Terms and Definitions Flashcards
Translation
Derives from the Latin word ‘translatio’, which comes from the verb ‘transferre’ (to come over)
Intralingual Translation
Also called ‘rewording’, it’s an interpretation of verbal signs by means of other signs of the same language.
Interlingual Translation
Also called ‘translation proper’, it’s an interpretation of verbal signs by means of some other language.
Intersemiotc Translation
Also called ‘transmutation’, an interpretation of verbal signs by means of signs of non-verbal sign systems.
Skopos Theory
The core idea is that every translation has a very specific purpose.
Translational Action
The core idea is that every translation situation is primarily an instance of human interaction, where players act in a way that affects other players.
Documentary Translation
It serves as a document of a source culture communication between the author and the ST recipient.
Informative Text
Plain communication of facts, e.g. reference work
Expressive Text
Creative composition, e.g. poems
Operative Text
Induces behavioural responses, e.g. electoral speech
Equivalence
Equal or interchangeable in value, quantity, significance, etc. Having similar effect or meaning.
Direct Translation
A translation of a text done by translating each word separately.
Oblique Translation
When structural or conceptual elements of the source language cannot be directly translated without altering the meaning.
Borrowing
This category covers words that are used in English and other languages to fill semantic gaps in the TL.
Calque
'’Special kind of borrowing’’ where the SL expression or structure is transferred in a literal translation.
Literal Translation
Word-for-word translation.
Transposition
A change of speech of one part to another.
Modulation
Changes the semantics and the point of view of the SL.
Idiomatic or Equivalence Translation
Languages describe the same situation by different stylistic or structural means.
Amplification
Technique where the TL uses more words, often because of syntactic expansion.
Connectors
Cohesive links, discourse marks, deixis, demonstratives, pronouns, punctuation, etc.
Servitude
Refers to obligatory transposition and modulation due to a difference between the language systems.
Option
Refers to non-obligatory changes that may be due to the translator’s own style and preferences, or a change in emphasis.
Correspondance
Compares two language systems and describes differences and similarities.
Denotative Equivalence
Related to equivalence of the extralinguistic content of a text.
Connotative Equivalence
Also called ‘stylistic equivalence’, related to lexical choices.
Text-normative Equivalence
Related to text types, with different texts behaving in different ways.
Pragmatic Equivalence
Also called ‘communicative equivalence’, oriented towards the receiver of the text.
Formal Equivalence
Related to the form and aesthetics of the text.
Propositional Meaning
Arises from the relationship between ‘it’ and what it refers or describes.
Expressive Meaning
Relates to the feelings and attitude of the speaker.
Presupposed Meaning
Arises from co-occurence restrictions.
Co-occurence Restrictions
Restrictions on what other words or expression we expect to see before or after a lexical unit.
Evoked Meaning
Arises from dialect and register variations.
Conceptual Fields
Reflect the divisions and sub-divisions imposed by a given linguistic community on the continuum of experience. These divisions are called semantic fields. And the actual words in these fields are called lexical sets.
Non-equivalence at word level
Means that the target language has no direct equivalence for a word which occurs in the ST.
Collocations
Semantically arbitrary restrictions which do not follow logically from the propositional meaning of the word.
Collocation and Register
Register specific collocations extend from far beyond the list of items found in specialized dictionaries.
Marked Collocation
Unusual combination of words.They are used to create unusual images, produce laughter, irony, attrect the reader’s attention.
Idioms and Proverbs
At the extreme end of the scale of collocations in one or both of these areas: flexibility of patterning and transparency of meaning.