Equivalence at word level
Chapters 1 and 2
In other words: a coursebook on
translation
Baker, M. (2011)
Translation
• Why is it important to have academic
knowledge about what we do – and more
specifically about translation?
– Helps us identify what we already know
• What do you (we) already know?
– Helps us explore the advantages and disadvantages
of various ways of doing things
• What are some advantages and disadvantages of having
academic knowledge of the interpreting profession?
– It is impossible to perform unless we have a
thorough and intimate knowledge of the objects and
tools of our work
Translation Community
• How is the translation community like the ASL
interpreting community? (page 2)
– We underestimate the value and complexity of the
translation (and interpretation) process
– We don’t believe that formal professional training in
the field is needed (due to the underestimation of the
value and complexity of the work)
– Numerous programs have been established within the
recent past
– It has become a highly attractive career for people
with a love of languages
Translation Community
• Why is formal training important (for both
translators and interpreters)?
• Can you list 3 arguments for getting a degree
in interpreting?
Back Translation
• What is back translation?
– Translating the target text back into the source
language from which it was originally translated.
– List 2 reasons as to why back translation would be
a good exercise with ASL-English (or vice versa).
– Back translation exercise!
Back Translation Exercise
• Find a partner; sit facing each other
• One of you will read the English and translate into ASL (without your
partner seeing the English) NO cheating!
• After the translation (you can do it twice), the audience member (person
receiving the translation) will write the translation in English – as a back
translation.
• Once the translation is done, answer the following questions:
– Was the message conceptually accurate? On a scale of 1-5 (with 5 being
completely conceptually accurate, give the translation a score.
– Were there omissions from the original message? If so, how important were
the ideas/concepts that were omitted? On a scale of 1-5 (with 5 meaning the
omission did not seriously affect the message, give the translation a score.
– Were there additions to the original message? If so, how important were the
ideas/concepts that were added? On a scale of 1-5 (with 5 meaning the added
did not seriously affect the message, give the translation a score.
Back Translation Exercise
• I need to call the plumber; the kitchen faucet is leaking and has
been since last Saturday. Our water bill will be outrageous.
• The fight that broke-out in the school parking lot was never
reported to the principal. She found out through gossip.
• My Mom and Dad are celebrating their 49th wedding anniversary on
a yacht with my Mom’s brother. They are sailing near Vancouver,
Canada.
• My sister and brother-in-law, Heidi and Mike are coaches of girls’
basketball at Rushville High School. They traditionally have a very
good girls’ basketball team.
• The doctor told the patient to take 3 pills a day, all with food. One in
the morning, one at noon, and one in the evening. There were no
known side effects of the medication.
• My youngest sister, Leah, is adopted from South Korea. We got her
when she was 6 months old. Her Korean name was Duk Kee Lee.
What is a word/sign?
• Give a definition of what a word is in English.
• Give a definition of what a sign is in ASL.
• Are there one-to-one correspondences with
an orthographic representation of a word
between two languages?
– Rebuild, disbelieve (in English)
– DEAF
– HEARING
Morphemes
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Morpheme vs. word/sign
Teach
Teacher
Teaches
Cat
Cats
Believe
Believable
Unbelievable
Lexical Meaning
• Propositional meaning – we can judge an
utterance as true or false.
– For example: shirt, table, person, etc.
Expressive meaning – cannot be judged as true or false;
it relates to a speakers/signers feelings, attitude, or
opinion
For example: what is the difference between “don’t
complain and don’t whine”?
Words/phrases/signs can have the same
propositional meaning but differ in their expressive
meaning.
Lexical Meaning
• Evoked meaning:
– Comes from dialect and register variation.
• What is dialect? Can you give examples in ASL and
English?
• What is register? Can you give examples in ASL and
English?
• Why is providing an equivalent evoked meaning
potentially challenging for an interpreter?
Semantic Fields
• Fields are abstract concepts that are built around
concepts and “built” by a linguistic community.
• The more detailed a semantic field is in a given
language, the more different it is likely to be from
related semantic fields in other languages.
–
–
–
–
Verbs of speech
Emotion
Academic subjects
Medicine
Strategies for non-equivalence
• Translation by a more general word(s)
– Interstate
– Orbits
– Antiquated
• Translation by a more neutral /less expressive word
–
–
–
–
Mumbles
Archaic
Exotic
Mystery
• Source and target languages make different distinctions in meaning
• Target language lacks a superordinate
• Target language lacks a specific term
Strategies for non-equivalence
• Translation by cultural substitution
– This strategy involves replacing a culture-specific item
or expression with a target-language item which does
not have the same propositional meaning but is likely
to have a similar impact on the target audience.
– The decision on what to use is based on
• Purpose of translation
• Translator’s own judgment
– Ex: Deaf, hearing, residential school for the Deaf, hard of hearing,
hearing impaired, ASL, cochlear implant
– Did you get up on the wrong side of the bed?
– Things have just run amok!
– Break a leg!
Strategies for non-equivalence
• Translation using a loan word or loan word
plus explanation.
– When would you want to use the exact word,
phrase from the target language?
– Examples?
Strategies for non-equivalence
• Translation by omission
– This strategy may seem rather drastic, but in fact it
does no harm to omit translating a word or
expression in some contexts. If the meaning
conveyed by a particular item or expression is not
vital enough to the text to justify distracting the
audience with a lengthy explanation, translators
can and often do simply omit the word or
expression in question.
• Deaf, hearing impaired, translator vs. interpreter, ASL
vs. signed language, the n-word,
Back Translation Exercises
• I grew up being the only Deaf person in my family. I also went to the
Deaf school.
• My mother and father want me to get a cochlear implant; I don’t
want this. It will hurt my future.
• All of my family are hearing. I am the only Deaf person. No one can
communicate with me.
• I don’t understand English; my school didn’t teach me enough
about it.
• ASL is my language. I want an ASL interpreter for this meeting.
• I am so lucky; all of my family is Deaf.
• I didn’t realize you were hearing impaired and use that gesture
language stuff.
• Why are you in such a bad mood? I think you got up on the wrong
side of the bed.
• The doctor’s office needs the phone number of the Deaf patient.
• I suck at math, but I really love theatre.