CHAPTER II
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Translation theory
To understand the translation theory, it is necessary to understand the meaning of
the concept of translation. Nida and Taber (cited in Gerding-Salas, 2000) defined
translation as a reproduction, in the Target Language (TL), of the closest
equivalent of the Source Language message, considering in first place the
semantic aspect, and secondly the stylistic. This means that a translator should
think, primarily, about the words and then about the forms. Wilss (cited in Ordudari,
2008) agrees with this concept and states that "translation is a transfer process
which aims at the transformation of a written SL text into an optimally equivalent TL
text, and which requires the syntactic, the semantic and the pragmatic
understanding and analytical processing of the SL text." On the other hand, Peter
Newmark (1988) affirms that a good translation ought to be semantic and
communicative at the same time. The translator should get a balance at the
moment of translating, this is to say, that the words and form of the Source
Language (SL) and the ones of the Target Language (TL) must be taken into
account together and not separated.
The concept of translation has been also studied by linguists such as Frawley
(2000). According to him, translation means “recodification” because it is a
secondary semiotic process and presupposes the original human capacity to code.
In this sense, translation “would be the reduction of coded input into another code.
Hence, a theory of translation is a set of propositions about how, why, when, where
(…) coded elements are rendered into other codes” (cited in Venuti 2003:251). In
his concept of translation, Frawley uses the term “code” which refers to “language.”
Languages are considered by linguists as “shared social codes” (Saussure in
Widdowson 1996:21). Because of the fact that translation does not belong to just
one knowledge field, a translator should be aware of all the background and the
scopes that the term and concept of “translation” involves.
Translation is an activity comprising the interpretation of the meaning of a text in
one language (the source text) and the production of a new, equivalent text in
another language (the target text). The goal of translation is to establish a
relationship of equivalence between the source and the target texts, that is to say,
that both texts communicate the same message, while taking into account a
number of aspects. These aspects include contexts, grammatical rules of the
Source and Target languages, writing styles, idioms, cultures, and any other matter
that could affect or improve the final translation. As in any other science, all the
subjects and aspects to be considered at the moment of translating are included in
the translation theory, which is the study of the proper principles of translation.
“This Theory includes all the principles for rendering figurative language, dealing
with lexical mismatches, rhetorical questions, inclusion of cohesion markers, and
many other topics essential for good translation”. (Perez, 2005) It establishes the
importance of some issues that a good translator must take into account in order to
achieve an optimal task: wide knowledge of the Source Language and the Target
Language, the author’s mind, familiarity with the subject, and the procedures. The
theory helps the translators to focus on the translation process, allowing them not
to lose the goal of this activity.
Translation as an activity is not a new concept, as it has been performed since the
beginning of times, but in an empirical sense. Bassnett (2004:58) mentions that
Dolet (1540) was one of the first theorists that attempted to formulate a theory of
translation. In “La manière de bien traduire d’une langue en autre (How to translate
well from one Language into another)” Dolet outlined the following five principles
for the translator:
(1) The translator must fully understand the sense and meaning of the original
author, although he is at liberty to clarify obscurities.
(2) The translator should have a perfect knowledge of both SL and TL.
(3) The translator should avoid word-for-word renderings.
(4) The translator should use forms of speech in common use.
(5) The translator should choose and order words appropriately to produce the
correct tone.
(Bassnett 2004: ibid)
These premises established a basis for further studies on the Translation area.
According to those principles, the translator must identify, analyze and bear in mind
the sense and meaning that the author presented in the work. A translator is not a
second writer; he/she does not re-write the document. His/Her duty is to extract the
message from the source document and transfer it into a new language without
altering it. The translator can modify the structure, add or subtract words, change
the order of the sentences, use synonyms, or any other procedure or technique in
order to transmit the content and the intentions of the author but not to change the
idea. In spite of the fact that translation is a complex activity, it is commonly
believed that any person who “speaks or writes” two different languages could be
considered as a translator. This is a huge mistake, just like calling priest a person
who reads the bible or chef to someone who can bake a cake. The translation
activity demands more than being bilingual. For being a proficient translator, a
person must have a vast knowledge and perfect command of the languages
involved (SL and TL). He should consider as Language the whole code system in
a society and not just the set of words and rules used to communicate, in addition
he “must know all the nuances of the foreign language and have a full command of
all the resources of their first language”. (Vinay & Darbelnet, 1995:9) This is
important because the environment of the SL and the TL would help the translator
to understand the author’s intention and the nuances enclosed in his/her writing.
The translator should translate meanings rather than words. Chapman (cited In
Bassnett 2004:59) states his principles, which do not differ from those by Dolet
(Cited in Bassnett 2004: 58), and states that the translators should avoid word-forword renderings because these are poor translations and present lack of structure
and form as well as ambiguity. It can be observed that untrained “translators”
commonly perform this kind of “translations”. Translation is much more than
transferring one SL word into a TL word; it refers to preserving the original
meaning. “Translation is often thought to be primarily about words and their
meaning: what words in the Source Text mean, and what words in the Target
Language will best capture or convey that meaning” (Robinson, 2003:112). In other
words, Translators must find the most suitable words in the Target Language in
order to transmit not only SL words but a SL meaning.
In order to preserve the original meaning on the Source Language Text and not to
change it during the translation process, the translator should use forms of speech
of common use. Besides taking into account the author’s mind the translator ought
to take into consideration the reader’s mind. The readers are the reason for
performing a translation, without them translation would be useless. “Without the
reader the meaning [message] is not communicated. And if communication fails
what follows naturally is the failure of translation.” (Shi, 2008) The translator has to
adequate the vocabulary according to the readers because different readers may
well have different interpretations. For instance, the wording and style used in a
translated text for the people from Spain is not going be same as the used for the
people from Mexico. Even though both countries are Spanish native speakers,
there are idiomatic and cultural differences. These differences demand different
translations in order to transmit the right message to the people who is going to
read it.
Not only will the diversity on the readers lead to a different understanding of the
document, but also choosing a specific word or term will produce a specific nuance
on the translation. This is to say that the strength or tone of the original text should
be transmitted to the target text. Since words are the only tools that the translator
has, a proper use of them will (hopefully) attain an effect in the “Translation reader”
the same way as the effect of the Source Text produces to the “original reader”.
2.2 Translation studies focused on the different translation procedures
The translation procedures have been a topic of much research for many years. At
this point, some local investigations related to this subject will be discussed. By
local it is meant those researches done at the UNACAR which were a support and
a reference to the study that has been carried out in this thesis.
The first documented research was performed by Perez, Ferrer, Gomez and
Aquino in 2001. Their document was named “Nivel de traducción en textos
informativos a partir del uso de las técnicas de traducción”. This research study
was carried out with the intention of identifying the level of translation that three
different groups of trainee translators could reach by using the Translation
Procedures. The Translation Procedures described and analyzed on this
investigation were the ones stated by Vinay & Darbelnet (1995): Borrowing,
Calque,
Literal
Translation,
Equivalence,
Modulation,
Transposition
and
Adaptation; and the Translation Level was determined according to Newmark’s
(1988) classification: Textual Level, Referential Level, Cohesive Level, and
Naturalness Level. The three groups of trainee translators that were used as
subjects of the study were groups with different English level as well as different
knowledge on translation procedures; this was intended to demonstrate that the
bigger and wider knowledge the more natural and higher qualified a translation
may be. In order to prove their hypothesis, the researchers’ methodology consisted
of requesting the three groups to translate an informative text. After the translations
were done, the researchers analyzed the translations and gathered the data in a
checklist. They first identified the procedures the students used for rendering each
sentence of the document, and later the grade of naturalness that each sentence
reached.
The first results of this investigation showed that the Literal Translation Procedure
was the procedure that the students applied the most. Regarding the relationship
between the application of translation procedures and the level of translation
reached, it was noticed that the first group which had no knowledge of translation
theory and their procedures rendered the texts with a very low quality. They just
used Literal Procedures at the moment of translating, and in most of their
translation they just reached the Textual Level. The second group of students had
a little experience on translation and some background on the translation studies;
this group performed a translation with a medium quality, reaching the Cohesive
Level in most of the translations by using a mixture of Direct Translation
Procedures as well as some Oblique ones. The last group’s renditions were highquality translations. Thanks to the students’ wide background on translation
procedures and their experience on translating, they made use of a wider variety of
Direct and Oblique Translation Procedures. The translation level that this group
achieved in their translation was the Naturalness Level which is the ideal level that
translators aim at the moment of performing their task. It was shown that the level
of translation increases according to the knowledge and use of a variety of
translation procedures.
It was observed that Informative texts could not be
accurately translated by using the Literal Translation procedure, as some of the
sentences’ structures were not similar to the Spanish structures. For this reason, in
the case of an Informative Text, the more translation procedures used the more
quality or naturalness the translation might reach.
In 2005, J. Hernandez presented a research focused on an oblique translation
procedure: Transposition. “Using Transposition for reaching naturalness in
informative texts”, was a research carried out to show that the Transposition
procedure can help translators and students to reach the “level of naturalness”
(Newmark’s term) in the translation of an informative text. In his work, J.
Hernandez (2005) explains the translation procedures proposed by Vinay &
Darbelnet (1995) as well as the Translation Levels stated by Newmark (1988), as a
review for the reader. In this study the researcher put more emphasis on describing
and explaining the Transposition Procedure and its classification. This procedure
can be presented in four types. The first type is the change from singular to plural
and the position of the adjective; the second type: the use of a Neutral adjective
and the use of the gerund; the third type: when a SL word class is translated using
a TL word which belongs to a different grammatical class, because it is not of
common use in the TL; and finally the fourth type consists of replacing a virtual
lexical gap by a grammatical structure. The brief review of this procedure facilitates
the readers’ comprehension of the topic being studied.
This research’s main objective was to determine the relationship between the use
of the four types of Transposition and the level of Naturalness that a translator can
reach in a translation of an informative text. In order to analyze this situation, the
researcher stated as his hypothesis that the group he studied did not make a
proper use of the translation techniques and for that reason they could not achieve
the ideal Level of Naturalness. The methodology used to test the hypothesis
consisted on handing in an informative text titled “Chlorination of Water” to seven
translation students belonging to the 6th semester of Translation Studies at the
Facultad de Ciencias Educativas. The analysis of those translations was done by
using two checklists; one for checking the kind of transpositions used and the
second checklist for checking the elements on the translation that determined if the
level of Naturalness was reached. The SL text was checked and analyzed
previously by the researcher, in order to identify all the types of transpositions and
the elements of naturalness which served as a reference to compare the students’
translations. The results of this research project demonstrated that the most used
type of transposition is the change of position of the adjective which is
understandable and logic since in Spanish adjectives go after nouns and in English
adjectives go before nouns. After a deep analysis of all the information obtained
through the research it was determined and demonstrated that the translation
students did not make a proper and correct use of the transposition technique
which shows that their translations did not reach a full level of naturalness.
Another investigation focused on the translation procedures, is titled “The most
common translation procedures of Vinay & Darbelnet which 8 th semester
translation students of the UNACAR and professional translators use” and was
carried out by A. Hernández in 2007. This research has as objective the
comparison between translations done by translation students and professional
translators to find out if both groups use the same procedures at the moment of
translating a document. As can be read in the title, only the Vinay & Darbelnet’s
translation procedures were taken into account while doing this study. The
researcher in the literature review explained the procedures that were the object of
this study: Borrowing, Calque, Literal Translation, Transposition, Modulation,
Equivalence and Adaptation and provided some examples in order to show the use
of the different procedures. Moreover, A. Hernández (2007) made a comparison
among the procedures according to Vinay & Darbelnet’s classification of Direct
Procedures and Oblique Procedures. The researcher explained that Direct
Procedures (Borrowing, Calque and Literal Translation) “… are mainly used when
translators need to translate technical terms or establish names” (A. Hernández
2007:22); on the other hand, “… [Oblique or] indirect procedures can be used in
order to find a cultural equivalence or adaptation from the source language to the
target language…” (A. Hernández 2007:23).
In order to identify the common procedures used by the subjects of study
(translation students and professional translators), the researcher applied the
following methodology. First, a questionnaire was designed in order to measure
both groups’ knowledge on the Vinay & Darbelnet’s translation procedures. The
researcher knew that the translation students had knowledge of the translation
procedures as they are part of their academic course, yet she needed to know if
the professional translators were familiar with these procedures as two of them did
not have an academic training or study for being translators. After that, the
researcher chose three different texts and asked the students and the translators
to translate the documents. The translations were from English into Spanish, and
just some extracts from the three texts were analyzed with the purpose of
identifying the similarities on the procedures that both groups applied. The
obtained results showed that although the subjects of study do not have the same
educational background and knowledge on the theory translation they were able to
answer the questionnaire in a correct way. The results also showed that both
groups translated the texts by means of the following Translation Procedures:
Borrowing, Literal Translation, Transposition and Equivalence. From the results, it
also was observed that the Literal translation procedure was the most used
procedure since at the moment of translating the three texts the percentage of
usage of Literal Translation by the students was 45% and was 50% by professional
translators. These results demonstrate that “… professional translators and
translation students use in common and more frequently literal translation.” (A.
Hernández 2007:61)
Although the researches above mentioned are based on the same topic, a different
direction and focus was given in each one. One similarity in the three of them is
that translation students were used as subjects of study. This is a good idea
because when they read the researches, they improve their knowledge on
translation theory and the application of the different translation techniques.
2.3 Translation procedures by Vinay & Darbelnet
Jean-Paul Vinay (1910-1999) and Jean Darbelnet (1904-1990) were among the
first ones to investigate about the Translation within a scientific approach. Their
researches on the translation field turned into their major and worldwide known
work “Stylistique comparée du français et de l’anglais. Méthode de traduction”
(1958) which is considered as a landmark work not only because of its contribution
to comparative linguistics but also for giving rise to a mode of translation theory
intended at helping translators to translate. This has been an obligatory lecture in
many institutions as part of their program on translation studies.
In their study, Vinay & Darbelnet (1995) stated that during the translation process,
there’s a relationship between the linguistic sign (mental process) and the “totranslate” text. This means that at the moment of reading the SL text for the first
time, the translator’s mind is searching for the appropriate TL words. Most of the
times this quest is very rapid, almost like a flash, so that it seems as if reading the
SL Text had automatically revealed the TL message.
In addition, they also established the principles of comparative stylistics and the
procedures that a translator may use to perform his translation task. They
considered seven translation procedures each one corresponding to a higher
degree of complexity. These procedures are going to be described separately in
the following topics.
2.3.1 Direct or literal translation procedures
Vinay & Darbelnet (1995) mention only two methods of translating and seven
procedures. Their classification is as follows:
Borrowing
Direct or
Literal
Translation
Translation
Methodology
Calque
Literal translation
Transposition
Oblique
Translation
Modulation
Equivalence
Adaptation
Figure 1. Translation Methodology by Vinay & Darbelnet
The Direct or Literal Translation refers to those cases where it might be possible to
transpose a Source Language (SL) wording by wording into the Target Language
(TL), because it is based on either:
1. Parallel categories, in which case we can speak of structural parallelism, or
2. On parallel concepts which are the result of metalinguistic parallelism.
(Vinay & Darbelnet 1995:31).
2.3.1.1 Borrowing
The first procedure of the Direct Translation methods is the “Borrowing” also known
as “Loan”. Vinay & Darbelnet (1995) consider it as a strategy to fill in a semantic
gap in the Target Language or to give a local colour to the Translated Text. In
translation the use of Borrowings is generally associated with strategies for dealing
with culturally-bound concepts that are difficult to translate, and with conscious
ways of showing respect for the Source Text Language culture. In this procedure,
the translator makes a conscious choice to use the same word in the target text as
it is found in the source text, particularly when there is no equivalent term in the
target language.
The use of loan words has been a theme surrounded by controversy as it is judged
as just the easiest and simplest way for translating and sometimes it is considered
not to be a real translation. The translator’s job is to render the words and the
borrowing just transfers the word without any modification or equivalent from the
SL to the TL. For this reason, the loan is not taken by some people as a
translation. The translator has to use some strategies that help him to improve his
task. In the particular case of borrowings, he can make use of the foot notes to put
a borrowed word or term clear within a particular context. A good translator ought
to be prepared to deal with borrowings and to know when to use words belonging
to another language when he fails to retrieve an equivalent way of expressing the
same concept in the Target Language.
As science and technology develop, new terms used to express new concepts,
techniques and inventions come into existence. This development has brought
serious linguistic problems of expressing this ever–expanding wave of newly–
founded concepts and techniques for which no equivalents exist (Al-Hassnawi,
2008). Some words that are of daily-use could be older-borrowings but are so
widely used that they are no longer considered as such and have become a part of
the respective TL lexicon (Vinay & Darbelnet, 1995).
The following sentences show some examples of Borrowings:
1. The jacket needs to be installed in 7 days.
Se necesita instalar el jacket en 7 días.
2. The riggers are making sockets for the anchor wires.
Los maniobristas están haciendo sockets para los cables de las anclas.
3. Poly pigs can identify damage and corrosion as well as evaluate the overall
pipeline condition
Los poly pigs identifican el daño y la corrosión así como también evalúan el
estado general de la tubería.
4. The auxiliary winches are compact with capacity between 2—5 tons.
Los winches auxiliares son compactos con capacidad entre 2 y 5 toneladas.
5. Because of the squalls, diving operations are on stand-by.
Debido a las turbonadas, el buceo está en stand by.
2.3.1.2 Calque
A calque is described as "kind of borrowing whereby a language borrows an
expression form of another, but then translates literally each of its elements.”
(Vinay & Darbelnet, 1995:32) In other words, the phrase is borrowed from the
foreign language and its component parts are translated. This borrowing can give
as a result (i) A lexical calque, a word respecting the syntactic structure of the
Target Language, but at the same time as introducing a new mode of expression;
or (ii) A structural calque, which just introduces a new construction into the
language.
In their “Stylistique comparée du français et de l’anglais. Méthode de traduction.” ,
Vinay & Darbelnet’s advise not to calque, but to create a new word altogether, or to
use a word which already exists in the TL. “It may be preferable to create a new
lexical form using Greek or Latin roots or use conversion, this would avoid
awkward calques.” (Vinay & Darbelnet 1995:33) Studies of calque, such as those
of Chansou and Santoyo, “focus on the neologising power of the calque
mechanism as a way of both conveying new concepts to new target audiences and
of enriching the vocabulary of the receptor language”. (cited in Sewell, 2001) It can
be said that it would be more appropriate to find a suitable word in the SL than to
make use of calque; however, thanks to the use of calque, the Target language
turns diverse.
Proving that a word is a calque sometimes requires more documentation than a
non-translated expression; since, in some cases a similar phrase might have come
up in both languages independently. Just like borrowings, there are words that at
the beginning where calques from other culture, but after a long time of usage
society incorporated them into their everyday language. Therefore, translators are
more involved in the latest calques which can serve to fill a lacuna, and avoid the
use of borrowings.
Some examples of calques:
1. The divers found a crack at the stinger.
Los buzos encontraron una fisura en el estinguer.
2. Go and check the log book at the control tower.
Ve y checa en la bitácora de la torre de control.
3. This type of trial is intended to prove that a Dynamic Positioning vessel is
immune to a certain type of fault.
Este tipo de prueba tiene la intención de demostrar que una embarcación de
Posicionamiento Dinámico es inmune a cierto tipo de fallas.
4. There is no guarantee that the cargo of a container is stored in any definite
order.
No se garantiza que la carga de un conteiner sea almacenada en un orden
definido.
5. Specialist floating hotel vessels known as flotels are used to accommodate
workers during the construction and hook-up phases.
Los floteles, embarcaciones habitacionales especiales, se emplean para dar
alojamiento a los trabajadores durante las etapas de construcción e instalación.
2.3.1.3 Literal translation
Literal translation is where the forms of the original are retained as much as
possible, even if those forms are not the most natural forms to preserve the original
meaning. Vinay & Darbelnet (1995:33-34) state that the Literal, or word for word,
translation procedure is the “direct transfer of a SL text into grammatically and
idiomatically appropriate TL text in which the translators’ task is limited to
observing the adherence to the linguistic servitudes of the TL”. This translation
procedure is most common when translating between two languages of the same
family, and even more usual when they also share the same or a similar culture.
Literal translation has been judged as an inaccurate procedure of translation.
Some people have stated negative comments regarding this translation procedure;
Burton (cited in Ordudari, 2008), for example, indicates that this procedure "is a lie;
it is a fake and fraud". These people base their opinions on the fact that this
procedure focuses on forms of language and it sometimes misses some of the
meaning of those forms, and for some authors meaning is found not only in the
forms of individual words, but also in relationships these words, phrases, in the
writer-reader interaction, as well as in the cultural and historical contexts. Since
words often have different meanings in different contexts, the literal translation
procedure does not account for these differences, for this reason some authors
such as Nida (1964:14) agree and state that such renderings generally make a
doubtful translation.
On the other hand, there are some others that defend the theory that this
translation can be helpful to produce an acceptable translation. Literal translation
refers to translating a sentence keeping the original message form, including
construction of sentence, meaning of the original words, metaphor of the original,
and so on. A good or true translation, as Nabokov (cited in Ordudari, 2008) claims,
is a literal translation: "rendering as closely as the associative and syntactical
capacities of another language allow, the exact contextual meaning of the original";
thus, he concludes that, "only this [literal translation] is true translation." Literal
translation retains the rhetoric of the original, so it is lively as the original. In the
view of Foster, the only good translation is one "which fulfils the same purpose in
the new language as the original did in the language in which it was written”. (ibid)
That is to say a successful translation captures the sense of the original by means
of the correct words and makes sense to the receptor.
Because of the differences among languages, sometimes it is difficult to retain the
idea and style of the source language. The advantage of literal translation is that it
generally retains the idea and style of the original, and a good number of
translators like to use the literal translation procedure. Therefore, it can be said that
translating literally is possible as long as the produced text (translation) is easy to
understand by the target language readers.
The following are examples of literal translations.
1. We don’t need too many surveyors on board, just one per shift.
No necesitamos demasiados posicionadores a bordo, solo uno por turno.
2. The crane operator’s written report will be requested to check the conditions of
the crane.
El reporte escrito del operador de la grúa será requerido para revisar las
condiciones de la grúa.
3. A poly pig must be installed in the first joint at the initiation head as well as the
abandonment head.
Un poly-pig deberá instalarse en la primera junta tanto en el tapón de inicio como
en el tapón de abandono.
4. The winches have a flexible foundation to easy installation onboard.
Los winches tienen una base flexible para una instalación fácil abordo.
5. Use a needlegun to remove rust from the handrail
Use una bailarina para remover el óxido del barandal.
2.3.2 Indirect or Oblique translation procedures
The Oblique (Indirect) translation procedures are the opposite of the Literal ones.
Vinay & Darbelnet (1995:31) define them as the group of strategies used where
“structural or metalinguistics differences, certain stylistic effects cannot be
transposed into the TL without upsetting the syntactic order, or even the lexis.” In
those cases more complex procedures have to be used which modify and alter the
form of the ST but at the same time they allow translators to have a control over
the reliability of their work.
These types of procedures are employed when the use of the Literal translation
procedure produces an unacceptable translation, this is the case when the
translation:
1. gives another meaning, or
2. has no meaning, or
3. is structurally impossible, or
4. does not have a corresponding expression within the metalinguistic
experience of the TL, or
5. has corresponding expression, but not within the same register.
(Vinay & Darbelnet, 1995:34-35)
That is to say, that according to Vinay and Darbelnet’s (1995) statements, the
Oblique Translation Procedures are applied when the structural or conceptual
elements of the source language cannot be directly translated without altering the
meaning or upsetting the grammatical and stylistics elements of the target
language.
In the next points the Indirect or Oblique Translation procedures are going to be
explained separately. These are transposition, Modulation, Equivalence and
Adaptation. Some examples are going to be listed for a better understanding and
to show the application of these procedures.
2.3.2.1 Transposition
The first oblique procedure stated by Vinay & Darbelnet (1995:36) called
transposition, and it “… involves replacing one word class with another without
changing the meaning of the message.” This procedure consists of changing one
element of the SL speech by another without altering the sense of the TL. In this
procedure, the translator needs to shift the grammatical structure of the Source
Language to fit it on the Target Language to achieve an equivalent effect on the
readership of the translation as was obtained on the readership of the original text.
Since the SL word and the transposed expression (TL word) do not necessarily
have the same value Vinay & Darbelnet’s recommend the translator to make use of
a transposition just if the resulting translation match better into the speech, or gives
a special style to be kept.
According to the authors, there are two distinct types of transposition: (i) obligatory
transposition which is imposed by the morphosyntax of the target language and (ii)
optional transposition, at the discretion of the translator. Newmark (1988), on his
part, proposes four types of transposition:
(a) The change from singular to plural or in the position of the adjective.
(b) A SL grammatical structure does not exist in the TL.
(c) Literal translation is grammatically possible but may not accord with the
natural usage in the TL.
(d) The replacement of a virtual lexical gap by a grammatical structure.
Transposition is the only translation procedure concerned with grammar and most
translators make transpositions intuitively in order to reach an equivalent effect.
This change of words classes correspond to the differences among languages
syntactical structures. For example, translating from English into Spanish or viceversa is easier than translating from English into Chinese. Spanish and English are
different languages but from the same language families for this reason their
grammatical structures are similar, there is a better correspondence. On the
contrary, English and Chinese come from two different language families, namely,
Indo-European and Sino-Tibetan, which gives rise to many more differences in
mode of expression, grammar, syntax, meaning system.
Transposition is a procedure that allows the translator to deal and overcome these
grammatical differences through replacing a word category in the target language
without altering the meaning of the source text. It also, makes the translated
version flows more smoothly than with other procedures. This procedure most of
the time is the one that let the translator to reach a high level of naturalness in the
Target language.
Below there are some examples of transposition:
1. Ensuring the lift is made safely.
Asegurar que el izamiento sea llevado a cabo con seguridad.
2. Consider using come-a-longs and chainfalls.
Considere el uso de montacargas y diferenciales.
3. All safety devices are properly functioning.
Todo equipo de seguridad está funcionando correctamente.
4. A new trial lift is required each time a mobile crane is moved or repositioned.
Cada vez que una grúa movible cambie de ubicación o sea reposicionada se
requerirá realizar nuevamente una prueba de izamiento.
5. Worldwide drilling is going deeper, especially for natural gas in the Middle East.
Mundialmente se está perforando a mayor profundidad, particularmente en el
Medio Oriente en búsqueda de gas natural.
2.3.2.2 Modulation
Modulation, as stated by Vinay & Darbelnet (1995) and Newmark (1988), is a
variation of the form of the message, obtained by a change in the point of view, of
perspective and very often of a category of thought. This change can be justified
when, although a literal or even transposed, translation results in a grammatically
correct utterance, it is considered unsuitable, unidiomatic or awkward in the TL. It
is said that this procedure occurs whenever a given text segment is translated in
such a manner as to impose an evident shift in the semantic surface structure,
albeit retaining the same overall meaning effect in the specific context and co-text.
This procedure can take a number of different forms, ranging from different
variations. It can be classified by free or optional modulations and fixed or
obligatory ones. The free modulations are used when the TL rejects literal
translation and fixed ones refer to the cases when they become frequent, or it is
felt to be the unique solution. Both types of modulations should lead to a translation
read as if it were an original text and to a perfectly correspondence to the situation
indicated by the SL. According to Vinay & Darbelnet (1995:37), “the type of
modulation which turns a negative SL expression into a positive TL expression or
vice-versa is more often than not optional, even though this is closely linked with
the structure of each language”. This can also occur in phrases in a same
language, such as “easy to understand” and “not complicated to understand” both
expression convey the same meaning, although sometimes just one is used more
frequently because it sounds more natural in the context or simply to speaker point
of view.
Modulation consists of using a phrase that is different in the source and target
languages to convey the same idea. Through this procedure, the translator
generates a change in the point of view of the message without altering meaning
and without generating a sense of awkwardness in the reader of the target text.
Since this is a kind of free translation, the translator has to be really careful of do
not change the SL message just the words.
The following are examples of Modulations:
1. Crane operator SHALL take a STOP signal from anyone.
El operador de la grúa DEBERA DETENER la grúa a la instrucción de cualquier
persona.
2. Temporary lifting structures include beams, scaffoldings and floor gratings.
Vigas, andamios y rejillas son algunas estructuras de izamiento temporal.
3. If You Can’t Perform The Job Safely, DON’T DO IT!
Si el trabajo que realiza es inseguro, ¡Deténgase de inmediato!
4. Cause no harm.
Procuremos cero accidentes.
5. Cable Networker is the first purpose-built cable-working barge in South East
Asia.
Cable Networker es la primera barcaza para tendido de cable submarino
construida en el sureste de Asia.
2.3.2.3 Equivalence
The Equivalence refers to that procedure where the translator seeks to translate
the meaning of the original in such a way that the Target Language (TL) wording
will cause the same impact on the Target Text audience as the original wording did
upon the Source Text audience. Vinay & Darbelnet (1995) view equivalenceoriented translation as a procedure which replicates the same situation as in the
original, whilst using completely different wording.
The purpose of this translation is to say something in a different way in order to
produce the equivalent effect in both languages. They affirm that by using this
procedure in the translation process, a stylistic impact of the SL text in the TL text
can be maintained. “The same situation can be rendered by two texts using
completely different stylistic and structural methods. In such cases we are dealing
with the method which produces equivalent texts.” (Vinay & Darbelnet, 1995:38)
Equivalence is claimed to be the ideal method when the translator has to deal with
proverbs, sayings, idioms, slogans, clichés, advertisements and the onomatopoeia
of animal sounds. As these kinds of texts are related to the SL and TL culture, the
use calque, borrowing or literal translation is impossible because they can send a
completely different meaning. This procedure challenges the translator’s skills and
background because this kind of procedures deals with cultural aspects. In order to
translate idioms or proverbs a person has to be both bilingual and bicultural, and
sometimes even multicultural. The translator background in translation studies and
the general culture will be useful to chose of the most suitable words according to
the TL culture and in that way, be able to obtain the equivalent effect.
Some examples of Equivalence are the followings:
1. Over – Cambio
Roger - Copiado.
2. Danger. Hazardous waste storage area. Unauthorized persons KEEP OUT.
Peligro. Área de residuos peligrosos. UNICAMENTE personal autorizado.
3. Every crewmember must participate in the abandon-ship drills.
Todos los tripulantes deben participar en los zafarranchos de abandono de buque.
4. Man overboard!
¡Hombre al agua!
5. My working schedule is 4 weeks on, 2 weeks off.
Mi guardia es de 28 por 14.
2.3.2.4 Adaptation
The last oblique translation procedure stated by Vinay & Darbelnet (1995) is called
adaptation; it consists of rendering a text in accordance to the culture of the Target
audience. “It can be described as a special kind of equivalence, a situational
equivalence.” (Vinay & Darbelnet, 1995:39). This procedure is used in those cases
when the translation involves the rendition of a SL culture which does not match
the TL culture; the translator has to build a new situation that could be taken as an
equivalent in order to achieve the equivalent effect.
This strategy is commonly used when a literary rendering would be inappropriate
or awkward for the conventional TL culture. “Adaptation is the extreme limit of
translation. (…) Most of the times it is a periphrasis, a free adaptation of a phrase’s
meaning and the translator’s last resource”.1 (Francesconi, 2008). The translator is
free to re-write the text as long as it preserves the original message. In this case
the translator is kind of an artist as he is creating a new text. He has to extract the
meaning of the text and the effect caused on the readers; after that he has to think,
imagine and look for a situation and the appropriate wording of the Target Culture
(TC) that contains the same message and that can produce a similar effect on the
readership. In other words, adaptation is expressing something specific to one
language culture, in a totally different way that is familiar or appropriate to another
language in order to reach an equivalent effect.
Newmark (1998:46) on his part establishes the areas where this procedure can be
useful; “… [it] is used mainly for plays (comedies) and poetry; the themes,
characters, plots are usually preserved, the SL culture converted to the TL culture
and the text rewritten”. This procedure is mostly used to translate this kind of
literary documents because, generally, they have to be altered in order to fit and
make sense in the target language audience. For this reason, adaptation is making
a new version of the text based on the Target Culture and the Target audience.
Some examples of Adaptation:
1. Be safe, always over rig a load.
Asegura siempre la carga. Cuida tu vida.
2. 4. 36"Ø Tube turn recovery and installation at Pool-A
Recuperación del lecho marino e Instalación de Curva de expansión de 36"Ø en
Pool-A
3. All employees clear of suspended loads at all times.
El personal debe despejar el área cada que se maniobra con cargas suspendidas.
“Adaptation is the extreme limit of translation. (…) Most of the times it is a phrasal, a free
adaptation of a phrase’s meaning and the translator’s last resource.” Translated by Eloisa del
Carmen Vázquez Avila (author of this thesis).
1
4. When the basket is to be used to transfer a sick or injured person, then the
injured party should be accompanied by two crew members if the configuration of
the unit being used permits this to be done and it is safe to do so.
Al trasladar a un lesionado o enfermo por medio de la canasta de personal (viuda)
dos personas más deberán acompañarlo; lo anterior tomando en cuenta el espacio
y las condiciones de seguridad.
5. Sand bags installation at #5 & #6 crossings
Instalación de costales de arena cemento sobre líneas de los cruces 5 y 6.
2.4 Translation procedures by Newmark
Peter Newmark, professor at the University of Surrey, is one of the most important
researchers on the Translation field. His interest on this knowledge area began in
the 70’s; while being a language teacher he decided to specialize in translation, a
not so common area in those years. Actually, he says he went against the current
when he took that decision. He had always liked translation and got some
translation jobs which made him start reflecting on this subject and sometime later
he started writing about it.
Newmark's theory of translation has had a huge impact on the Translation Studies
all over the world. His books have been adopted as part of the regular bibliography
for students who want to become professional translators. Even though he is a
successful translation researcher, there are people who claim that Newmark's
principles are based on a “model of authority which unreasonably restricts the
options available to students” (Pym, 1992); for many authors, “Translation is an
activity governed by the requirements of communication rather than by authority”
(ibid) Regardless the different opinions about him, it cannot be denied that Peter
Newmark’s contributions to the translation field as well as the general language
study has been a great support to those interested on this topics.
Peter Newmark (1988) in his books enlist different types of translation procedures
such as: Literal translation, transference, naturalization, cultural equivalent,
functional equivalent, descriptive equivalent, synonymy, through-translation, shifts
or
transpositions,
modulation,
recognized
translation,
translation
label,
compensation, componential analysis, reduction and expansion, paraphrase,
couplets and notes. He does not organize them into categories or groups as Vinay
& Darbelnet did. For the purpose of this research only three of his procedures are
being discussed in dept; the ones that coincide to the definition of Direct
Translation Procedures given by Vinay & Darbelnet (1995): literal translation,
transference and naturalization.
2.4.1 Literal translation
A literal translation seeks to represent as accurately as possible in one language
the words which were written in another. This procedure refers to convert the
Source Language (SL) grammatical constructions into their nearest Target
Languages (TL) equivalents, but the lexical words are again translated singly, out
of context (Newmark, 1988:46). Literal Translation is a procedure that focuses on
rendering the words rather than the form.
Sometimes particular expressions in the Source language text are unknown in the
Target Culture. In these cases the use of literal translation is not possible because
it does not sound natural or do not cause the expected effect to the readership. For
this reason people believe that it is not a helpful procedure. Nevertheless, from
Newmark’s point of view (1998:69) “literal translation is correct and must not be
avoided, if it secures referential and pragmatic equivalence to the original.” This
procedure is accurate when the SL word and the TL meaning correspond, in other
words they refer to the same concept. He also says that a good translator does not
use literal translation when the produced text is inexact or does not sound as an
original text.
In the case of the technical area, Newmark (1988) suggests that this procedure is
suitable in this kind of text because technical words are less likely to be affected;
technical vocabulary only refers to one concept and one image. This means that
technical translation should be literal, using the word, in the target language, which
has been established as a proper translation. In that way, there is no ambiguity at
the time of translating.
Examples of sentences translated through this Literal Translation procedure:
1. Our goal is to have no accidents, no harm to people and no damage to the
environment.
Nuestra meta es no tener accidentes, no herir a las personas y no dañar al medio
ambiente.
2. The systems can be used from platforms, diving/ROV support vessels and
installation barges.
Los sistemas se pueden usar desde plataformas, embarcaciones de buceo o de
inspección con equipo ROV y barcazas de instalación.
3. Spool installation on the BP Tangguh Field at a depth of 80 meters.
Instalación de tubería en BP Tangguh a 80 metros de profundidad.
4. Everyone must know what to do in a man overboard drill.
Todos deben saber que hacer en un zafarrancho de hombre al agua.
5. The yearly DP test had recently been conducted onboard and all marine
certificates were valid.
La prueba anual del PD se ha llevado a cabo abordo recientemente y todos los
certificados marinos fueron validos.
2.4.2 Transference
The Transference procedure is the same as Vinay & Darbelnet’s borrowing. From
Newmark’s point of view, this procedure occurs when a SL word is transferred to a
TL text in its original form. Newmark suggests that this strategy is useful when a
translator wants “to attract the reader or to give a sense of intimacy between the
text and the reader – sometimes the sound or the evoked image appears
attractive.” (Newmark 1988:82) Although most of the time, this procedure is
considered an unfaithful translation, some words, may have to be borrowed from
the source language to avoid misunderstandings, dysfunction, or even wasting
time.
Some theorists reject Transference as a translation procedure claiming that the
translator’s job is to translate, to explain; thus, he should find the proper wording to
transmit the message. However, the argument supporting this procedure is that it
shows respect for the Source Language culture. The decision whether or not to
transfer depends on the nuances that the translator wishes to provide to his
translation. In order to avoid possible misunderstandings while dealing with a SL
cultural word whose referent is peculiar to the SL culture, Newmark suggests that
translators employ two or more translation strategies at the same time.
In Newmark’s opinion, “only cultural “objects” or concepts related to a small group
or cult should be transferred” (Newmark, 1988:82). When dealing with the names
of all living and most dead people, they have to be transferred, except the Pope
and one or two royals. The brand names should be transferred as well.
Geographical and topographical names, and public or nationalized institutions
ought to be transferred unless they have recognized and official translations. It
also should be transferred the names of periodicals and newspapers, as well as
the titles of all literary works, plays or films that have not been translated so far,
street names, addresses, etc. (Newmark, 1988:ibid)
Below there are some examples:
1. Raw Diesel Storage Pump
Bomba del almacenamiento de diesel sucio.
2. Hot tapping is an alternative procedure of making connections to in-service
piping systems.
El hot tapping es un procedimiento alternativo para hacer conexiones en redes de
tuberías en servicio
3. It is necessary to put 3 yokohamas on the port side.
Se necesita colocar 3 yokohamas al lado babor.
4. Swing to the right.
Dame swing a la derecha.
5. Attention all personnel, blackout in 5 minutes due to generator change.
Atención a todo el personal, blackout en 5 minutos por cambio en generador.
2.4.3 Naturalization
For Newmark, “this procedure succeeds transference and adapts the SL word first
to the normal pronunciation then to the normal morphology (word-forms) of the TL.”
(1988:83) It is a similar procedure as the Vinay & Darbelnet’s (1995) term “Calque”.
On the other hand, Nida claims that naturalization can be achieved by taking into
account: 1) the source language and culture understood as a whole; 2) the cultural
context of the message; 3) the target audience. (Molina & Hurtado, 2002: 503)
Some examples of naturalization are:
1. As rigs get older and are exposed to more salt water, operators sandblast rigs
to remove rust and preserve the metal’s integrity before repainting them.
A medida que pasa el tiempo, las plataformas están más expuestas al agua
salada, por lo que se sandblastean para remover el óxido y preservar la
integridad del metal antes de pintarlas nuevamente.
2. The slings used on the rigging must be original and with their load test
certificate.
Las eslingas utilizadas en las maniobras deben ser originales y con sus
certificados de prueba de carga.
3. After ballast tank is de-pressurized, close valve #2.
Después de despresurizar el tanque del lastre, cierre la válvula No.2
4. Christmas trees installed on the ocean floor are referred to as subsea trees.
Los árboles de navidad instalados en el lecho marino se conocen como árboles
submarinos.
5. To provide the trainee with practice in the operational procedures of a
hyperbaric chamber and simulating the treatment of diving injuries.
Proveer capacitación práctica en los procedimientos de operación de una cámara
hiperbárica y el simulacro del tratamiento de lesiones al bucear.
2.5 Quality of a translation
One important topic when dealing with the rendition of a wide range of texts from
one language to another is the level of quality that the translation reaches. The
quality refers to the desirable properties or characteristics of a translated text or
content. This quality will depend on the quality of the translator, based on the
translator's education and talent, as well as on the source text, and reference
material available for the translator. The American Society of Quality (ASQ) (2009)
defines quality as “a subjective term for which each person or sector has its own
definition. In technical usage, quality can have two meanings: 1. the characteristics
of a product or service that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs; 2. a
product or service free of deficiencies.”
Translation, just like quality, is a subjective activity; someone can say that a
translated text is good or bad from his/her point of view. For Chesterman & Wagner
(2002:80), a translation is invisible, and it can be just noticed when there is
something wrong with it. It is said that a translation must sound and be read as an
original text. In words of Phillips “The test of a real translation is that it should not
read like a translation at all.” (Nida in Venuti, 2000:53). When this premise is not
reached and the text does not ring a bell to the user, the translation is not
complying with the quality expected by the reader and also by the translator. A
translation can vary or increase its quality over the time; one translator may render
a particular text in a singular way at different times, depending on the inspiration,
stress, deadlines, so on, and the final product may be different every time.
At the moment of translating, the person who plays the most important role in order
to achieve a high quality is the translator as his/her abilities and skills will be
reflected on the final translation. Chesterman & Wagner (2002:81-82) quoted
Pym’s concept of translation competence where he identifies two abilities that a
translator needs. The first one requests the translation creativity and imagination to
create several possibilities or equivalents of the ST and the second one is the
ability to choose the best one or the most suitable translation that conveys the
message. They also mention three “modes” or roles that a translator plays when
rendering a text: (a) “the dreamer mode” when the ideas or options are generated,
(b) the “realist mode” when the translator selects the better option and (c) the “critic
mode” where the translation is polished and improved. These modes are a
summary of the translation process. First, the translator creates a version of the
text in his mind while reading it for the first time. Secondly, the translator chooses
the ideas that are more suitable to express the original message. The final step is
the editing, where the translator double check his final version and make sure that
it has no errors.
The goal that translators bear in mind when performing their job is to present a
high-level translation; they must be really careful to transmit the correct and
complete message by using the proper target wording. Translations that do not add
any new information to the translated document and do not omit information
provided in the source document are said to be complete. A translated text must
mean the same as the Source Text. As previously stated, translation and quality
are subjective concepts, which make it difficult to find principles to grade a
translation according to its quality. Chesterman & Wagner (2002:80) suggest four
ways (or views) to refer to translation and the ways the quality can be measured
according to each view.
1. Translation is a product. Just grade the end product: good, bad or
indifferent.
2. Translation is a process. Quality depends on carrying out the process
correctly.
3. Translation is a service, intangible but wholly dependent on customer
satisfaction. Just measure customer satisfaction.
4. Translation is an adjunct of the original text – a more or less flawed image. It
just measures the accuracy, the faithfulness to the original, the equivalence
of meaning and effect.
The concept of translation refers to the four views; it is a product when it refers to
the final text. Translation is a process when the translator performs all the stages to
come up with the product or the translated text. It is considered as a service when
the translation activity is done due to a client’s request who expects a high level
translation, and it is also a copy (in a different language but keeping the meaning of
the original).
Another way to measure the quality of the translation is by the reactions of the
readers. Regarding this method, Chesterman & Wagner (2002) propose four
approaches based on the response or effect of a particular reader, people whose
special interest is to evaluate translation; they act as critics of the translated text.
1. Comparing the translation with the source text. It gives suggestions for
analytical schemas, ways of classifying errors of equivalence, measuring
loss or changes of meanings.
2. Comparing the translation with parallel texts. It is easy to notice that a text
reads like a translation because it does not sound quite natural in some
way. In order to avoid this, the latest researches try to determine possible
universal features of translation.
3. Measuring the reactions of general, typical readers. This is done by
analyzing the following: (a) time taken to read a translation, (b) ease of
understanding, (c) performance or efficiency in following instruction, (d)
mental associations.
4. Trying to get at the decision-making process during the translation itself.
The translation is judged by knowing why the translator translated in that
particular way.
This research is focused on a general readership. The quality of the translation is
measured by the readers’ response to it. Translation exists due to the need to
transmit and share knowledge, so any person should be able to read a text and be
able to understand it. It might be that the original or source text was written and
addressed for a specialized audience, but the translation might be read as an
original text and does not sound like a weird translation. If the translator makes a
proper use of his translation skills and produces a high quality document, it will be
easy for the users to read the document and understand the message. At the
moment of translating manuals, the objective is that the users get the meaning of
the document and perform an activity by following the instructions, so the rendition
must be clear and easy to understand. Users might not have a lot of time to read
the text twice so when they read the translation they must associate the words, the
mental concepts and the activities they are performing; all these in seconds. The
response when using a translated text must be the same obtained with a user of
the original document.
2.5.1 Translation Quality standards
It has been stated that the quality of the translations is a subjective concept and
that every person can grade it according to his own point of view. Some authors
have analyzed this important point and have given their suggestions to measure it;
although they do not always agree. Due to the importance of establishing a set of
standards that could be a guideline to qualify the translations world-wide,
international organizations have developed Quality Standards for translation.
These Standards regulate the process carried out by translators and translation as
the product and the client’s satisfaction.
UNI 10547, published in 1996, is the first quality standard in Europe that defines
service requirements and the activities to be performed by translation and
interpreting companies. This standard is mainly focused on the Translation Service
and identifies its three phases on it: planning of service and preparation of contract,
carrying out the service and the monitoring and control of the service. It also
includes the revision, correction and completion of already translated texts. This
Standard establishes guidelines for the formalization of the service contract, the
fees, invoicing, payment, and deadlines. In addition, it specifies the contents of a
“to-translate” text: client’s specifications, languages involved, translation purpose,
technical details, human resources, working and delivery conditions, confidentiality
clauses and dispute settlement provisions (Corpas, 2006).
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO), a worldwide association,
continues to be helpful in establishing universal standards that in large part are
generally accepted and adopted by member nations in particular. This organization
deals with the development of standardization for the presentation of services and
documents in order to uniform the criteria with which they are produced in all fields.
Concerning translations, in 1997 the ISO 2384 “Documentation – Presentation of
translations” was published. This standard refers to the point where a translation
can be considered as a substitute to the original document, and where it must be
possible to identify the original document (Osimo, 2004). This ISO standard is a
general quality assurance not adapted to any particular sector. One disadvantage
of this standardizing organization is that it is expensive to implement their
guidelines because it requires translations to be certified by ISO inspectors; small
companies and freelance translators cannot afford this kind of certification.
Moreover, it allows each company to describe its own quality procedures which
results in different standards among companies.
Another Standard in translation is the DIN 2345 on Translation Contracts, which
was published by the German Institute for Standardization in 1998. The German
standard focuses on the contracts for supplying translation services and the
working procedures to be used. In this respect, it offers a detailed list of
requirements for translation contracts in regard to the source and target texts,
revisions, parties to the contract and work procedures. In one of its points, it
establishes that the client must explain, to the translator, the purpose of the target
text and describe the target group; he also should be available for the translator to
answer questions (Chesterman & Wagner, 2002). Regarding the criteria when
choosing a translator, the DIN 2345 recommends to check the technical
competence of the translator, the access that the translator has to technical tools
(Internet or Translation Programs) and the fulfillment of the deadline. It also
requires that the target text must correspond to the linguistic standards of the
target language, and the content must be accurate to the original text (Corpas,
2006). It is necessary to point out that this is a self-certification standard, without
an external inspection element and that it reflects some practices that are typical in
Germany and does not correspond to any other part of the world. This standard is
just intended to increase the client’s confidence in the quality of the services
provided; however, no mention of a quality procedure is made.
Taalmerk is the Translation Standard in Netherlands which was introduced by the
Dutch Association of Translation Companies. The Taalmerk points out some
aspects that are not included in other Standards such as: “double-checking of
translation, arrangements to settle clients’ complaints by an arbitration procedure
involving independent specialists, and requesting providers to have professional
indemnity assurance, which provides a financial guarantee for customers”
(Chesterman & Wagner 2002:85). This Standard is mainly used by companies and
it is not a self-certification standard, hence, it is under a periodical program of
certification.
The Quality Committee of the European Union of Associations of Translation
Companies (EUATC) in 1999, made public their Quality Standard for Translation
Companies which is applied to Translation companies members of a national
Association of Translation Companies.
This standard seeks to measure
Translation quality from an objective view. In order to ensure compliance with the
standard, the company should designate a quality manager to be in charge of
writing the translation procedures, monitoring internal statistics and evaluating the
quality systems (Corpas, 2006). This standard sets the minimum levels of quality
regarding “customer’s satisfaction, project management, human and material
resources management, in-house and external staff training, invoicing, liabilities,
remedial action in the event of a non-conforming product, complaints and EUATC
arbitration procedures, and sanctions.” (Corpas, 2006)
In 2000, the Austrian ÖNORM D 1200 Standard was published. It covers
translation services and the requirements that the translators or translation
companies must comply with when providing the services. With respect to
Translation contracts, this standard gives special emphasis on client-service
provider cooperation and translator’s confidentiality (Corpas, 2006). Clients should
provide translators with all relevant documentation and information needed to
render the texts.
So far, there are many standards related to Translation, but they do not consider all
the aspects that “translating” involves. Most of them attempt translation as a
service and focus on the procedure to comply with a good service, but do not
consider the final product. There are new standards being prepared in order to
obtain one that deals with all the aspects related to the document, the service and
the procedures. One of these attempts of Standards is the ASTM Standard on
Language Translation in the US. This Standard is being done between the
American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) and the Localization Industry
Standards Association (LISA). In their standard, they define translation services as
“those that adhere to project specifications that are mutually agreed on by the
requester and the service provider.” (Chesterman & Wagner 2002:86)
The most recent proposal of a translation standard was made by is the Quality
Committee of the European Union of Associations of Translation Companies
(EUATC). This Standard is known as the CEN PREN 15038 and its purpose is to
establish and define the requirements for the provision of quality translation
services, and the process of translating. Concerning Translators, this Standard
requires them to be competent with a formal higher education in translation, and in
order to perform their task and provide a good service; they must have access to
information sources and media. The CEN prEN 15038 states that “the translator
shall transfer the meaning in the source language into the target language in order
to produce a text that is in accordance with the rules of the linguistic system of the
target language and that meets the instructions received” (CEN, 2004). With the
purpose of achieving this, the translator should consider during the translation
process: the terminology, the grammar, the lexis, the style and the formatting. If the
process is followed and carried out properly, the final product will be considered of
high quality. As for the service, the Translation Service provider (freelance
translator or Translation Company) “shall ensure compliance with the terms and
conditions agreed upon with the client and shall have documented business
procedures in place regarding the optimal deployment of human resources to
perform the translation project and allied services.” (CEN, 2004) This Standard
considers the translation service as well as the translation product, an aspect that
the other Standardizing organizations did not take into account.
Each of the standards was done to regulate the translation from different points of
view. It cannot be said that one is better than the other, or that there is one that is
more complete than the other standards, as translation is a task that involves so
many aspects. It just can be assured that all of them have the purpose of making
an agreement between the translator and the user, at the end, the reader will have
the last opinion. He will be the judge of the translation.
2.5.2 Consumer-oriented quality
The purpose of a translation is to transmit a message; it could be from one
language to another, from one culture to another culture, and from one person to
another. In order to reach that goal, the translator shall bear in mind the target
audience which is the people who will read the final version. “A real translation […]
is always produced in response to the specific demands of an audience or whoever
is paying for the translation.” (Hervey and Higgins, 2000:163) This statement
emphasizes that the translator is always under the pressure of someone’s
satisfaction: the client. When dealing with manuals, translation users need to be
able to rely on the translated texts and be able to use those documents as a
trustworthy basis when performing any particular activity. As Robinson (2003:7)
says, “… if they (the users) take action on the belief that the translation gives them
the kind of information they need about the original, that action will not fail because
of the translation.” Hence, translators have to translate the document according to
the readership and the paper’s purpose in order to comply with the client’s
expectations; here is where the quality of consumer-oriented text lays.
The consumer-oriented texts are “texts that fall into the persuasive/prescriptive
genre, texts whose main purpose is to recommend commodities, attitudes or
courses of action” (Hervey and Higgins, 2000:163). In this sense, manuals could
not match with this definition of consumer-oriented texts, as they are just a set of
instructions to perform an activity, however any text belonging to any knowledge
field is written with the intention to produce a specific effect in the readership, catch
their attention and maintain it. Consequently, manuals or any other text should
convey the message or information with a calculated and premeditated effect on
the readers.
When a translator is given a text to be translated he might consider that his version
must convey all thoughts expressed by the author with the high degree precision.
So that the translator reaches this precision and the reader considers the
translation with a high or acceptable quality, he (the translator) shall look not only
at the style of the Source Text (ST), but also at the style of other SL texts in the
same or similar genres. Besides, he should pay attention not only at the surface
literal meaning of the ST but also at the details of the ST’s stylistics choices. This
meticulous examination will be a great help for the translator as “from detailed
observation of stylistic choices in a number of texts in a given genre it is possible to
build up a general picture of the stylistic tendencies or expectations associated with
particular types of text in a given culture.” (Hervey and Higgins, 2000:165) That is
to say, if the translator produces a document with the features, structures and
nuances according to the type of text, the user will be able to read it with the same
fluency as if he was reading a similar document in his own language.
Generally, a translator when translating consumer-oriented texts comes across a
number of difficulties to overcome these he must have a profound background in
the corresponding area and have very good reference books and monolingual
dictionaries; although, sometimes this is not enough to beat all the obstacles he
faces. For instance, a technical translator would probably be asked to translate a
handbook, but the instructions have to be absolutely clear to a non-expert. The
tools he will require may be all kind of dictionaries, translation software, referential
books, and so on, which just help him on the technical part of the translation. In
order to comply with the second part of the translation, the non-expert orientation,
he will resort to his expertise. In this case, he shall use a technical language of
general use or he can make use of translation strategies to explain some terms
that can cause problems to the reader. The audience or readership will determine,
and in some sense judge, if the document satisfies the quality expectations. For
this reason, the translator must identify the relationship between the author and the
consumer, if it is from an expert informing non-experts, expert to other experts, or
non-expert to non-experts. Based on this author-consumer relationship, translators
are able to make use of the correct vocabulary, grammatical/syntactic structure,
sentential structure, discourse structure, nuances, formats, and so on according to
the type of relationship.
Translation in some way is considered as an art, and people may have different
perceptions or point of view of it, just like in any other artistic activity. As a result,
the subjective concept of translation gives place to wide diversity expectations of a
translated text due to the mixture of readers and their cultural background. A text
could be qualified as a "good" or "successful" translation, even if another user, with
different expectations, might consider it bad or unsuccessful. In other words, a text
considered a failure by some readers, because it does not reach their reliability
needs, might be well measured as brilliant, innovative, sensitive, or highly accurate
by others. For all these reasons, it is of huge importance that the translators bear in
mind the readers the translation is being oriented to and the different expectations
they will have, as in some way this will determine the level of quality of their work.
2.6 Manuals
A manual can be defined as a handy book that contains information, explanation
and instructions about the operation of a machine, a device, or equipment. It could
be also referred as a set of documents that describes the procedures to perform a
task or just how to do something. It can also be called as handbook. It is a quick
reference book that the users review when carrying out an activity. According to
Norman (2007), the ideal manual need only be consulted once for any point or
activity. Someone should be able to read each section of the manual, say, “Oh yes,
I get it,” and never need it again.
The manual should be activity-centered, which means that the author should
choose the most basic and necessary activities and explain how to achieve them in
an easy to read and understand text. The use of short and simple explanations is
just one method or strategy that the author employs in order to help the user or
reader to perform the activities without any problems. Charts, diagrams, drawings,
graphics or any kind of illustrations will give the user an image of the operation of
the equipment. This can be frequently used when explaining how to assemble or
disassemble something. In Norman’s (2007) opinion, the manuals that explains
every knob or button and menu item in turn provides no understanding of how to
accomplish a specific duty; this is because people do not want to read manuals as
they just want to do their activity. Hence, it is the author’s mission to help readers
to perform their task, with minimum reading. If a manual is too extensive, with so
many explanations the user may get confused and he might not want to keep
reading it, this situation may lead him not to perform his task. As stated by Norman
(2007), “The number of readers is inversely proportional to the square of the length
of the document”, which means that the bigger the manual is the less readers it will
have. It can be said that a helpful manual is one that is short, simple, and easy to
understand and therefore to remember.
Every document that is written or produced has a purpose which is transmitting
knowledge to an audience. In this case, there are some points that the author of
the manual shall consider regarding the people who the text is addressed to. The
first one is that the message to transmit must be clear to the target audience; a
misunderstanding of the message would produce damage on the equipment or a
wrong piece installation, with severe consequences. All the information included in
the manual should be comprehensive, complete, concise, technically accurate, and
directly relevant to the users. This information should be presented in logical order
with conclusions stated and tabulated. The format of the document is also an
important part of the manual in relation to the audience. Headings and
subheadings provide a guide of the contents for the audience; they are also a
summary of the whole manual, and this is the first page that the users look for. As
in any other technical document the author should pay attention and check that the
use of vocabulary, capitalization, and numbers are consistent in terms of
terminology, units of measure, and abbreviations. The manual should also include
any appendices and/or graphics that are relevant to the audience; all these should
be labeled.
A successful user manual must be available, suitable, accessible, and readable. In
order to produce a
high-quality manual the author should follow the
recommendations mentioned above. The final test for a good manual is its
reliability and maintainability if the users show to rely on it; they will continue using
the manual.
2.6.1 Types of Manuals
Any organization has the necessity of using manuals to organize and regulate all
their activities. There are several kinds of manuals, and each one has a different
purpose and different objectives.
The Policy Manual is the central body of documentation that defines and clarifies a
business’ policies and procedures. Policy manuals are the “type of manual that
document the set of rules or laws governing an organization” (Kent & Associates
Ltd, 2006). Policies contained in this kind of manual can be set out at the board,
organization, department, work group, or other levels. These handbooks can be
short and general, or long and detailed; this depends on the necessities of each
company. In a company’s document hierarchy, the policy manual is usually at the
top, as it is considered the highest manual; since, other manuals, such as
department procedure manuals, must comply with those policies. These manuals
are often divided into sections that identify and describe a specific element within
an organization, such as administrative, compliance, lending, operational, etc., and
may be assigned a number of series for identity purposes; within these sections
are several supporting policies and procedures that cover various topics.
Generally, companies organize their policy manuals by business function, or
department. In the case of smaller organizations or business, all policies or
procedures of all departments are often included in the same manual.
The manual that explains how things are done is named procedure manuals. This
manual is characterized by the “step-by-step” explanation and the use of diagrams
to have an easy interaction with the user. According to Kent & Associates Ltd.
(2006), the procedure manuals are a useful tool to the reader when he is familiar
with the topic, but has not performed the procedure often enough to have
memorized it. They are usually organized by work task, with procedures grouped
according to business function or by department.
Another kind of manuals is the standard manual which set all the standards for
products, services, or other work activities. They are commonly employed in
engineering, manufacturing, and construction field where the workers use them to
specify materials or manufacturing standards. Although these manuals are specific
for grouping the standards, they can also be found in procedure manuals to set out
how frequently, how fast, or how accurately things will be done, but just as a
reference. Standards manuals can be organized in various ways, such as by
material type, system, or job task.
There are manuals that provide orientation to readers to deal with different
situations according to their own judgment; they are known as guidebooks and give
readers more freedom than policy and procedure manuals as guidelines are
usually non-mandatory suggestions rather than strict rules or authoritarian
procedures. Sometimes they simply establish the boundaries within which
employees may act at their own discretion. These guidebooks are usually
organized by work task, business function, or department (Kent & Associates Ltd,
2006).
User manuals are the easiest to read and use, and are designed for the nontechnical reader who does not even know how to turn the equipment on. These
manuals provide instructions for installing and using a certain system, software or
hardware and should be organized around user tasks. Kent & Associates Ltd.
(2006), explain that these manuals do not describe the software in a detailed way;
they are focused on explaining how the software is used, usually with lots of stepby-step procedures. Since it is intended to give the user a proper understanding
about the application, it is written in a very simple yet professional and organized
manner. No technical jargon or advanced words are used to explain the topics in
this kind of manuals as it is the primary manual for all users, particularly for
beginners or learners.
Reference manuals are comprehensive guides that a person can use to check for
information when required. These manuals contain information organized in a
summary style, usually providing detailed information on a hardware or software,
and organized for quick reference. They may also include other types of
information, such as code lists or lists of names and contact information and all the
information included in this manual may be organized by alphabetized keyword or
sequenced. This manual is just a help for readers who are assumed to be familiar
with the topic and just need quick information on some aspect of it. This is a
manual for people with experience or who masters the subject and most of the
time, for portability and ease of use, it is generated in a format on-line accessed or
in a CD. (Kent & Associates Ltd, 2006)
Operator manuals provide detailed instructions for operating instruments or
equipment and may include directions for the installation and the troubleshooting,
all these information may be supported by illustrations and photographs. When the
“to install-equipment” is complex, it is possible to find separate installation and
maintenance manuals accompanying it. This handbook is mainly read by expert
users, often engineers or technicians in charge of the operation, but it could be
useful for newly trained people. Similar to software user manuals, operator
manuals are usually organized around work tasks.
A service manual is the manual used by service technicians or engineers to
perform routine maintenance or to troubleshoot and fix problems or breakdowns.
These handbooks often describe how the equipment works and operating
principles and explain the instructions on how to disassemble and reassemble
components of a device or equipment. They are often organized by system, such
as “electrical system,” or by component. (Kent & Associates Ltd, 2006)
Field guides are those ones designed to use away from a desk, often outdoors, in
the working field. They are illustrated guidebooks used to help identify plants or
animals, or to describe field tests. Field guides are often pocket books and printed
on waterproof paper. They are often organized alphabetically by keyword for quick
reference, or by work task. (Kent & Associates Ltd, 2006) There are many types of
field guide, but most are designed to be usable by the general public with limited
practice, or by foresters and others without special botanical skills. More
specialized guides focus on highlighting the types of features visible at all times on
the plants in question. (Urmann, 2010)
Often two or more types of manuals are combined which there is nothing wrong
with; if it is important that the intended readers have access to different types of
information, it should be considered combining manuals. Some of these
combinations could be policy and procedures, standards and guidelines,
operations and services or user and reference. These kinds of manuals are
sometimes called employee handbooks or simply policy and procedure manuals,
reflecting the mixture of information types. (Kent & Associates Ltd, 2006) In some
situations, however, it is appropriate to separate the types of information. For
example, a manual containing policy may be provided only to the Board of
Directors or to senior management since this is the level of information they will be
interested in, while a manual of policies and procedures could be given to the
workers.
It is important that a translator bears in mind that at the moment of using a manual,
most people are just looking for the necessary and essential information to do their
activities; they do not care about irrelevant information or the type of manual they
are reading. For this reason, the writing style and the wording used on the
Translation must be precise in order to facilitate the readership’s task.
2.6.2 The translation of manuals
After describing the kind of manuals that the translator could find along his works, it
is necessary to explain the process and the problems that he could face when
translating manuals. Why is this useful for a translator? A translator is someone
who must not master every subject, yet he must have some knowledge of diverse
topics. Frequently, manuals belonging to different fields need to be delivered in one
or more other languages than the national language of the manufacturer's country;
this is a translator’s task.
Before explaining how the translation of a manual should be done and the issues
that the translator have to take into account when translating, it is necessary to
analyze the skills that the person who will perform the translation must comply. It is
commonly believed that any bilingual person can be a translator, but this is not
true. In order to get a high-quality version of the source text, it is important to find
the right person with the background and the experience in the translation field as
well as the will to take the “challenge” to transfer the meaning of the document into
a Target Language. In this case, translation is being referred as a challenge
because it may be that the translator does not master or know anything about the
document’s topics, so he will have to use all his skills, do some research, talk to
people with knowledge on the subject, read over and over, and so on. All this
sometimes is an exhausting labor but a qualified translator will face the translation
and turn out with a piece master.
Translators should have a high level in two or more languages but have to be
masters in their native language. A client will not trust somebody who cannot write
correctly in his own language. Actually, most clients prefer the translator to be a
native speaker in the language to be translated into. For this reason most
translators render from a foreign language into their mother tongues; in that way
they feel more comfortable and sure of not having many mistakes and not losing
their clients’ confidence. As Ring (1997) points out, “no matter how long translators
have lived in the country and how well educated and skilled they are, just a few
people are able to find the right "tune" of any other language than their own native
language.”
As stated before, a translator should not master any subject, but it is important that
they have some knowledge on all fields. Some authors recommend translators,
when working with equipments or devices, be familiar with the technology of the
products on a user level. That is to say, translators do not need to be experts but
should know the operation of it. In case the machine is designed for an expert
operator, it will be the translator’s task to investigate the fundamentals and the
normal terms used in the industry. One way of collecting terms of a specific
industry or area is by talking to people related to that field and doing a data base.
Any translator should be a natural researcher; he must enjoy reading and learning
about new topics he considers useful for his formation.
A translator is a multitask person; he can be a researcher, an author, an editor, a
reader, a critic, a writer, etc. When translating he has to play all those roles and all
the other activities that convey them. Specifically, when he is taking the writer’s
place the first step he has to do is to identify the kind of text he is working with; this
will immediately tell him the kind of writing he has to use. In other words, not all the
texts are written in the same way, there are certain features that give different
nuances to each kind of text. If the translator is pursuing a qualified translation of a
manual, he should know how to write manuals because “The language used in
manuals is a special language, where correct bulleting and numbering points, how
to write warnings, etc., and the correct use of passive voice and imperative mode
are very important” (Ring, 1997). Translators have to be careful that the language
used in the manual is the correct one according to the target audience; the text
needs to be adapted to the target country’s systems, traditions, general culture,
and so on, as they may be different from the place where the manual was written.
Normally, there are some demands or desires that a professional translator will ask
the client in order to avoid misconceptions and make sure that his translation is
correct. One of these requests could be having access to a piece or copy of the
product, so he could test the procedures in case of doubts. If he is to translate from
a language different from the original of the manual, in other words, if he is
translating from a translation of the original manual, he may want a copy of it. It is
possible that the translator does not understand the original language, but the
original manual could help him with some labels on the diagrams or the bottoms
name. It might be possible as well, that the first translation has some mistakes that
could affect the second translation. It is not the translator’s duty to correct the
source text but to make sure he is performing an accurate translated version.
The translation process is an activity where a person establishes equivalences
between a text in one language (source text) and a text in another language or
target text. This process can be described in a simple way. The translator decodes
the meaning of the source text and re-encodes this meaning in the target
language, by means of the correct target wording. In general, this process is the
same for any kind of texts; although, depending on the kind of text that is being
translated, there are slightly differences or some special issues to take care of
during the process.
When translating manuals, the translator must have in mind and take care of some
matters that are features of this kind of texts. One of this matters is the manual’s
target country, that is to say, the translator has to research about the place where
the manual will be distributed. This localized2 investigation will help the translator to
deal with some differences between the source country and the target country.
Some of these issues could be one of the following:

Technical changes because of different electrical outlet systems, rules about
electrical grounding, local style typewriter/PC keyboards, etc.

Different traditions for use, e.g. kitchen appliances, or medical equipment.

Different education levels of professional users.

Changing any legal blurbs, disclaimers, etc., the text may have.

The needs for references to the local standards, etc. instead of the
standards, etc. of the country of origin.

Different laws and rules for e.g. workers' safety protection.
(Ring, 1997)
It is important that the translator becomes familiar with the culture of the target
country; no necessarily in depth. A general knowledge will help him to deal with the
differences in power systems, warnings, legal issues, and any other local topic
which could cause a problem to the user of the manual. For example, if the manual
is about a car, the translator should be aware that in England the steering wheel is
on the right side of the car, while in US is on the left side.
Another point that the translator has to pay attention to is the differences or
variants of a specific language in many countries. That is to say, even though in
the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States of America people speak
English, they do not use the same expressions and their technical systems are not
the same. For example, the place where a crane’s boom lays when it is not being
used, in American English (AmE) it is “A rest” e.g. The boom is at its rest, while in
British English (BE) it is called “A cradle” e.g. Put the boom at the cradle. The
2
Ring (1997) uses the term “localization” in the sense of limited to a specific place.
differences on the spelling could cause a problem to the translator if he is not
aware of them, e.g. liter (AmE) and litre (BE). Also, a “wheel” in AmE is called
“Tire” in BE and both refer to a hoop that covers a wheel and the translation into
Mexican Spanish will be different for both words as in this language, they refer to
different concepts; for “wheel” is “rueda” and “tire” is “llanta” These examples show
why the translator has to consider different versions of the English or Spanish, for
spelling, linguistic and localization reasons. These differences are not just from one
country to another; they could be within the same area as well. For instance,
“Elbow” and “Tube turn” both words are in American English and refer to a piece of
pipe which is bended at X degrees, but the first word is used in the North of
Louisiana and the second one in the South. Besides, different areas have special
names for the same concept; for example; the concept of one object collapsing
with another, when talking about cars it would be said “Two cars crashed”; but if it
is about two vessels, it would be “The boats had a collision”. As can be noticed the
labor of a translator is not as easy in some aspects, but if he is aware and is
careful on these variations (in both SL and TL), he could produce an accurate and
reliable translation.
Translation as a profession does not only require a person to be bilingual but to be
academically prepared to face all the challenges that this activity can bring.
Translation Students at UNACAR, as part of their degree, are provided with all the
Theory on Translation Studies and the strategies that a translator must apply for
carrying out a correct and accurate translation; however, this is not enough. It is
part of their duty as professional translators to research about up-to-date
information regarding translation theory, methods, procedures and strategies to
render better translations. Also, different knowledge field topics since translators
must not master any knowledge field but must know a little of different topics,
terminology, new borrowings or calques, new standards for grading the translations
in their different manners, a service, a product or a process, and all the aspect that
could be helpful for improving their task. This thesis work seeks to analyze the
suitability of usage of the Direct Translation Procedures when rendering specifically
a manual; since, it is focused on giving the Translation Students an overview of the
kind of text they might face while working as professional translators at any of the
companies established in Ciudad del Carmen. All the examples showed in this
research belong to the oil and maritime industry because, at this moment, these
are the two most important industries not only in this city but in all the Gulf of
Mexico area, and it is assumed that the translators in Ciudad del Carmen would
apply for a job within these areas. It is important to make clear to the Translation
Students that the Professional Translators’ major responsibility is to convey a
Source Language meaning into a Target Language meaning to the best of their
ability, by resorting to all the knowledge, strategies, tools or any other means in
order to defeat the obstacles and achieve an outstanding translation.
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