Translation Methodology
Methods, Levels and
Techniques
Contents
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THE ANALYSIS OF THE TEXT
DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
THE INTENTION OF THE TEXT
THE INTENTION OF THE TRANSLATOR
THE QUALITY OF THE WRITING
TRANSLATION METHODS AND LEVELS
TRANSLATION TECHNIQUES
The Analysis Of The Text

Reading the text
- Is the starting point
We read the text to:
 Understand what it is about.
 Analyse it from a translator’s point of view not
from
linguist’s, literary, teacher nor
student
 To determine it’s intention
 To determine the way it’s written to select a
suitable translation method
Kinds Of Reading When Analysing
The Text
 General reading is required
 We read the words both
• Out of the context
• In the context
 Close reading
• To get the gist
• To get the essence
• To get the substance
(literal meaning)
(Interpretation)
The Last Reading
This last reading is done for the purpose
of
•
Noting the cultural aspects of the SL text
 We have to underline all: Neologism,
Methophors, cultural words and
institutional terms peculiar to the SL,
proper names, technical terms and the
untranslatable words
The Analysis Of The Text
 Macro analysis
 Micro analysis
 Reading the text
•
•
•
The intention of
the text
The intention of
the translator
The last reading
 Text styles
•
The readership
 The quality of
the writing
DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
IN TRANSLATION
 MACRO ANALYSIS
 MICRO ANALYSIS
Macroanalysis
 This analysis
answers these
questions





Who ?
When ?
Where ?
For whom?
How ?
Microanalysis
This analisys is based on the
process of segmentation to take
notes on the translation
problems we find in the text.
• We split the text in
 Lexical translation units
 Sintagmatic translation units
• It is used to avoid both gain and
loss of information
Microanalysis
 LEXICAL TRANSLATION UNITS





VERBS
ADVERBS
NOUNS
PRONOUNS
PROPER NOUNS
Microanalysis
 SINTAGMATIC TRANSLATION
UNITS




DETERMINANTS
PREPOSITIONS
ARTICLES
POSSESSIVE WORDS
Examples
 Roberto studies English everyday
 The city is beautiful
 The books are on the top of the book
shelf
 I have a nice watch
 They are good students
The Intention Of The Text
 We read to search for the
intention of the text
 The intention of the text goes
hand in hand with the
understanding of the text
 The title may be remote from the
content as well as the intention
The Intention Of The Text
 It’s necessary to pay special attention
to the type of language and even the
grammatical structure (passive voice –
impersonal verbs)
 The intention of the text represents the
SL writer’s attitude of the text or
subject matter
The Intention Of The Translator
 Usually, the translator’s intention is
identical with that of the author of
the SL text
The Quality Of The Writing
The quality of the writing has to
be judged in relation to the
author’s intention and the
requirements of the subject
matter
• The word must be in the right place
with the minimum of redundancy
The Process Of The Translation
 The relation of translating to
translation theory
 The approach
 The levels:




The
The
The
The
textual level
referential
cohesive level
level of naturalness
Levels of approaches to a
translation process
 1 Translating sentences by
sentence
 2 Translating paragraphs by
paragraphs
 3 Translating chapter by chapter
 4 Read the text as whole and
translate it like wise
Approaches to translation and
the texts
The first approach
Sentence by sentence
Paragraph by paragraph
Literary texts
Approaches to translation and
the text
The second
approach
Reading
The whole
text
Translate chapter
By
chapter
For
Technical
Or
Institutional texts
DANGERS OF THE APPROACHES
 The fisrt approach
 The second approach
 It may leave you with
too much revision to
do in the early part
 It is usually preferable
 It is time-wasting
 It may may inhibit the
translator`s free play
of intution
 It can be mechanical
APPROACHES ALTERNATIVES
 The fisrt approach is advisable for
a relatively easy text
 The second approach is advisable
for harder texts
THE TRANSLATION OF THE LEVELS
The textual Level
The referential Level
The cohesive level
The level of naturlness
The Textual Level
The grammar
And
The lexical units are
translated
In the situation
Or context of
The sentence
The referential level
The cohesive level
Sentences of any text
Technical,Literary or
Institutional must be
Read in the situation
Or context of the
text
It follows both
The structure
And the moods of
The text
The level of
Naturalness
Makes sense
Reads naturally
It is written in
Ordinary language
That meet the
Kind of situation
Translation Methods And levels
Translation methods obey to the
main problem of translation it self
 To translate literally or freely
 This argument has been going on since
at least the first century B.C up to the
beginning the nineteenth century
 Many writers are in favor of free
translation
Translation Levels
 WORD BY WORD
 LITERAL TRANSLATION
 EQUIVALENT TRANSLATION
Translation Methods or
types
The methods or
types
Faithful
translation
Semantic
translation
communicative
translation
Adaptation
Idiomatic translation
Free translation
Writer’s Slogan Who Want The
Truth To Be Read And Understood
 We as translators are intended to
translate
The
The
The
The
spirit not the letter
sense not the words
message rather than the form
matter not the manner
Word for word translation level
characteristics
 This is often demonstrated interlinear
translation
 The SL words order is preserved
 The words are translated literally
 The words are translated by their most
common meaning
 The words are translated out of context
 Cultural words are translated literally
Usage of the word for word
translation level
The use of this method is either to:
 Understand the mechanism of the SL
 Construe a difficult as a pre-translation
process
Examples of the word for
translation level
 I love fried fish for lunch
 Yo amo frito pescado para
almuerzo
 I need to get there as soon as
possible
 Yo necesito a conseguir allá como
pronto como posible
Literal Translation
Grammatical
Constructions
Are converted to
their nearest TL
equivalents
Lexical words
Are translated
singly out of
context
Usage
(presentation
process)
It indicates the
problems to be
solved
Examples of the literal
translation level
 I love fried fish for lunch
 Yo amo pescado frito para
almuerzo
 I need to get there as soon as
posible
 Yo necesito conseguir allá pronto
posible
Faithful Translation
 Attempts to reproduce the precise
contextual meaning of the original
within the constraints of the TL
grammatical structures
 It transfers cultural words
 It preserves the degree of
grammatical and lexical
abnormality
Semantic Translation
 It is faithful
 It takes more account the aesthetic
value of SL text
 The beautiful and natural sound of the
SL text concerning it is meaning
 A semantic translation is written at the
author`s linguistic level
 It may translate less important cultural
words, not cultural equivalents, intact
transference
 It is used for expressive texts
Communicative Translation
 It attemps to render the exact
contextual meaning of the
original
 Both the content and the
language comprehensible to the
readership
More about Semantic and
Communicative Translation
 They must be seen as wholes
 Semantic translation is personal and
individual
 It tends to over translate
 It has to explain
 It follows the thought processes of the
author
 It aims at concision in order to
reproduce the pragmatic impact
More about Semantic and
Communicative Translation
 Communicative translation is social
 It concentrates on the message
 It tends to undertranslate
 It is normally inferior to its original
 There is both cognitive and pragmatic loss
 A semantic translation has to interpret
Adaptation
 This is the freest form of translation
 Is not faithful
 It is used meanly for



Plays (comedies)
Poetry
Jokes
 The themes, characters and plots are
preserved
 The SL culture is converted to be the TL
culture text
 The text is rewritten and adapted to the
target culture
Free Translation
It reproduces
 The matter with out the manner
 The content with out the form of the
original
 It paraphrases the original (It
makes the TL text larger than the
original)
Idiomatic Translation
 It reproduces the message of the
original
 It prefers colloquialisms and
idioms
Translation Techniques
 They are also called algunas
técnicas de restitución
 They are used with the purpose of
helping the translator to translate
away from literal translation.
Translations Techniques
 Ampliación or Expansion
 Reducción or Reduction
 Modulación or Modulation
 Transposition
Translation Techniques
Definition
 AMPLIACION OR WORD ADDING.
 It consist of an extension of the
target language text (texto de
llegada) due to limitations in the
languages involved in the process
of translation (M Tricas Preckler)
TRANSPOSITION
 It is used with verbs, adjectives,
adverbs
 Nouns, pronouns and
prepositions.
 Its intention is to recover the
semantic and pragmatic function
when translating into the target
language.
MODULATION
 It is used to change the
conceptual basis of the words
when translating.
 It is believed to be the most
interesting translation technique
 It can be seen as reduction or as
expansion of the words
REDUCTION
 It is about not translating some
words within the ideas in the
source language.
Translation Techniques
Examples
 AMPLIACION OR WORD ADDING
 The teacher will give us a test
tomorrow morning
 El profesor nos evaluara mañana
en la mañana
 Marcos is studying English next
year
 Marcos va a estudiar ingles el
próximo año
TRANSPOSITION
 WHAT A BEAUTIFUL HOUSE YOU
LIVE IN
 QUE CASA TAN LINDA EN LA QUE
VIVES

O
 VIVES EN UNA CASA MUY BONITA
REDUCTION
 Please tell him the time
 Por favor dile la hora
 Please show them the house
 por favor muestrales la casa
MODULATION
 Speaking English is very
important
 Hablar Inglès es muy importante
 Es muy importante hablar Inglés
 Doing the right is sample of
justice
 Hacer lo correcto es una muestra
de justicia