entails carrying out certain syntactic ad!ustments. 8or e=am'le, in inter'reting from ?nglish into Arabic, the inter'reter em'loys a nominal sentenceD SO$E, usually beginning with the 'article inna .... rather than the normally 'referred verbal sentence in Arabic D OS$ E. By doing so, he ould reduce the time re/uired to wait until the s'ea>er utters the verb that might follow a long noun 'hrase with sometimes embedded 'hrases and clauses, e.g., $n Covember ), after a month of clashes, 8aris9s cousin, Shadi, a young man who had resentfully !oined the Palestinian 'olice was >illed in a confrontation in
"oaches are indis'ensable for training s'ort teams. The new coach has a long e='erience with international teams in many ?uro'ean, Asian and
) African countries. She coaches the tennis team at the wee>end. .................. .................... ............ . ........... ...... .......... .............. .... .... ............ ...................................................... ............................................ ......... ... ...................................................... ............. ...... ............ ................... ............. 4.*.1. Segmenting and "hun>ing Strategy The inter'reter resorts to this strategy when the S2 s'ea>er utters a lengthy sentence which has to be Gsliced9 into sense units so as to co'e with the short-term memory. "onversely, he may combine short sentences into com'ound or com'le= ones. 4.*.4. 2ining u' or 6ueuing Strategy According to this strategy, the inter'reter delays rendering a less significant information segment amidst a heavy load 'eriod of 'iled u' information and then catches u' in any lulls that occur later. D ?I- Shiyab and 7ussien, *555F ++.E This strategy may assist the inter'reter to reduce lag, but the delayed segment may not be cohesively com'atible with the whole flow of delivery and thus may disru't the thematic 'rogression.
* 4.*.+. "al/uing Strategy To mitigate the effects of time constraints and to avert any antici'ated le=ical difficulty, the inter'reter may imitate the S2 le=ical 'atterns and collocations and hence 'roduce a literal, Gverbatim9 rendition, e.g, ...................................................... ...................................................... ................................ ................................. Inter'retation% T h is incident is different from other incidents, for it is distinguished from 'revious ones in its gravity of conse/uences. Translation% This incident, unli>e others, has un'recedented conse/uences.
1 4.*.. Para'hrasing Strategy "ontrary to the above strategy , the inter'reter may resort to 'ara'hrase in encountering a S2 culture-s'ecificity, hence it may be rightly called L ?=egetic Strategy M e.g, ............ attawaf going round A2->aabaF running between Safa and arwa during............as-sai, in 'ilgrimage, demagneti:e ........ ...................................... 4.*.0. A''ro=imation Strategy hen the inter'reter does not find a direct T2 e/uivalent or fails to remember it, he can 'roduce an alternative that has common semantic features, e.g, o'ium 'o''y ............... D drugs E instead of............ 4.*.3. Borrowing Strategy To co'e with the s'ea>er and maintain a ra'id 'ace of delivery, the inter'reter may have recourse to loan words through transliteration, e.g., video, stadium, cinema, UC?S"$ .
4 4.;. ?lli'sis Strategy It is a strategy of reduction whereby some S2 words are deleted when they are believed su'erfluous, re'etitious or redundant, e.g. ............................ DIE see you later ......................................... 7e is dead and you alive.
Part Two Basic Theoretical Issues +
"ha'ter 8ive Translation ?/uivalence ?/uivalence is a >ey conce't in the translation 'rocess in general and in the linguistic theories in 'articular. Ideally, e/uivalence is a bilingual synonymy or sameness based on le=ical universals and cultural overla's DAsSafi, );;%))E. 2in>ing e/uivalence to substitution, Steiner D);;3%45E believes that e/uivalence is sought by means of substitution of Ge/ual9 verbal signs for those in the original. Ba>er D*55+%00E rightly maintains that e/uivalence is a central conce't in translation theory, albeit certain miner controversies about this conce't. Pro'onents define e/uivalence as relationshi's between ST and TT that allows the TT to be considered as a translation of the ST in the first 'lace.
?/uivalence relationshi's are also believed to hold between 'arts of STs and 'arts of TTs. any theorists thin> that translation is based on some >ind of e/uivalence de'ending on the ran> Dword, sentence or te=t levelE. It must be ac>nowledged here that this e/uivalence in Arabic and ?nglish is in many cases unattainable on all levels. +.). Ty'ologies of ?/uivalence In surveying the ty'ologies of e/uivalence, Ba>er D*55+%00E cites on the word level referential or denotative e/uivalence between the S2 and T2 words which refer to the same thing in the real world, in addition to connotative e/uivalence where the S2 and the T2 words are e='ected to trigger the same or similar associations in the minds of
the native s'ea>ers of the two languages. She bases ty'ologies on @oller D);3;%)30-);)E who 'resents what he calls te=t-normative e/uivalence in which the S2 and T2 words have the same effect on the S2 and T2 readers, which he also calls 'ragmatic e/uivalence DibidE. She refers to CidaGs D);4E dynamic e/uivalence which as'ires at creating similar res'onse on the T2 readers, so as to ma>e translation communicative as contrary to formal e/uivalence which underlies literal translation. Based on Cida9s classification of e/uivalence into formal vs. dynamic, As-Safi D);;4E 'ro'ounds two ty'es of translation% static or literal and dynamic which is non-literal and even creative translation, es'ecially in rendering literary te=ts D as elaborated in literary theories of translation aboveE. 8our ty'es of translation e/uivalence are also distinguished by Po'ovic Din Bassnett, );33% 1*E% D)E linguistic e/uivalence% where there is homogeneity on the linguistic level in both the original and te=tF D*E 'aradigmatic e/uivalence, where there is e/uivalence of the elements of a 'aradigmatic e='ressive a=is, the elements of grammar, which Po'ovic sees as being a higher category than le=ical e/uivalenceF D1E stylistic e/uivalence, where there is functional e/uivalence of elements in both original and translation aiming at an e='ressive identity with an invariant of identical meaningF and
D4E te=tual DsyntagmaticE e/uivalence, where there is e/uivalence of the syntagmatic structuring of a te=tF i.e. e/uivalence of form and sha'e. Pertinently, however, three things of great im'ort are to be considered% 0
3 D)E e/uivalence is achieved when items in the original and translation have some common features in their conte=tsF D*E the degree of conte=tual meaning is 'ro'ortionate to the number of common features% e/uivalence increases as the number of common features increasesF and D1E translation may be ranged on a general scale of evaluation of accurate to inaccurate according to the degree of e/uivalence of the le=ical items in both te=ts. $n the word level too, 7ann D);;*, in Ba>er, *55+%03E categori:es e/uivalence relationshi's into four, to which we may 'ro'ound a fifth one. $ne-to-one e/uivalence where there is a single e='ression for the T2 for a single S2 e='ressionF $ne-to-'art-of-one e/uivalence wherein a T2 e='ression covers 'art of the conce't designated by a single S2 e='ression as in the e/uivalence of the conce't :a>at into ?nglish as alms or charity which reveals 'art, but not the whole conce't which denotes a regular , obligatory charity or more elaborately a certain fi=ed 'ro'ortion of the wealthD*.+WE of every uslim to be 'aid yearly for the benefit of the needy in the uslim communityF $ne-to-many e/uivalence wherein more than one T2 e='ression for a single S2 e='ression as in the ?nglish words of >inshi', i.e. uncle which denotes 'aternal or maternal uncle, s'ouse for either husband or wife , cousin for the son or daughter of the uncle or auntF in addition to
the semantic level, this >ind of e/uivalence can be seen on the syntactic level wherein, for e=am'le the Arabic diminutive nouns may have more than one le=ical item, e.g. nuhayr ........ small river or rivulet. any-to-one wherein more than one T2 le=ical item for a single S2 e='ression or le=ical item, which reverses the above ty'e.
Ci2 or :ero e/uivalence wherein there is no T2 e='ression for an S2 e='ression, such as the word i!tihat or mu!tahid and /iyas and many other Islamic conce'ts which have no e/uivalence in ?nglish. This >ind of none/uivalence has let to the 'henomenon of borrowing among languages as is found in many words in ?nglish and Arabic, such as Television, Oedio in Arabic and Algebra in ?nglish among many e=am'les. Before concluding e/uivalence, it is worth referring to Ba>er9s In $ther ords which is devoted in si= cha'ters to si= ty'es of e/uivalence, namely% ). ?/uivalence at word level which has !ust been discussed aboveF *. ?/uivalence above the word level e=em'lified in collocation, idioms and fi=ed e='ressionsF -1. er that
are 'ertinent to the 'rocess of transference between ?nglish and Arabic are 'ragmatic, le=ical and grammatical, the last of which re/uires further elaboration. In Arabic, the nominal DverblessE sentences corres'ond to verbal sentences. 8or ;
05 e=am'le, the following nominal sentences e='ressing !uris'rudential ma=ims must rendered into verbal counter'arts in ?nglish% ............................ atters are !udged by intentions. ............................ ield is guaranteed. ..................................... The beast9s in!ury is s/uander. ...................................................... ................................................ In contracts, intentions and meanings, not words and structures,shall be ta>en into consideration. +.).). "ollocationalIdiomatic ?/uivalence +..).).). "ollocational ?/uivalence "ollocation refers to a se/uence of co-occurring words or sim'ly as, 8irth 'uts it, Lthe com'any words >ee' togetherM, in a combination in which a word tends to occur in relatively 'redictable ways with other words, often with restrictions on t h e manner of their co-occurrence, as e='licitly seen in restricting certain verbs or ad!ectives to certain nouns or certain 're'ositions. "ollocational restrictions are described by Ba>er D);;*% *3+E as Gsemantically arbitrary9 because they do not logically follow from the 'ro'ositional meaning the word outside the collocational combination. It is the collocates, 2arson D);34% )++E contends, that determine
which sense is indicated in a given 'hrase. 2arson DibidE cites the e=am'le of the word Gdress9 which has two drastically different meanings in the 'hrase Gdress the chic>en9 and
0) G dress the child9. To Gdress a chic>en9 involves Gta>ing the feathers off9 whereas Gdressing a child9 is G'utting clothes on9. 2i>ewise, the ad!ective Ggood9 denotes two divergent meanings in the 'hrases% Ggood time9 and Ggood 8riday9. AsSafi D);;4% ;-05E cites fifty different meanings of the ad!ective Ggood9 before fifty nouns. It is widely acce'ted that to 'roduce an acce'table, accurate or a''ro'riate T2 e/uivalent for a S2 counter'art 'oses a challenge even to the most com'etent and e='erienced translator. Achieving a''ro'riate collocations in the TT, Basil and ason rightly assert, has always been seen as one of the ma!or 'roblems a translator faces, because S2 interference may esca'e unnoticed, and by corollary, an unnatural collocation will flaw the TT . The translator9s arduous tas> is due to the semantic arbitrariness of collocations as e='licated by the following e=am'les. e normally say in ?nglish Lma>e a visitM, but not L'erform a visitM. Ba>er D);;*%40ffE 'oints out that synonyms and /uasior near-synonyms often have /uite different sets of collocates% Lbrea> rulesM but not Lbrea> regulationsM, or Lwasting timeM but not Ls/uandering time, Lstrong teaM but
not L'owerful teaM. Ba>er DibidE also gives the e=am'le of the verb Ldrin>M in ?nglish which collocates naturally with li/uids li>e L!uice and mil>M, but not with Lsou'M. In Arabic, on the other hand, the verb Ldrin>M collocates with almost all sorts of li/uid, hence it collocates with Lsou'M, e.g., yashrabu-l-hasaaMa ...................... . All the above e=am'les and others below dis'lay that collocations cannot be literally transferred from S2 into T2. "onsider the verb LcatchM in the following collocations% catch a fish ....................
0* catch flue .............................. catch the train ........................ catch the meaning ...................... catch attention .................................... catch one9s breath D............E.......................... ( r . eem Salah of Ptera University has as>ed her A students to render *4 collocations of the ad!ective Le=ecutiveM 'lus noun, as a test of translation com'etence% An e=ecutive a''earance ?=ecutive bathroom ?=ecutive cor'orate ?=ecutive decider ?=ecutive decision ?=ecutive delay ?=ecutive disease ?=ecutive 8riday ?=ecutive house ?=ecutive inn ?=ecutive investor ?=ecutive lunch ?=ecutive manager ?=ecutive onday ?=ecutive order ?=ecutive 'ar>ing ?=ecutive 'ro!ect ?=ecutive raincoat Sale e=ecutive ?=ecutive session ?=ecutive summary The com'any e=ecutive ?=ecutive white trash ?=ecutive wor>out --
01 T he above collocations obviously 'oses a difficult 'roblem to a translator. There is another category of collocations that are almost literally rendered into Arabic which seems to have accommodated them as Gborrowed collocations. 7ere are some of them. A blac> mar>et .......... ...... Ado't a 'lan'ro!ect.............................. Anarchy 'revailed ...................... At a stone throw ........................ Blind confidence .................. Blind imitation .................... By sheer coincidence .................... (evote time .................. (raw a 'olicy .................... 8ire lines .................... ?=ert an effort.. ................ 7ard currency .................. 7onourable defeat ...................... @ill time .................. $n e/ual footing ................................ Point of view ................ Policy of ra''roachement.......................... Political tension .................... aise the level ........................ Safety valve .................. Save a situation .................... Starting 'oint .................... Show interest ........................
04 Stri>ing force .................. Teach sb a lesson ........ D........E.......... Turning 'oint .................. ar of nerves .................. The following collocations assume the form of simile% asXad!XasX noun or li>e X noun % As brave as a lion .............................. As clear as day ................................ As cunning as a fo= .............................. As fast as an arrow .............................. As innocent as a child ................................ As obstinate as a mule .............................. As old as the hills ............................ As slow as a tortoise .................................. As strong as a lion ........................ As strong as a horse ............................ As strong as a an o= .......................... As sweet as sugarhoney ...................................... To tal> li>e a child .................................. To behave li>e children.................................. To run li>e the wind ............................ To chatter li>e mon>eys ..............................
0+ "ha'ter Si= Translation 2oss and on the 'art of the com'etent translator who has to resort to certain strategies, such as those of com'ensation, domestication, annotation and e='lication. $n the te=tual level, for instance, the translator may utili:e e=o'horic referenceF and on the stylisticrhetorical level heshe may ado't the strategy of com'ensation whereby he could 'lant in the TT a meta'hor e/uivalent to non-meta'hor in the ST ..to atone for an inevitable loss of a 'receding rhetorical feature in the ST.
8urthermore, an e/uilibrium should be maintained with regard to loss and gain in the translation which as'ires after
merit. It is 'erha's unanimously acce'ted that com'lete symmetry or sameness can hardly e=ist between languages descending from the same family, let alone those belonging to remote origins, which results in divergency on all 'lanes. In fact, the more divergent the languages are, the more losses in translating from one language into another, ?nglish and Arabic are not an e=ce'tion. The asymmetrical character of these two languages underlies the linguisticstylistic discre'ancies on 'honological, mor'hological, syntactic, semantic, te=tual, stylistic and cultural levels. "ultural differences, to ta>e the last level, give rise to le=ical ga's evinced in incongruous ideological, social and ecological terms which relate to highly sensitive issues such as religion and 'olitics or those 'ertaining to institutions and nomenclature. 7ence the 'rocess of translation between Arabic and ?nglish is sometimes clogged u' by linguistic, rhetorical and cultural barriers which engender inevitable losses with very serious conse/uences es'ecially in dealing with a highly sacred te=t li>e the 6ur9an. .).).). @inds and 2evels of 2oss There are two >inds of loss% 8irst, inevitable loss% It occurs because of the divergent
systems of the two languages regardless of the s>ill and com'etence of the translator who cannot establish e/uivalence and therefore resorts to com'ensatory strategies. Second is an avertable loss which is attributed to translator9s failure to find the a''ro'riate e/uivalence. Both >inds of loss can be seen on all levels. 0
00 .).).*. 2evels of 2oss .).).*.). or'hological 2evel $n the mor'hological level, Arabic infi= is an essential element in the mor'hological structure of the triliteral root as in the infi= alaf which indicates duality and reci'rocality among other things, e.g., faa..ala ........or tafaa..ala .......... The infi= in ?nglish, on the other hand, is restricted to few count nouns as in tooth DsingE and teeth D'lE. To com'ensate for this loss, the translator o'ts to add a reci'rocal 'ronoun, i. e., each other or one another, e. g., -...................................... .... ......... ...... .................... - They meet each other one another in the office. 2i>ewise, the divergent number systems in the two languages engender grave loss unless s>ilfully com'ensated. Arabic classifies count nouns into three categories% singular, dual and 'luralF whereas ?nglish has a binary classification whereby count nouns are either singular or 'lural. To transfer duality from Arabic into ?nglish, a le=ical item such as both or two must be added by way of com'ensation . Unless com'ensated for, this loss may cause inaccurate intelligibility, ambiguity or misinter'retation, es'ecially in dealing with a sacred te=t li>e
the 6ur9an. In Al-ahman Dost "om'assionateE sura the aya .............. ............ ........ ........ re'eated 1) times evinces duality in rabbi>umaa .......... Dyour 2ord % 2ord of the two of youE and tu>adhibaan ............ Dyou both denyE where the ?nglish 'ronouns denote either singular or 'lural. According to the ma!ority of classical commentators and e=egists, the dual form of address is meant to refer to two invisible beings, i. e.,!inn and man>ind D see A:Qam>hashari, bn @athir, 6arani, among othersE. Al-a:i, however, maintains the duality of address, but he thin>s the reference is the two categories of human beings, i. e., men and woman, to both of whom the 6ur9an is addressed. In fact the whole sura is a sym'hony of duality which leads to Unity% all creation is in 'airs Dsee footnote +)35 in the translation referred to as Gushaf Aladinah AnCabawiyah 'ublished by @ing 8ahd 7oly 6ur9an Printing "om'le=E. In this sura, the things and conce'ts are 'resented in 'airs% sun and moon, stars and trees, corn and 'lants, two easts and two wests, 'earl and coral, a!esty and 7onour, !inn and man>ind Dre'eated 4 timesE, fire and brass, foreloc>s and feet, rubies and
03 coral , date 'alms and 'omegranates, green cushions and beautiful mattresses, e/uivalent in Arabic to% - .................................... - ...................... ...... - ........................ - ........................ - .......... ........ - .......................... - .......................... - .............................. .......... - .................. - ................................ - .............................. - .................. .............................. In translating this sura into ?nglish translators can be classified into five categories. ). Those who have failed to sense and therefore transfer duality and have not even attem'ted com'ensation, which results in distorted loss of the sura, as can be noted in the translations of usuf Ali and Pic>thall% - Then which of the favours of your 2ord will ye denyV Dusuf Ali% )13E - hich is it, of the favours of your 2ord that ye deny V D ohammad Pic>thall% 050E By em'loying bac>-translation techni/ue, the aya will be % ..................................................... ....... ...... is the 'lural of thou.........DThe archaic 'ersonal 'ronoun ye *. Those who have com'ensated for the loss of duality by adding an indicative word such as both. - So which of your 2ord9s blessings do both of you deny V
DAbdlha// and Aisha Bewley%+*0E - So which of your 2ord9s bounties will both of you deny V D Irving% +1)E - hich of your 2ord9s bounties will you and you deny V DArberry%++0E 1. Those who add a word of duality and em'loying e=o'horic reference. - Then which of the blessings of your 2ord will you both D!inn and menE deny V D 7ilali and @han% 0*3E 4. Those who resort to foot-noting "omment ()%
0; - Then which of the favours +)35 $f your 2ord will ye deny V D8ootnote +)35 refers to duality and 'resents detailed elucidation of the sura.E Dushaf Al-adinah An-CabawaiyahE - hich of your 2ord9s blessings would you * deny V D8ootnote * % the 'ronoun is in the dual number, the word being addressed to man>ind and the !inn. This refrain is re'eated no less than 1) timesE DC.K. (awood% );E +. Those who add a word of duality, i.e., both, and 'rovide a footnote - Then to whichever of your 2ord9s boons do you DbothE cry lies V D8ootnote % i.e., the !inn and man>indE D for functional rather than formal e/uivalence. 7ere are but two e=am'les% tense and condition. hen tense and as'ect combined together there are )* tenses in ?nglish, some of which have no e/uivalents in Arabic, such as 'resent 'erfect and 'resent continuous or 'rogressive. The Arabic 'ast or 'erfective tense refers to 'ast, 'resent or future time. The failure to ca'ture the e=act
reference to time may result in a serious semantic loss. This can be illustrated by the verb !aa9a ...... in the following 6uranic ayas D ))1 %..............E ........................ ...... .) D ); % ............ E .................... .......... .* D 3) %..............E ................................ ...... %........ .1 %............E .............. ........................ ...................................................... ............ ........ .4 D 0) The verb !aa..a........ in the above four ayas denotes 'ast, 'resent, 'resent 'erfect and future tenses res'ectively % ) . T h e sorcerers came to Pharaoh *. *.And the agony of death comes in truth 1. Say % Truth has DnowE come and falsehood has vanished
4. And those who disbelieve will be driven in throngs to hell, till they have come to it , the gates thereof will be o'ened Translators, however, differ with regard to tense and time. Instead of the 'resent tense ado'ted be Arberry, Asad, among others, some thin> the future is meant in the second aya above% - And death9s agony comes in -And Dthen,E the twilight of DfullE truth DAsad% 0;3E And the stu'or of death will D7ilali and @han% 051E The agony of death will come truth DIrving%+);E
truth D Arberry%+45E death brings with it the
come in truth Dand confront youE with
And the stu'or of death will bring truth Dbefore his eyes Dusuf Ali% )14;E
The fourth sura refers to the (ay of Kudgment or the (oomsday, where the ?nglish modals will and shall Dthe latter used by ArberryE e='licitly e='ress futurity, which Pic>thall seems to have missed by o'ting for 'resent tense% -And those who disbelieve are driven unto hell in troo's
till, when they reach it, and the gates thereof are o'ened . "ondition is another 'roblematic syntactic area where loss in translation can be detected. In ?nglish, there are four >inds% real DfactualE, 'robable Dli>ely to ha''enE, 35
3) im'robable Dunli>ely to ha''enE and im'ossible. ?ach >ind is determined by the verb tense or form in both the main clause Da'odosisE and the subordinate clause D'rotasisE. The conditional 'articles if and unless do not 'lay any role in the determinacy of any of the above >inds. In fact, the conditional com'le= sentence may not contain any 'article w here an au=iliary verb had, were or the modal should introduces the de'endent clause. I n Arabic, on the other hand, there are two main >inds% real or factual and im'robableim'ossible. Both the real and the hy'othetical are determined by conditional 'article% inn .... , idhaa ...... and law .... The first two 'articles in Arabic denote the first two >inds in ?nglish, whereas the third Arabic 'article .... denotes the other two, and re/uires 'refi=ing the main verb with laam ... In the 6ur9an only inn .... and law .... are used for e='licit condition while idhaa ...... is a tem'oral 'article, sometimes with im'licit condition, e/uivalent to when. 7 e r e are ten ?nglish translations of a 6uranic aya wherein the first three em'loy verb forms indicating im'ossible condition which semantically contradicts the second 'art of it. .............. E ..................................... ...... .................. ............................ ................
D ); % - And if Allah had so decided, 7e would indeed have gone away with their hearing and their beholdings. Surely, Allah is ?ver (eterminer over everything. Den away their hearing and their sight. Truly,
3* - And if Allah willed, 7e could have ta>en away their hearing and sight. "ertainly, Allah has 'ower over all things. D 7ilali and @han % E Th e other translators have rightly o'ted for the im'robable condition because it is not im'ossible for en error in e=change for guidance ........................ .............. .............. ............ may one day 'erceive the truth and mend their waysM Dcf% footnote )* in Asad, '.E. - If Allah wished, 7e could ta>e their hearing and their sight. Allah has 'ower over all things. DAdalha// and Aisha Bewley% 4E - And if e away their hearing and their sight% for verily, e away their sight and hearingF 7e has 'ower over all things. D(awood% 1*0E - If e away their hearing and sightF
31 - If Allah willed, 7e could destroy their hearing and their sight. 2o Allah is Able to do all things. DPic>thall % 4 E - If Allah willed, 7e could ta>e away their faculty of hearing and seeingF for Allah hath 'ower over all things. Dusuf Ali % *5F and usshaf Al-adinah AnCabawiyahE Perha's the cognate ob!ect or accusative ............ .............. 'oses a serious challenge for any translator from Arabic into ?nglish, sim'ly because it is very common in the first and very rare in the second, in few instances such as% live a life or dream a dream. This ob!ect serves as an effective means for em'hasis and 'ersuasion as well as a rhetorical function of musicality. The loss is not only inevitable but also hardly intelligible. In the
/uite natural Arabic counter'artF second, using a different nounF third, using an adverb of manner so as to be somehow natural in ?nglish. The first three of the following ten translators of the two ayas from suras AlUmraan and An-Cisaa.. seem to have ado'ted the first strategy, the other five the first and the second, and the last two the second and the third% D + %................E .......... ................... ......................................... D )01 %..............E .......... .................... ...................................................... ............ -
). Abdalha// and Aisha Bewley D+5F and ;* E % -As for those who are >afir, I will 'unish them with a harsh 'unishment. - As for those who show disdain and grow arrogant, 7e will 'unish them with a 'ainful 'unishment. *. Arberry D++F and ;0E% -As for the unbelievers, I will chastise them with a terrible chastisement . -and as for them who disdain, and wa= 'roud, them 7e will chastise with a 'ainful chastisement. 1.
them with a 'ainful 'unishment 0. ushaf Al-adinah An-Cabawiyah D)+0F and *01 E% 34
3+ - As for those who re!ect faith, I will 'unish them with severe chastisement - But those who are disdainful and arrogant, 7e will 'unish them with a grievous chastisement 3.Pic>thall D0)F and )1*E% -- As for those who disbelieve I shall chastise them with a heavy chastisement - and as for those who were scornful and 'roud, them will 7e 'unish with a 'ainful doom ;. Irving D +0F and )5+E% - As for those who disbelieve, I will 'unish them severely - 7e will 'unish those who act scornfully and 'roud with 'ainful torment )5. (awood D45)F and 104E% - The unbelievers shall be sternly 'unished - As for those who are scornful and 'roud, 7e will sternly 'unish them In aya 31 of surat ariam DaryE two of the above ten translators have ventured to imitate the Arabic style and derived a cognate noun thus 'roducing not only unnatural ?nglish but also far from the intended meaning. D 31 %..........E .................................... ...................................................... ........ - Art thou not aware that e have let loose all satanic forces u'on those who deny the truth DforcesE that im'el them Dtowards sinE with strong im'ulsion V
DAsad % 40 E 7ave you not seen that e sent Ash-Shayatins against the disbelievers, alluring them by Devery manner of E allurementV Dafir to goad them onV DAabdalha// and Aisha Bewley% *;*E
3 - Seest thou not that e have set the ?vil $nes on against the Unbelievers, to incite them with furyV DAli, usuf % 0)E 7ast thou not seen how e sent the Satans against the unbelievers, to 'ric> them V DArberry % 15;E @now that we send down to the unbelievers who incite them to evil D(awood% 10E - See you not that e have sent the shayatins DdevilsE against the disbelievers to 'ush them to do evil V D7ilali and @han % 4)*E - 7ave you not seen how e send devils to disbelievers, to 'rovo>e to them to fury V DIrving % 1))E - Seest thou not that e have set Satans on against the unbelievers, to incite them with fury V D ushaf Al-adinah An-Cabawiyah % 304ED - Seest thou not that e have set the devils on the disbelievers, to confound them with confusion V DPic>thall % 451E I t should be noted that all the above translators and 'erha's others as well have not assimilated the semantic im'lication of the cognate accusative La::an ...... which echoes the sound of the hissing steam arising from a boiling >ettle, derived from the verb yuMu:: ...... which im'lies seduction with hastiness and annoyance. ?='licitly, they have all lost the conce'ts of hastiness and hissing, as evinced in At-Ton!i9s e='lication of the 'hrase Lu::uhum .......... Gas to 'ush them towards sins with hissing, hastiness
and annoyance9.
30 .).).*.1. Semantic 2evel This >ind of loss is very common and often inevitable in translation as it is a corollary of the lac> of e/uivalence in ?nglish and Arabic, es'ecially in the domain of cultures'ecificity% many religious and cultural words have no e/uivalents in the two languages such as terms of >inshi'. "ons'icuously, the most serious loss in translation is when the meaning, be it denotative or connotative, is lost or distorted, which undermines the 'ur'ose or s>o'os and even the !ustification of translation as an act of bilingual communication. The loss is aggravated when the 6ur9an, the ord of , and has chosen an unconte=tuali:ed one, i.e., em'ty% This loss is, obviously, avertable. - So when thou art em'ty, labour DArberry% 4;E An e=am'le of another avertable loss in connotation is the translation of amaani .......... the 'lural of imniyah .......... I in the following ayas% D 03%..............E ................ ............ ... ....... .............................................. ................ %..............E ................ ...... - .................................................... .................................. -
D ))) The first aya refers to the Kews among whom are illiterate or unlettered 'eo'le who have no real >nowledge of the $ld Testament, yet they de'end on or trust false desires or !ust wishful thin>ing% they sim'ly guess or s'eculate. 2i>ewise, the second of the above ayas s'ea>s of the Kews and
33 "hristians who thin> they alone will enter Paradise, which is again but false desires or no more than wishful thin>ing. $bviously, the intended 6uranic meaning has a 'e!orative or derogatory sense, i.e., vain or false desires, a sort of wishful thin>ing. Irving, however, has mistranslated this le=ical item into ..amen.. which has an a''reciative connotation, because this inter!ection is used at the end of a 'rayer, invocation or hymn meaning Gso be it9 or G may it be so9 as in saying GAmen to that9 meaning GI certainly agree to that9. - Some of them are illiterate and do not >now the Boo> e=ce't to say GAmen9 to it. - They say% LCo one will enter the ind of functional e/uivalence will result in loss of cohesion in the target te=t. The Arabic most
3; recurrent coordinator wa .......... which recurs )+0 times in surat usuf DKose'hE 'erforming a binary tas> of both coordination and subordination which is not always ado'ted in the translations of the 6ur9an , thus creating loss on the te=tual level as e='licated below. In aya 1 of the above sura, wa is e/uivalent to the ?nglish subordinator though, even though rather than the additive coordinator and . 8our of the following ten translators have rightly o'ted for subordination, two for coordination, one has le=icali:ed 'hrase , i.e., seeing that and three have missed it altogether % .................... .................. .. ........... ...................................................... ............. D 1 % ........E .................. ........ ........ e tell the best of stories in revealing this 6ur9an unto thee, D$ Pro'het,E even though you were unaware of it before it came. DAbdalha// and Aisha Bewley% *)3E - e shall relate to thee the fairest of stories in that e have revealed to thee this @oran, though before it thou was one of the heedless. D Arberry % ** E - In revealing the @oran e will recount to you the best of histories , though before e revealed it you were heedless of $ur signs. D(awood % 13 E e narrate unto thee DuhammadE the best of narratives in that e have ins'ired in thee this 6ur9an, though afore
time thou wast of the heedless. DPic>thall % 15)-15*E - e relate unto you DuhammadE the best of stories through $ur evelations unto you, of this 6ur9an. And before Di.e., before the coming of (evine evelation to youE, you were among those who >new nothing about it Dthe -------
;5 --6ur9anE 7ilali and @han % 154 E - e, ?ver e, narrate to you the fairest of narratives in that e have revealed to you this 6ur9an, and decidedly before it you were indeed one of the heedless. new it not. DAli, usuf % +4E - e relate the best stories to you, since e have revealed this eading to you. ou were someone /uite unaware 'reviously. DIrving % *1+E - e do relate unto thee the most beautiful of stories, in that e reveal to thee this D'ortion of the E 6ur9an% before this, thou too was among those who >new it not. Dushaf Al-adinah An-Cabawiyah% *1E .).).*.+. Stylistichetorical 2evel 2oss, mostly inevitable, is e='ected in translating a stylistically sui generis te=t such as the 6ur9an, which is matchless and inimitable. The common rhetorical device
meta'hor is a clear case in 'oint. here literal rendition into ?nglish may not only cause unintelligibility but also a comic res'onse, as it can be cons'icuously demonstrated in the translation of the meta'hor libaas as garments of which the singular means a sort of covering, as vestment meaning a ceremonial garment es'ecially one worn by a 'riest in church, or as raiment which is archaic, denoting clothing in general in the aya )30 in surat Al-Ba/ara. DThe "owE% D)30 %............E ........ ........ ................ .. .............. .. They D referring to womenE are libaas to men, and you DmenE are libaas to them D i.e. womenE.
;) A ccording to At-Tabari and Ibn @athir, among others, libaas means sa>an which denotes the 'leasure and comfort en!oyed by husbands living with their wives. Aya )3; in surat Al-A..raaf endorses this denotation in stating the an % D)3; %............E .......... ....................... ...................................................... ................... To com'ensate for the inevitable loss, some translators have ado'ted the strategy of turning the meta'hor into simile while others have rightly o'ted for the ground of the meta'hor as is shown below. - They are your garments And ye are their garments . DAli % 0E -They are a garment for you, and you are a garment for them Dlthall % 1+EE
They are clothing for you and you for them DAbdalha// and Aisha% Bewley % *+E - They are as a garment for you, and you are as a garment for them DAsad % 1; E - They are a comfort to you as you are to them D(awood % 141E
;* 7ilali and @han D'.13E have em'loyed a dual strategy of transliteration and e='lication in which they 'resented one meaning of libas as sa>an /uoting aya )3; in surat AlA9araf mentioned above. - They are libas Di.e. body cover, or screen, or Sa>an Di.e. you en!oy the 'leasure of living with them as in 0% )3;E - for you and you are the same for them. D7ilali and @han % 13E 2i>ewise, the verb ya..>ul ........ in aya *0+ in surat AlBa/ara and aya )15 in Al-Umran ya..>ulu-l-iba has been rendered literally as eat, devour, gorge, or feed by eight of the following ten translators. Instead of translating the meta'hor, its ground should be rendered, i.e., ta>e or 'ractice riba. $nly two seem to have ado'ted a T2oriented a''roach by o'ting for the ground. ...................................................... ...................................... ............... ....... D *0+ ............E ...................................................... ...................................... D )15 %..................E - ou who have believed, do not eat riba, doubled DandE redoubled D
(oubled and multi'lied D Ali % ))E - $ ye who believe (evour not Usury (oubled and multi'lied
Dushaf Al-adinah An-Cabawiyah% )35E - $ ye who believe (evour not usury, doubling and /uadru'ling Dthe sum lentE DPic>thall % 31E -$ $U who have attained to faith (o not gorge yourselves on usury, doubling and re-doubling DAsad % 30E -ou who have iman (o not feed on riba, multi'lied and then remulti'lied DAbdalha// and Aisha Bewley %+;E - Believers, do not live on usury, doubling your wealth many times over -D(awood % 450E - ou who believe, do not live off usury which is com'ounded over and over again DIrving % E .*.e, Lignoring what can also be gained, for the translator can at times enrich or clarify the S2 te=t. oreover, what is often seen as Glost9 from
the S2 conte=t may be re'laced in the T2 conte=tM. By the same to>en, Cida and Taber D);04%)5E aver that L whereas one inevitably loses many idioms in the 'rocess of translation, one can also stands to gain a number of idioms.M Cida calls for some sort of com'ensation for the loss a S2 idiom% ;1
;4 $ne of the difficulties is that too often translators are not sufficiently sensitive to the 'ossibilities of idiomatic e='ressions, and hence the end result is a wea>ening of the figurative force of the translation, since they do not com'ensate for the loss of certain idiom by the introduction of others. D Cida, );4% )5E ens Kamil9s 'ure, Platonic love for Buthayna to rain, echoing Sha>es'eare9s similitude of mercy to rain when Portia addresses Shyloc> to show mercy to Antonio% The /uality of mercy is not strained It dro''eth as gentle rain from heaven .............................................. ...................................................... ..
;+ Cicholson has not only introduced the meta'hor Grain9, the heavenly blessing and vital for the Arabs, but also some meta'hors which do not e=it in the original te=t. %........................ .......... .... .......... .......... ................ ........ .................... .... ........ .................................. ........ .......... ........ ...... ...... .......... .................................................. ... ..... ...................................... .......................... ................ ...... ... ....... ........ .......... ...... $h ight it flower anew that youthful 'rime And restore to us, Buthayna, the bygone time And might we again be blest as we wont to be hen thy fol> were nigh and ingly attem'ted to achieve some gains by creating, for instance, an idiom or a meta'hor that has no counter'art in the original. ...................................................... .............................................. ....... ................................... D )5 %.......................... E ................... ............................. .......... ............. .............................
So that together we may evo>e the tragedy to which we were witnesses , which we could not 'revent ha''ening and whose evil we could not >ee' away from that soul which was e=tinguished, and that blood which was shed. The 'assive verb in Arabic Lu:hi/at .......... literally means G'erish9 or Gbe dead9, yet the translator has o'ted for Ge=tinguished9 to show that that soul is a light or a flame. D'.4E
; ................................ ..................... ............... ...................................... .............................. D ) %..........................E .................... ...................... ...... - isha's tossed them from village to village, from one district to another, here they would find tenderness, and there bitterness. D'.3E .......... .................................... ..... ...................................................... ....................................... ........................................ ............. ...................................................... ..................................... D14....E.............. - here could I find the strength to 'ut out my hand amidst these hands or ma>e my !aws labour li>e those other !aws V All I could do was to sit among those women, glancing at them, irritated by them, cheating my hunger with small, fine 'ieces of bread V D*E ...................................................... ...................................................... .............................. ...................................................... ...................................................... .................. ...................... ............................... ...................................................... ......................... . D *1 %..E ... .................. .............. - I recalled how, weary and e=hausted, we had arrived in this
village at the close of the dayF we had sat beneath some mulberry trees to rest for an hour or so. e scarcely s'o>e to one another. But as silence lasted too long, our inactivity became fretful and thin>ing was too o''ressive, our mother said#D''.)4-)+E ...... ........ ............................ ........ ...... Then I brought to memory the misha' which had utterly crushed her. D)1 E
"ha'ter Seven Translation (eterminacy and Indeterminacy 0.5. Translations are generally construed as 'roducts of the underlying determinacy or indeterminacy both of which s/uarely rest on te=t-ty'es, s>o'os or 'ur'ose Dfor elaboration, see s>o'os theory in "ha'ter Three and the techni/ues or strategies. et, they are not absoluteF they dis'lay a s'ectrum of high, low and :ero. In ma=imum indeterminacy, source te=ts lend themselves to more than one acce'table version in the T2, whereas :ero indeterminacy is tantamount determinacy wherein only one version is not acce'table but feasible, as e='licitly evinced in the translation of 'oetry for indeterminacy and legal te=ts for determinacy. 0.). Translation (eterminacy 0.).). Te=t-Ty'e (eterminacy (eterminacy of translation sim'ly signifies that there should only be one single 'roduct in the T2. $ne case in 'oint is the word-for-word translation or (rydens meta'hase where S2 individual words are re'laced by T2 words with sometimes strict adherence to the S2 word-order. But due to the linguistic and cultural discre'ancies between S2 and T2, such literal
translations, es'ecially of e='ressive or emotive te=ts are ;0
;3 aw>ward, unnatural, unintelligible and even unreadable because literalism distorts the sense and the synta= of the original, im'edes the translators wor> and stifles his creativity. This is why machine translation DTE, which basically 'erforms mere re'lacement or sim'le substitution of words in one language for words in another, has succeeded in dealing with standardi:ed te=ts em'loying 'lain, formulaic language such as weather re'orts, government documents, and some legal te=ts. 2egal te=ts are determinately translated to ensure 'recise corres'ondence of the rights and duties in the source te=t and in the translation wherein only one accurate version is acce'ted, in both the source and target te=ts. The language is a very distinct variety characteri:ed by 'recision, 'lainness and clarity. (ocuments li>e contracts or wills, for instance, are formulaic and fro:en or even fossili:ed so that a contract or will written or translated in the wrong formula and not according to the standardi:ed form in both languages, is not a contract or will. This holds true for the other legal te=ts such as agreements, certificates, government documents, insurance 'olicies, 'owers of attorney and testaments among others. 7ere are few
e=am'les% 2ease "ontractAgreement .................. $r% (welling Unit ental Agreement ........................................ This contractagreement indenture made and signed this tenth day of Kuly, *55; between YYYYYYYYYY as lessor, and YYYYYYYYY as lessee, witnesseth .............. YYYYYYYY.................... *55;.................................................. .......................... %..................................YYYYYYYYYY That the lessor has this day leased to the lessee the 'remises situated in YYYYYYYYY to be occu'ied by the lessee as a residence Dor insert any other 'ur'ose for which the building is
;; leased for and during the term commencing on the first day of Kuly *55;, and ending on the thirtieth day of Kane *5)5, u'on the terms and conditions hereinafter set forth ....E .......................... YYYYYY .. .............................. ............. ...................................................... ......... *55; .. .. .. ...... .. ................ .. .......... .................. .. ................ .. .... D .... .. .................. .... ................ ............ *5)5 .. .............................................. .................. D .................................................... ........ ................................................. The lessee shall 'ay to the lessor as rent the sum of 8ive 7undred Kordanian (inars D+55 K(sE 'ayable in advance in e/ual monthly installments u'on the first day of each and every month during the term hereof . ........ .. .... .. ............ .. .... .. ...... .. ........ .. .......... .. .............. .. .... .. .. ........ .. ........ .. ............ .. .............. .... ...................................................... ...................................................... ............................. $% It is agreed this *5 day of Kuly *55; by and between% YYYYYYD2andlordE YYYYYYY DTenantE
D............E YYYY.. D........E YYYY.................... *55;.......... *5............................ That 2andlord hereby lets to Tenant the 'remises situated in YYYYYY u'on the following terms and conditions% %........................................ YYYYY................................................. ....................... 0.).*. S>'os (eterminacy e/uivalent term, which is an a''roach to translation develo'ed by Oermeer D);3;E to meet the growing need in the latter half of the *5th century for the translation of scientific and academic 'a'ers, instructions for use, tourist guides and some legal te=ts such
as contracts. According to s>o'os theory, translation is the 'roduction of a functionally a''ro'riate target te=t, based on an e=isting ST, and the relationshi' between the two te=ts is s'ecified according to the s>o'os of the translation. The theory even 'roclaims that Junless the s>o'os of the target te=t is s'ecified, translation cannot, 'ro'erly s'ea>ing, be carried out at all.M Din Ba>er, *55+% *10E . Besides, the s>o'os or the intended 'ur'ose of the target te=t sometimes determines translation methods and strategies, or in other words, the 'rocess determines the 'roduct. 0.).1. Process (eterminacy of the Product% Static vs. (ynamic in ?nglish into Arabic translation Translation is not only determined by te=t-ty'e as seen in translating legal te=ts, but also by the method, a''roach, strategy or techni/ue which lays constraints on the translator who commits himself to ado'ting it. If he, for instance, o'ts to formal e/uivalence which brings about a static translation 'erha's because of being incom'etent or ignorant of the dynamic ty'e which utili:es the T2 'otentiality as might be demonstrated in the following e=am'les m em'loying an Arabic 'refi= % ). 7e deemed the matter easy ....................................
*. She as>ed him for mercy, but his heart has turned into stone. ...................................................... ............... 1. 7e drew water from the well. ...................................... The dynamic counter'arts of the above sentences em'loy the Arabic 'refi= ...... which e='resses re/uest, new state or change%
........................ .) .......................................... .* ................................ .1 By the same to>en, the translator em'loys the accusative bound mor'heme or 'refi= alaf .......................... to 'roduce a dynamic rather than a static translation, e.g., Too much food made him sic>. Static Tr. ................................................ (ynamic Tr. .............................................. The sad news made her cry. $r% The sad news caused her to cry. Static Tr . ................................................. .... (ynamic Tr. .......................................... 2i>ewise the translator uses the Arabic verbal sentence instead of one starting with verb to be >aana .......... or with a noun or 're'osition% ). 7is two hands were tired . St. Tr. .................................... (yn. Tr. .................. *. It is difficult to understand the /uestion. St. Tr. ........................................ (yn. Tr. ................................ 1. "hildren are afraid of dogs St. Tr. .............................................. (yn. Tr. .................................... 4. It was night, all was /uiet, there was utter silence. St. Tr. .................................................. ................................................
(yn Tr. .................................................. .................. +. y friend was angry then he became tongue-tied St. Tr. .................................................. ...................... (yn Tr. ..............................................
In the following e=tract from 7emingways A 8arewell to Arms, the renowned Arab translator, unir Al-Baalba>i, has o'ted to ado't a formal e/uivalence, thus 'roducing a static translation wherein he re'eats the Arabic verb to be >auna ........ seven times as e/uivalent to was were instead of a dynamic translation wherein the sentences are introduced with ordinary verbs. ST% The 'lain was rich with cro'sF there were many orchards of fruit trees and beyond the 'lain the mountains were brown and bare. There was fighting in the mountains and at night we could see the flashes from the artillery. In the dar> it was li>e summer lightning, but the nights were cool and there was not the feeling of a storm coming. DA 8arewell to Arms, by ?rnest 7emingwayE A static translation determined by formal e/uivalence% ...... .. ............ .. ...... .. .... .. ........ . ... .... .. ..... .. ................ .. .......... .. .... ...... .. ............................ .... ...... .. .......... .............................. ....................... ........................... .. ................................................... ................... .................................. ................ ...................................................... ...................................................... ...... ........ D 0%.................. E ............................. .......................... ........................... . A dynamic translation free from the re'etition of
>aana........ is as follows% .. ................................................... ...................................................... ............................... ...................................................... .................. ................................... .............................. .......... .. ...... .. ...... .. .............. .. .. .......... .. .......... .. .. ..... .. .. .......... .. .... .. ........ .. ............ .. .... .. .........................................
A static translation determined by formal e/uivalence overloo>s the cognate or accusative ob!ect in the Arabic dynamic rendition, e.g., ). 7e loved her very much St. Tr. .............................. (yn Tr. ............................ *. It was well designed St. Tr. .............................. (yn Tr. .................................. 1. 7e was given a good beating St. Tr. ............................ (yn Tr. ............................ 4. They loo>ed at him sadly in a sad way. St. Tr. ................................................. ......... (yn Tr. ............................................ +. 7e shouted as usual St. Tr. .......................... (yn Tr. ...................................... . 7e tal>s li>e a child St. Tr. .......................... (yn Tr. .................................. 0. The em'loyer treats the wor>ers badly Dor% in a bad mannerE. St Tr. .................................................. ...................... ...................................................... ................
anifestly, a certain method, a''roach, techni/ue or strategy ado'ted by the translator determines hisher translation DAsSafi,*550E. In our ?nglish rendition of Taha 7usseins (ua Al@arawan DThe "all of the "urlew, 'ublished by ?.K. Brill, 2eiden E , we have o'ted for the strategy of transferring Arabic re'etition into ?nglish variation. This strategy has been bac>ed by many 'ro'onents such as 2ehrer D);04% 0E who im'eratively asserts% J(o not >ee' using the same word re'eatedly, vary the le=ical choices if 'ossibleJ. A=iomatically, variation in ?nglish hel's to drift away vagueness and to get rid of the monotonous atmos'here which is li>ely to flare u' if re'etition is conserved. 7ere are but few illustrative instances% .. .................................................. ...................................................... ................ ...................... .. .......................... ........................ ...................................................... .......... ............................ . D )3.... ,..........................E ................ .... TT% I was to be with her in her 'lay, but not 'lay with herF to accom'any her to the @uttab, but not learn with herF to be 'resent with her when her 'rivate tutor came before sunset,
but not to follow her lesson DThe "all of the "urlew%)5E. ST% ...... ........ ...................................... ...................................................... .......................... .... ........ .. .. .... ........ ............ ............ ........ ........ .................. ............ ............ ...... ................ ...... .. ........... .............. ....................................... ...................................................... ................................................. ...................................................... ....................... ...................................................... ...................................................... ...................................... .. .. .... ................ ...... ............ ...... .............. ...... .................. ............. . ............ .......... ............ .........
.. ................................................... ... .. .. ............................................ ............................ .... ...... .D *)....,..........................E ............... TT% I recalled the long chain of unha''y events during her e=istence with a vulgar, lecherous husband. I recounted the !ealousy which had devoured her, the humiliation which had saddened her soul and the fear which had tormented her heart. Then I brought to memory the misha' which had utterly crushed her when she heard the news of her husbands murder and the de'lorable and shameful conditions in which he had met death. Then I thought over the infinite sufferings which had submerged her li>e water does a drowning man when the family had disowned her, turned her out of doors and e=iled her and her two daughters. I relived these sad memories which did away with any 'ossibility of refusal or discussionF I had to obey and be resigned . DThe "all of the "urlew%)1E It is worth noting that Taha 7ussein seems to have used the verb dha>ara ...... in the more common form% tadha>ar ......... ST% .... .. ...... .. .................. .. ........ .. .. .... .. ................ .. ........ .. ............ . . .... .. .. .. .. .......... .. ...... .. ...... .. . . . D0....,..........................E................... ................................................. TT%
But you voice, beloved bird, gradually died away and now I can no longer hear itF my uncles voice does not reach me either. I have lost the notion of things around me. DThe "all of the "urlew% +1E
0.*. Translation Indeterminacy By and large, translators rarely commit themselves to one 'articular method or strategy. ore often than not, diverse methods or strategies bring about a miscellany of translations. 8urthermore, there can be more than one accurate or acce'table translation of the same source te=t furnished by different translators or even the same translator at different times. The 'ossibility of generating more than one translation has 'rom'ted illard 6uine D);5%in Ba>er,*55+% ))E to 'ro'ound the thesis of the indeterminacy of translation. It is based on the notion that there are always different ways one might brea> a sentence into words, and different ways to distribute functions among words, hence there is no uni/ue meaning that can be assigned to words or sentences. 6uine DIbidE une/uivocally 'ostulates that there is always a 'ossibility that the same e='ression or an e='ression and its translation e/uivalent could give voice to different modes of 'resentationi. This is in fact, the cru= of the 6uinean indeterminacy which, we nevertheless maintain, a''lies to certain, but not all, ty'es of te=ts as has already been e='licated
in the determinacy of translation. Translators are ty'ically evaluated according to the e=tent to which they a''ro=imate ma=imal 'reservation of meaning in rendering non-literary te=ts, whereas they are evaluated according to the e=tent to which they transfer the aesthetic values and create an e/uivalent sense besides the 'reservation of the original meaning. ?='licitly, the inherent sub!ectivity, aestheticity and the relativist construal in translation 'ractices render literary translation, es'ecially 'oetry, totally indeterminate. Indeterminacy, is thus the corollary of literature, be it original or translated, as it is
'rone to various inter'retations and different manners of aesthetic e='ression. This is easily manifested in the lethora of translations of celebrated wor>s such as those by Sha>es'eare and the 6uran which is unanimously deemed an imitable divine literary master'iece. 7ere are instances of the different translations of the introductory 'hrase of almost all the 6uranic suras e=ce't one, i.e., the besmala ................where the translators vary not only in using either the transliterated form Allah or the ?nglish e/uivalent and 7ilali and @hanE - The ercy-giving, the ost erciful DIrving E
- The Beneficent, the erciful DPic>thallE To the above renditions, we may add one more% - ost "om'assionate, ost erciful. Albeit the surfeit of the translations of the 6uran, the most recent one is not li>ely going to bring them to a close due to indeterminacy. This is also true to loftily literary wor>s such as the Sha>es'earean 'lays. erchant of Oenice is a case in 'oint. "onsider the following translations of Salerio tal>ing about the S'anish shi' JAndrewJ% I should not see the sandy hour-glass run, but I should thin> of shallows and of flats, And see my wealthy Andrew doc>d in sand, Oeiling her high to' lower than her ribs To >iss her burial. DI.).*+-*;E @halil utran% .. .... .............. ...... .......... .......... .. .................. ........ .......... .. ............ ..........J .. .. .................................... ...................................................... .................... .... .. .......... .. ...... .. .... .. ........ .. .. .. .................. .. .... .. .......... .. ...... .. ...... J...... .... .....................................
>htar Al-a>il% ...... .. .............. .. .......... .. ............ .... .. .... .. .................. .. ........ .. .... .... .. ............ ...................................................... ............ J..........J.......................................... .. ...................................................... ............................................. ........ .............. 7ussein Amin% .. .. .. .. .......................................... ...................................................... .................................................. .. .................. ................................ ............ -.... ..........-.................. -.......................................... ...................................................... ...................................................... ........... ohammed Anani% ...................................................... ...... ...................................................... ............ ...................................................... .... ...................................................... ................. Amer Buheiri ................................ .................. .. ........................ .............................. ....J..........J....... ........... .......................................... ........... ............................. Another e=am'le% Kessica%
But love is blind, and lovers cannot see The 'retty follies that themselves commit, 8or if they could, "u'id himself would blush To see me thus transformed to a boy. DII..1E utran D);01%04E% .. ................................................... ......................... .. ......................... ................................................. ............................... ...................... ....................................................
Al-a>il D);31%+E% ...................................................... ...................................................... .................................... ...................................................... ...................................................... .................... .. .......................... ................... Amin D);;5%5E% .. .......... .................. ................ .... ...... .............. ........ ................ ...... .... ................ .. .. .. .. ...... .. ................ .. .......... .. .... .... .. ............ .. .............. .. ............ .. .. .... .. ........ .. .. ... ................ ..................................... Anani D);33%;0E% ............................................ ...................................... ............... ................. ............................................ ...................................................... .... Buheiri D);03%)1E% ............................................ ......... ....... .................. .................................. ...... ............ .................... ................................ .................... ........ Poetry is 'erha's the most 'otential domain for the indeterminacy of translation. Cot only different translators render a 'oem or a stan:a differently, but one translator may 'roduce, at different times, divergent versions. e can verifiy the above 'ostulation by translating and retranslating certain
stan:as after a la'se of time, as e='licated below.
So much do I love wandering So much I love the sea and s>y That it will be a 'iteous thing In one small grave to lie. DQ-A>insE D)E .................................................... .......................................... ...................................... ........................................ D*E .................................. .......... ...................................... ................................................ ........................................ D1E ...................................................... .......... ...................................................... .............. ...................................................... .. ...................................................... ........ D4E .................................................. ... ................................................... .......................................... ........... ................................... Another e=am'le% "all no man a foe, but never love a stranger, Build u' no 'lan, nor any star 'ursue,
In a reverse direction of translation, we can furnish two versions of ichael Cu9aima9s ............................ beautiful 'oem, addressing the sea% .............................. ...... ................ .................. ................................ ..................... ................... ................................ ............ ........ .................... .............................. ...... ...... ......... ................... ...... ............................ .................. ........................ ................................ ..................... ................. .............................. ....................... ................. ............................ ......................... ............. ................................ ..................... ................. .................................. ................ .. ...................... Oersion ) Is there security in your serenityV Panic in your rageV Is there relief in your stretching V $r distress in your shrin>ingV Is there humility in your dro''ingV , The sea is in retreat and attac>, I was standing, for an answer waiting,
But the sea did not tell me. Cor did the land. And when my night hoary turned, And dawn the hori:on dar>ened, A song was the river chanting And the world 'leating and s'reading 'eo'le you find good and evil, In sea, there is rising and ebbing.
Oersion * In your stillness, is there safetyV And fright in your furyV In your stretch, is there facilityV And in your contraction, difficultyV In your subsidence, is there humilityV And 'ride in your tideV In your tran/uility, is there sadnessV And in your surge, easinessV $ sea $ sea Please tell me% Is there good and evil in theeV I stood at a night, dar> and dus>y, In attac> and retreat was the sea. The sea never re'lied, Cor did the land, And when my night turned grey, To the hori:on, (awn made its way, I 7eard a river singing. The Universe folding and unfolding,
There can be as many 'rose translations of the above stan:as as the 'oetic ones, due to the indeterminate nature of this >ind of translation which is li>e 'ainting, both being facets of art, governed by sub!ectivity and aestheticity, wherein different 'ainters or even the same 'ainter may 'roduce different 'aintings of the same landsca'e.
"ha'ter ?ight 2e=icali:ation and odali:ation in ?nglishArabic Translation% Pre'ositions As a "ase StudyZ
3.5. The tas> of the translator is multi'le% as a decoder, a''reciator, critic, encoder and creator who maintains an e/uilibrium to transfer the S2 te=t semantically as well as stylistically by necessity, he reads each word and each sentence in the S2 te=t as carefully as a critic before he transfers and finally com'oses it in the T2. Such a transference and com'osition can never be achieved through literal, i.e., wordforword translation which, Cida and eybum D);3)E rightly maintain, will inevitably tend to distort the meaning of the source language DS2E message or as Andre 2efevere Dcited in Bassnett, );;% 3)E 'uts it, distorts the sense and the synta= of the original. Such a translation im'edes the translators wor> and stifles his creativity which is a manifestation of his com'etence and intelligence. There is nothing new in re'udiating literalism in translation, on which there is now almost a general consensus. 2efevere /uotes 7orace as antedating such an attitude%
Z Published in IKA?S% International Kournal of Arabic?nglish Studies. Ool. *, Cos. )&*.
ord-for-word translation do not find mercy in our eyes, not because they are against the law of translation D as an act of communicationE but sim'ly because two languages are never identical in their vocabulary. Ideas are common to the understanding of all men but words and manners of s'eech are 'articular to different nations. DBrac>eting is 2efeveresE. DibidE By corollary, a S2 're'osition need not always be re'laced literally by its formal T2 e/uivalent, i.e., a T2 're'ositionF rather it may well be le=icali:ed or modali:ed, i.e., re'laced by a modal Dau=iliaryE verb or a le=ical itemDsE, as illustrated in the following diagram% 2iteral
T2 DArE PreD 'ositionE S2 D?ngE Pre'
T2 DArE le=icali:ed e/uivalent Con- literal T2 DArE modali:ed e/uivalent T2 D?ng PreD 'ositionE T2 DArE Pre' T2 D?ngE le=icali:ed e/uivalent Con- literal
T2 D?ngE modali:ed e/uivalent 8igure % Translation Strategies for 2e=icali:ation and odali:ation of ?nglish Arabic 're'ositions. 2iteral
- 3.). 2e=icali:ation% To le=icali:e a notion, according to 6uir>, et aI, D);3+% )+*E is Jin lay terms, we now have a word for it.J By the same to>en, to le=icali:e a S2 're'osition is to have a le=ical item, a content word, as an e/uivalent or more accurately as a corres'ondent in the T2. 2e=icali:ation, be it o'tional or obligatory, renders the meaning of an e='ression more e='licit, or as 2yons elucidates% Jit is 'erha's only when semantic distinctions are le=icali:ed, rather than grammaticali:ed, that what is e='ressed is e='licit.J D2yons, );;+%);1E. 3.*. odali:ation Analogous to le=icali:ation, modali:ation sim'ly refers to the use of a T2 form of modality for a S2 're'osition. $bviously, modality can be e='ressed by different 'arts of s'eech. The verbal forms of modality in ?nglish include au=iliaries such as will, would, can, could, may, might, must, ought to, need as well as finites such as allow, 'ermit etc. In Arabic too, the verbal forms of modality include au=iliaries such as verbs of J'ro=imation and commencementJ ........ ............ .................. .. ...... li>e >aada .... .., awsha>a .. .... .., .sharaa .... .., !aala .. ....
a>hadha.... .. .., /aama .... .. ,P).;, as well as finites such as ya!uu:u........ , yastatiiu DmayE ............ Dbe able to, canE etc. The non-verbal forms of modality in ?nglish include ad!ectives such as 'robable, 'ossible, certain, adverbs such as 'robably, ertainlyF and nouns such as 'robability, 'ossibility, certainty in clauses such as Jit is 'robable 'ossibleJ or a 'robability 'ossibility, or Jit is certain a certaintyJ. In Arabic, too, it can be reali:ed by adverbs such as abadan .............. DabsolutelyE 'articles such as /ad......DmayE or /at .... DneverE or a 're'osition such ala .. .. ..or llaam...... .... ,Pill. The following diagram dis'lays modality in ?nglish and Arabic.
?ng% will, would, can, could, etc. o dal Au= 'ro=imation Oerbal----- Ar commencement Ar% ya!uu:u, yastatiiu ........................ 8inite be allowed, be able odality ----?ng Con-verbal ------------ Ar reali:ed adv ad! noun Adv Particle 're'osition
8igure 0 % eali:ation of the two @inds of odality. 3.*.). odality and odulation% odality is defined by 6uir>, et al D);3+ %*);E, Jas the manner in which the meaning of a clause is /ualified.J J The system of modality, according to Bell D);;)% )1;E, is an e=tremely im'ortant one, since it gives the communicator the o'tions of e='ressing an o'inion about the e=tent to which the assertion is 'ossible, 'robable, certain or fre/uent. 7e distinguishes between modality and modulation as follows% the former is concerned with 'ro'ositions, the latter with 'ro'osalsF the former com'rises 'robability, 'ossibility, certainty and fre/uency, the latter obligation and inclination. Dibid% )1;-)45E. 7alliday D);0%*5;E, too, distinguishes between modality and modulation but states simultaneously thatJ they are closely interrelated.. .. They are the same system in different functions, where functions refers to com'onents of the linguistic system% the one is inter'ersonal, the other ideational.J 8urthermore, Jmodulation is a condition im'osed by someoneF and if that someone is the s'ea>er himself then it becomes a >ind of modality.JDibidE. 7ence, due to this overla' and what 7alliday
accurately describes as J the com'le= nature of the relationshi' between modality and modulation which he considers a >ind of /uasi modality Dibid% *5+*)1E it would suffice here to ado't the term modality as subsuming modulation.
3.1. ?=em'lification 3.1.). ?nglish odal Au=iliaries a. ou may be right. DPossibility% it can also be reali:ed non-verbally% a.l. It is 'ossible that you are right. a.*. Perha's Possibly, you are right. b. "an you call bac> tomorrowV DAbility% are you able to .. . VE c. ou must be !o>ing. DCecessity% it is necessarily the case that you are !o>ing. d. ou can may do as you wish. D'ermission% you are allowed..E e. ou must be bac> by ten ocloc>. D$bligation% you are obliged to be bac> by tenE. -f. Ill write as soon as I can. DOolition intention% I tend to write as soon as I canE. g. )) do it, if you li>e, DOolition willingness% Im willing to do it.E h. She will would >ee' interru'ting me. DOolition insistence% she insists on interru'ting meE. i. The guests will would have arrived by that time. D'rediction% they are e='ected to. . .E Sometimes a modal au=iliary verb e='resses more that one modal conce't. The following are some e=am'les borrowed from 6uir>, et. al. D);3+% *);-*1;E. !. ou may have to 'lay it again. D'ossibilityX obligationE.
>. She must have been willing to hel'. Dnecessity X volitionE. 3.1.*. Arabic odal Au=iliaries
The salient Arabic modal au=iliaries which 'recede the finite Dim'erfectE verbs are the verbs of 'ro=imation and commencement stated in D4E above. 7ere are some e=am'les. - @aada yamuutu atashan. ............................ D7e was about to on the 'oint DvergeE of dying of thirstE. - a>aadu al-bar/u ya>htfu absaarahum% ......................................... ....... D............E D 2ightning almost snatches away their sightE. - Sharaa ash-shaairu yanshidu /asiidatahu. .. .................................. ............ DThe 'oet started commenced reciting his 'oemE. - A>hadha ya/rau bisautin V aalin... .................................... D 7e began to read aloud.E 3.1.1. 8inite Oerbs of odality odality can be le=icali:ed by finite verbs such as ya!uu:u, yastatiiu Dmay might, can couldE, or verbs li>e allow% - TastatiiV ann tafVal maa tashaa ............................................ Dou can may do as you wishE - aiuu:u yasmahu la>a ann tuda>hin. ................ D..............E.......... D you can are allowed to smo>e E, - yuhtamal vuraiahu ann yusaafira ghadan. ............................ .......... ........ DIt is 'robable that he will travel tomorrowE 3.1.4. Con-verbal odality The brac>eted sentences in 4.*.) above e=em'lify nonverbal
modality in ?nglish. In Arabic it can be reali:ed by a noun, a 'article or a 're'osition as mentioned in 4 above and as illustrated in the e=am'les in + and below.
3.4. endition of ?nglish Pre'ositions into Arabic% The Strategy of 2e=icali:ation By em'loying the above strategy, ?nglish 're'ositions are le=icali:ed instead of being re'laced literally by Arabic e/uivalent 're'ositions. The strategy is ho'ed to re'roduce a vivid, creative and dynamically communicative translation. In the following e=am'les, some Arabic le=ical items are brac>eted to indicate o'tionalityF otherwise le=icali:ation is obligatory. 3.4.). after - She was named after her mother. ............................ 3.4.*. at - The country has been at war with the neighbour for eight years ................................................ ............... D........E................................ 3.4.1. before - 7e stood before the >ing. ............ D..............E........ - The shi' sailed before the wind Dwith the flowing wind from behindE ...................................................... 3.4.4. behind - She is behind her brother in wor>. .................................... D............E.......... 3.4.+. below - It is below your dignity to do that. ............................................ 3.4.. down
- There is an e=hibition of costumes down the ages. ...................................................... ............. 3.4.0. for - They fight for their country ............ ................ .............. .................... - 7is lawyer acts for him in this case. .. .. .......................................... .......... .......... ............ The university gave a dinner for him . ................................................ ........ 34.3. in
- ................. ............................ 3..;. of - r. Kones, of the anor farm, had loc>ed the henhouses. D $rwell% Animal 8armE................................................. .................................... 3.)5. on - There are some evidences on her. ................................................ ........ ........ 3.)). over - 7e will stay over the wee>end. .......... D............E .. .................................. ............ - $ver the entire country. .......................................... 3.+.)*. to - She sang to her guitar ....................................... 3.+. endition of Arabic Pre'ositions into ?nglish 3.+.). Strategy of 2e=icali:ation It is 'erha's worth reiterating that this strategy is based on a functional e/uivalence and on a hermeneuticmani'ulative a''roach. 7ere are some e=am'les. 3.+).). bi .......... - 2aysa biya ann a:ra>a ............................... It is not my intention to harm you. - al-ghurmu bi-l-ghunmi ........................ alaam ....................
Kust Dso manyE words. - Cahnu a/aribun fii a//rib .................................... $ur social relations are those of >insfold.
3.+.).1. Vala ...... - @aana Vala ha// ....................D7e was rightE. - 7uwa Vala shiin mina ldha>aa ...................................... D7e has a good deal of intelligenceE. - Valay>a bil sabr ......................Dou must have 'atienceE - /iila Vala lisaanihi ..........................D7e was su''osed to have saidE 3.+.4. Vann .... - /utuluu Vann aa>hirihum .......... ................ DThey were >illed to the last manE - maata Vann tari>atin >abiira. .................................. D 7e died leaving a large fortuneE. - Vannbi hurayra ........................Don the authority ofE 3.+.+. min .... - a>ala min ) taVaam ..........................D7e ate some food.E - >hudh min ) daraahim .......................... DTa>e some money.E - maa lilaahi min sharii> ......................... D a /aamuusV ........................D7ave you got a dictionaryV 3.. Strategy of odali:ation - Arabic modality can also be e='ressed by 're'ositions such as Vala ...... and la ......... 3..). Vala ...... As a modal, the 're'osition Vala ........ is sometimes 'receded by a modal verb ya!ib ...... which is deletable. - a!ib Valay>a Vann tutiia )/waniin........................................... D......E Dou must obey the laws.E
- aa Vala -rasuuli ilaa l-balaagh al-mubiin. D;; %..............E ................................. ........... - DThe messengers duty is but to 'roclaim the message.E As a modal, the 're'osition Vala ........ is sometimes 'receded by a modal verb ya!ib ...... which is deletable.
- a!ib Valay>a Vann tutiia )/waniin........................................... D......E Dou must obey the laws.E - aa Vala -rasuuli ilaa l-balaagh al-mubiin. D;; %..............E ................................. ........... - DThe messengers duty is but to 'roclaim the message.E In legal discourse, this modali:ed 're'osition denotes commitment, e/uivalent to the modal shall% [.................................................... ................ ..................................... ........... ...... ......E .............................................. ....... ........................ ..................... ............................. D.............................. Publications shall res'ect truth and shall refrain from 'ublishing anything that contradicts the 'rinci'les of freedom, national obligations, human rights and values of Arab and Islamic nation. 3..*. Dllam ........ for 'ermission, 'ossibility and assertionE - tafVal maa tashaa Dla>aama you can may do as you wishE .................... - llyui:iihum allaahu ahsana maa Vamaluu D13 %..........E ..................................... ........... Da lahuwa ala:ii:u At- rahiim. D);)%..............E.................................. ..................
D And verily your 2ord is ?=alted in ight, ost erciful.E - la ann amartahum liyu>hri!anna D+1%.......... E .................................. DIf you command them, they would leave their homes.E 3..1. The strategy e='lained in D.*E above can be reversed in directionality, so that ?nglish modality can be reali:ed by 're'ositions in Arabic. Some e=am'les in 4.*.) above evince that some ?nglish modals can be rendered into modali:ed 're'ositions in Arabic% cf. - "an you call bac> tomorrowV ............................................ .... - ou must be bac> by ten ocloc>.
...................................................... ............ D......E - She willwould >ee' interru'ting me. ........................................ ............ ................................ - The guest may might will would have arrived by that time. ...................................................... ....................... - ou may have to 'lay it again. ............................................... ............. .. .. ................................................ ..- She must have been willing to hel'. ................. By way of conclusion, to be dynamically communicative and effective, translation as a T2 'roduct should be as semantically accurate, grammatically correct, stylistically ade/uate and te=tually coherent as the ST. Such a 'roduct can never be reali:ed through the so-called literal or word-forword a''roach, but rather through a creativity-oriented, hermeneuticmani'ulative one which has 'rom'ted two strategies for the rendition of ?nglish Arabic 're'ositions. The first strategy is that of le=icali:ation, the second of modali:ationF through the former, the S2 're'ositions are le=icali:ed in the T2, through the latter they are modali:ed whether verbally or non-verbally. The mani'ulation of the two -strategies re/uire a rather e=ce'tional translation com'etence
which ca'acitates the translator to 'erform a multi'le tas>% as a ST decodera''reciator or a critic and as a TT encodercreator who caters not only for the transference of the semantic values but of the aesthetic values as well. ?=em'lification has verified the two strategies which serve to 'roduce an accurate, vivid, creative and effective translation.
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