An Analytical Study of the Process of Translation, Exercises of Translation Studies and History

Download An Analytical Study of the Process of Translation and more Exercises Translation Studies and History in PDF only on Docsity!

AN ANALYTICAL STUDY OF THE PROCESS OF TRANSLATION

(With special reference to English / Arabic)

BY

Layachi AISSI

A Thesis Submitted To The University of Salford Faculty of Arts Department of Modern Languages in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

Dedication

To my mother, brothers, and sisters who have endured with patience, understanding and courage.

page 3.The Situational Model 44 4.The Transformational — Generative Model 47 B — Toward a comprehensive Representation of The process of translation 51

Chapter Three: Levels of the Translator's Competence 67 1.Linguistic Competence 68 2.Comprehension Competence 71 3.Encyclopedic Competence 72 4.Reexpression Competence 73 5.Translation as a Decision Making Process 76 Chapter Four: The Analysis Phase 78 A— Primary Level Analysis 80 1.Linguistic Identification and Syntactic analysis 80 2.Semantic Analysis 86 a.lexico—semantic analysis b.sentence meaning 3.Pragmatic Analysis 95 B— Secondary Level Analysis 98 1.Text Analysis 98 2.Stylistic Analysis 101 Chapter Five: The Transfer Phase and the Units of Translation 106 A — The^ transfer^ Phase^106

page B — The Unit of translation (^111) 1.The Morpheme (^113) 2.The word (^115) 3.The Syntagm and the Phrase (^118) 4.The Sentence (^123)

Chapter Six: The Synthesis Phase and Translation Procedures. 133 A— Source Language—Oriented Translation Procedures 135 1.Borrowing (^135) 2.Calque (^137) 3.Literal Translation 140 B— Target Language—Oriented Translation Procedures (^143) 1.Transposition 143 2.Recasting and Restructuring (^150) 3.Modulation 152 4.Situational and Cultural Equivalence 155 5.Adaptation (^158) 6.Paraphrase 159 Summary and Findings 167 Bibliography (^174)

Appendix A: (^) UsedSample in Text:Text HD:66The Cohesive Devices 189 Appendix B: Presentation of the Data: A Brief Study of Joseph Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness' 197

ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS USED

SL Source^ Language TL Target^ Language SLT Source^ Language^ Text TLT Target Language Text UT Unit of Translation TP Translation procedure HD Joseph^ Conrad's^ "Heart^ of^ Darkness" , — NH Arabic^ Translation^ of^ HD^ by^ Nuh^ Hazin LIT Literally / /^ Enclose^ phonemic^ transcription III Sentence boundary II Clause boundary I Syntagm boundary CC Rank—shifted clause boundary

• Unacceptable form or expression [ ] Coordination

List of Diagrams and Tables

page Fig.1 Translation as Rank — Bound^ Correspondence^40 Fig.2 The^ Hermeneutic^ Model^ of^ Translation^43 Fig.3 TranslationSituations Based^ on^ The^ Equivalence^ of 45

Fig.4 The Transformational — Generative Model of Translation 48 Fig.5 Generalized Communication model 52 Fig.6 Extended Communication Model 54 Fig.7 TranslationProcess as^ Interlingual^ Communication 60

Fig.8 Primary Level analysis 97 Fig.9 SourceProcedures^ Language Oriented^ Translation 162

Fig.10 Target Language Oriented Translation Procedures 163

ABSTRACT

This study attempts to analyse the process of translation and to explore its phases (Analysis, Transfer, Synthesis ) and its related aspects.

Translation theory is usually addressed as if languages alone were at stake. In^ contrast^ to^ most^ studies^ on transaltion, this study is devoted to analysing the process of translation rather than to a comparative analysis of two languages. The study is set up on the basis of communication theory in general, and draws upon various linguistic theories and

other language—related^ disciplines^ such^ as psycholinguistics, semiotics, etc. The^ basic^ suggestion posited is that translation should be viewed as a special case of communication process.

Four models^ of^ the^ translation^ process^ are^ presented^ and discussed. All were found to be inadequate in representing the process as a whole (in its entirety). Thus,^ a^ more comprehensive representation of the process of translation which takes into consideration various factors is proposed. The representation proposed describes the process of translation as a complex network of operations based on

linguistic and extralinguistic factors.

It is argued that the main issue in translation theory should not be whether to translate literally or freely but how we can achieve an optimum translation which is the approach taken in this study. It^ is^ also^ hoped^ that^ this study may be of benefit to those interested in teaching translation and training would — be^ translators.^ It^ is^ also recognized that further research is required in the area of the mental processes involved in translation.

The motivation for this study is the need felt for clarifying and describing the process of translation in order to improve the quality of translation and to design consequently an adequate syllabus for teaching translation.

and Toledo, their translation methods and problems. We shall then present an outline of the stages of translation studies and discuss earlier and more modern views on translation with an emphasis on the two main tendencies in translation (^) SL—oriented translation and TL—oriented translation.

Since translation is viewed in this study as a multifarious discipline we shall draw on various views and theories from linguistics and other Language—related disciplines. Having presented and discussed certain models^ of translation, we shall then proceed to propose^ a comprehensive representation of the process of translation as a complex communication process, describe its phases and its related aspects.

It is assumed, in this study, that during the act of translating certain levels of the translator's competence coupled with decision— making^ and^ problem—solving^ strategies are active. We shall present a general outline of what these levels of the translator's competence might be and show their importance in the process of translation. Our representation of the process of translation initially involves an analysis phase in which the SL text is assumed to be analysed according to a set of dimensions: syntactic, semantic and pragmatic at primary level, and textual and stylistic at secondary level.

It should be pointed out that translation is not considered in the present study as a direct transfer from SL surface to TL surface, but through a stage of mediation dealing with meaning. Hence,^ in^ the^ chapter^ concerning^ the^ transfer phase, we shall attempt to present and discuss some views on the abstract representation of meaning and on information processing and data storage in the human mind. Moreover, we shall relate the problem of meaning to that of finding the appropriate unit of translation.

We shall then proceed to a description of the synthesis or reconstruction phase. Assuming^ that^ the^ source^ language text is analysed and comprehended, we shall investigate the means and procedures used to reconstruct the SL message in the IL text. In order to illustrate and demonstrate certain aspects of the process of translation we have selected published

English /^ Arabic^ textual^ materials^ taken^ mainly^ from J.Conrad's novel 'Heart,^ of^ Darkness'^ and^ its^ Arabic translation by Nuhn Hazin (1979). A^ summary^ and^ a^ brief study of the novel is appended to this thesis. The^ reason for the choice of the novel is that by its complexity and wide range of subject matters, it offers a great variety of

linguistic and cultural facets. Moreover,^ it^ exhibits^ a number of relevant problems a translator may encounter. It should be noted however, that although most of our examples are from English and Arabic, some of the remarks may be applicable to other languages.

translation. Followin g^ the^ advent^ of^ Islam,^ the^ Arabs^ knew^ a^ great scientific and^ cultural^ development. They (^) developed existin g sciences^ and^ created^ new^ ones, thanks to translations from Greek, Persian, and Indian. (^) In its turn their contribution to human civilization and the advancement of science was transmitted, in the Middle Ages, to Europe through Spain (2).

1. Early Arab Translators and Their Methods

The Arabs practised translation, or at least interpreting well before the advent of Islam. At all times they were in contact with other nations and cultures through trade and travel. However,^ the^ g reatest translation movement the Arabs knew was during the Abbasid era (8th — 13th century). As a result of the establishement of a great Islamic empire, the Arabs were in permanent contact with other advanced civilizations such as the Persians, the Indians, and the Byzantines.

During Abu Ja c -far al Mansilr's rule (8th Century), translation was udertaken under the auspices of the state (the Caliphate), and the first books to be translated were scientific (3).

In AD 820/832, Al ma'moun (4) founded 'Dar Al Hikma' (The House of wisdom), in Baghdad, where Greek scientific and

philosophical works were translated. At the beginning, most translators in 'Dr Al Hikma' were Nestorians whose mother tongue, Syriac, was used as an intermediary language between Greek and Arabic.

The Abbasid translators worked in groups. Their method and organization was based on 'the division of labour' taking into account the aptitudes^ of^ each^ translator (see:Redouane,1980). Their method of work was as follows: 1- Study and analysis of the original text 2- Translating^ the^ text. 3- Intervention of an editor (working on the style of the TL text) 4- (^) 'reviser'Revision^ ofwho^ theis atranslated translator^ versionhimself).^ (usually^ done^ by^ a The Abbasid translators, not only translated works of great scientific importance but carried out research on terminology and^ compiled^ specialized^ glossaries.^ This marginal, but nonetheless important, activity emerged as a result of^ the^ difficulties^ naturally^ encountered^ while translating Greek scientific works. With^ regard^ to^ the problem of terminolo g y,^ the^ Arab^ translators^ resorted^ to^ two main techniques : (a)^ word-for-word^ translation,^ and^ (b) the use of derivation which usually takes the form of semantic extension(5). However,^ when^ they^ could^ not^ find equivalent terms or expressions, they usually transliterated the Greek terms and Left the task of finding Arabic equivalents to future translators (see: Assamarg'i ,1982,216).

2 — The second method, which we may call "free translation", was practised by Hunain Ibn Ish g q and his team of translators. It consists of rendering the meaning of the SL sentence into Arabic; The emphasis must be on the content, the idea and meaning of the sentence rather than on SL words or structure. According to this method, the translator should analyse the SL text, bring out its meaning and reformulate it in Arabic whether the syntactic structures correspond or not. In fact, a third method combining literal and free translation was mentioned by Salah Ad — din^ al^ Safadi^ in^ the fourteenth century (see: KhulOsi,1982,16). This method, he believed, was the most^ adequate,^ especially^ for non — scientific works. Unfortunately,^ we^ do^ not^ have^ full details of this method, but this suggests that throughout the history of translation, people have always tried to narrow the gap between the two tendencies in translation namely free and literal translations (see p:28ff)

In his 'Kit g b Al Hayaw-g n s (Book of animals), Al J5hiz^ (AD 775 — 868) (8) expressed some general remarks on translation (9) which can be summarised as follows i— (^) asThe the translator author he should translates. be at the same intellectual level ii— The^ translator^ should^ be^ fluent^ in^ both^ the^ source language and the target language. iii— There is no perfect correspondence between languages. Each language is sui—generis. iv— Through translation, languages influence each others.

v- There are difficulties in translating scientific texts but it is more difficult, if not impossible, to translate religious texts (see:Badawi,1968,21-25). Al Jahiz's main point was that translation is impossible

since there^ is^ no^ perfect^ structural^ and^ semantic equivalence between two languages. The classic example in this case concerns the Qoran which, for the muslims, is considered to be untranslatable. All these ideas and remarks made by Al J5hiz are still topical (10).

2. The Toledo Translation Movement In the ninth century, cultural contact was established between Europe and the Islamic world mainly through Spain. The difference in the quality of culture and civilisation between the christian Europeans and the muslims gave birth to a great translation movement, the^ muslims,^ through^ their translations of^ Greek^ and^ other^ scientific^ works^ of Antiquity, not only developed many branches of science but they also ensured the transmission of knowledge to the western world. Gailal (1979,52) reports that:

"from the 12th century to the renaissance, via translation and copying activities in Spain, Sicily, and Syria, the bulk of Arabic writings in all fields was made available in Latin. Despite the poor quality of translation and scholarship that prevailed in the West at that time, these Latin versions revived the spirit of learning in western Europe during the Middle Ages". From the eleventh to the thirteenth century, translation flourished in Sicily, Toledo and Catalonia (see:Redouane 1980). Toledo, which was taken by the muslims in AD 715 and