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- Volume 55, Issue, 2009
Babel - Volume 55, Issue 2, 2009
Volume 55, Issue 2, 2009
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Idiomatic false friends in English and Modern Standard Arabic
Author(s): Ahmed Seddik Al-Wahypp.: 101–123 (23)More LessThis paper discusses idiomatic false friends (IFFs) in two genetically unrelated languages, English and Arabic. IFFs are defined as set phrases in two languages that have the same literal meaning but differ as regards their idiomatic meaning or their sociolinguistic and stylistic features. The study proposes a taxonomy for IFFs based on data from English and Arabic, though it may also apply to IFFs in other language pairs. In the case of English and Arabic, IFFs are either related (typically partial) or unrelated (typically total). Related IFFs have their origin in loan-translation, with idioms being borrowed from English into Arabic and then taking a different course of semantic development in each language. There are also cases in which the selection of a single sense of a polysemous idiom can be attributed to social and cultural factors. It is shown that, if idioms in general are among the most challenging units for translators, IFFs can be doubly difficult. The translator may assume that since the source and target language idioms have the same form, they can also have the same meaning or stylistic features.
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Übersetzungstheorien und Gebrauchstexte: Anwendung und Auswirkung auf das Übersetzen von Rechtstexten. Eine exemplarische Analyse
Author(s): Ingrid Simonnaespp.: 124–141 (18)More LessThe central research question for this paper is how and to what extent translation theories affect the translation of legal texts. I will use the functional-pragmatic approach as one particular modern translation theory and investigate translation solutions in the field of lexical and syntactic problems on the basis of a small corpus of legal texts from the National translator’s exam. As a means of control I compare these solutions with suggested solutions of a small number of candidates preparing themselves for the exam and of some translation experts.My findings show that the old dichotomy free vs. literal is not applicable to this type of translations as we find ourselves on a continuum. The translation brief and the legal force of a particular text influence strongly the translation strategy. Whenever the legal force of the source text supersedes the target text, the strategy of the translator should be at the ‘documentary’ (Nord 1989) end of the continuum. My findings need however to be corroborated on the basis of a much bigger corpus which for the time being is established at the Department of Professional and Intercultural Communication at the Norwegian School of Economics and Administration (NHH) including other language pairs than the one from which I have drawn my examples.
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Social context and translation of public notices
Author(s): Zhang Meifangpp.: 142–152 (11)More LessTo study the translation of public notice is in effect seeking insights which take us beyond translation itself towards the whole relationship between language activity and the social context in which the translation is intended to function. Social context is an important aspect in the study of language and translation because the three are inextricably linked.This paper attempts to investigate the text types, text functions and the translations of public notices functioning in the social context of Macao SAR of China. It tries to deduce about the contexts in which the ST and TT were produced, the purpose for which they were produced and the target reader for whom they were produced. The study is carried out in the light of Reiss’s theory of text typology (2000) and the Hallidayan systemic functional linguistics. It is hoped that this study will identity differences in public notice translation and explore the reasons behind the differences, and also be a test case for examining the role of functional theories of language in explaining some phenomena of translation. Texts for the analysis are extracted from the database for a research project undertaken by the present writer, and the analysis is conducted in terms of three text types and functions: informative, expressive and operative. The results of this study reveal that although one of the language functions might be dominant in a single text in a public notice, overlapping or combining functions are very often bestowed upon most texts. They also show that although invariance in the transfer of content could be achieved in the translation of informative texts, and an analogous form in the translation could be found in the transfer of an expressive text, there are more differences than similarities in the translation of texts with operative functions. Possible reasons behind the differences between the source and target texts are discussed. It is argued that the differences are most possibly caused by differences in cultural values, different religious backgrounds and different expectations between readers of the source and target texts.
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Etymology and sememe analysis in translation
Author(s): Hu Zhengmaopp.: 153–164 (12)More LessIt is common to see various Chinese translations of a single English word/phrase in practice. Etymological tracing attempts to diachronically study the origin and its historical successive changes in both form and meaning of a given word/phrase, the purpose of which is acquisition of a comprehensive understanding of its core information. Sememe analysis is atomization of semantic components and deep semantic structure of both source language and target language to examine the semantic proximity and possible affinity between the two. This paper takes “stakeholder” and its Chinese translations as a case in point, for which there occurred a diplomatic and linguistic stir between the U. S. and China. By studying its origin, semantic evolution and dictionary definitions, and conducting a contrastive sememe analysis upon its various Chinese versions against the original word, this paper expounds the operationality of the qualitative method of etymological tracing and the quantitative one of sememe analysis and concludes that both etymological tracing and sememe analysis are viable approaches to tackling similar issues as seen in the case of “stakeholder”.
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Teleworking and collaborative work environments in translation training
Author(s): María Dolores Olvera-Lobopp.: 165–180 (16)More LessThe professional translation work is highly influenced by new communication opportunities, reason why teleworking must occupy its rightful place in translator training at tertiary level. In addition, the ideal translation process should be divided into different stages (as already occurs in major translation agencies), each task being assigned to a different team member with a different role. This paper presents the results of a research study on translation students’ disposition towards and level of satisfaction with the use of a collaborative work environment. We propose a “Professional Approach to Translator Training”, our didactic model combines elements of roleplay, team-based task learning, simulation and case study in an innovative e-learning environment that functions via a collaborative platform (BSCW).Questionnaires were designed and used as evaluation tools before and after the experience of working in a collaborative environment. The aim of these evaluation tools was to measure students’ knowledge of the following skills: computing, tele- and teamwork, and translation tasks. The internal global consistency was adequate (Cronbach’s alpha in the pre-course questionnaire is 0.902 and the value for the post-course questionnaire is 0.802). Results show that collaborative work environments make the learning process easier, maintain students’ pre-existing positive disposition towards teamwork, and improve students’ self-confidence with regard to computers and translation tasks. The data obtained from this study suggest that using a collaborative work platform in translation course is beneficial, enabling students to gain confidence and feel satisfied with their work.
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Study in cultural semantics of translation
Author(s): Khan Farhadiba and Mahameed Mohammedpp.: 181–188 (8)More LessThe aim of this paper is to consider the role of Cultural Semantics in Translation. This paper argues that it will never be a fair translation if something new has not been added to it. Therefore a degree of cultural interface between two language groups from (English to Indian language) is required for translating any text. Furthermore, this paper also gives an account of how in nineteenth century India the colonial agenda of translating indigenous texts was a part of a larger enterprise of Imperialism to the recent times where the attempt has been to rescue the work of translation from the restrictions imposed by the rhetoric of technical rules regarding transference from Source Language to Target Language. The result is one of complete fusion between the Source language and the Target Language.
Volumes & issues
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Volume 71 (2025)
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Volume 70 (2024)
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Volume 69 (2023)
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Volume 68 (2022)
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Volume 67 (2021)
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Volume 66 (2020)
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Volume 65 (2019)
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Volume 64 (2018)
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Volume 63 (2017)
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Volume 62 (2016)
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Volume 61 (2015)
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Volume 60 (2014)
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Volume 59 (2013)
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Volume 58 (2012)
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Volume 57 (2011)
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Volume 56 (2010)
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Volume 55 (2009)
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Volume 54 (2008)
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Volume 53 (2007)
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Volume 52 (2006)
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Volume 51 (2005)
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Volume 50 (2004)
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Volume 49 (2003)
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Volume 48 (2002)
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Volume 47 (2001)
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Volume 46 (2000)
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Volume 45 (1999)
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Volume 44 (1998)
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Volume 43 (1997)
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Volume 42 (1996)
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Volume 41 (1995)
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Volume 40 (1994)
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Volume 39 (1993)
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Volume 38 (1992)
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Volume 37 (1991)
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Volume 36 (1990)
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Volume 35 (1989)
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Volume 34 (1988)
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Volume 33 (1987)
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Volume 32 (1986)
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Volume 31 (1985)
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Volume 30 (1984)
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Volume 29 (1983)
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Volume 28 (1982)
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Volume 27 (1981)
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Volume 26 (1980)
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Volume 25 (1979)
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Volume 24 (1978)
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Volume 23 (1977)
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Volume 22 (1976)
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Volume 21 (1975)
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Volume 20 (1974)
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Volume 19 (1973)
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Volume 18 (1972)
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Volume 17 (1971)
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Volume 16 (1970)
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Volume 15 (1969)
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Volume 14 (1968)
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Volume 13 (1967)
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Volume 12 (1966)
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Volume 11 (1965)
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Volume 10 (1964)
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Volume 9 (1963)
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Volume 8 (1962)
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Volume 7 (1961)
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Volume 6 (1960)
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Volume 5 (1959)
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Volume 4 (1958)
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Volume 3 (1957)
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Volume 2 (1956)
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Volume 1 (1955)
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