Babel - Volume 56, Issue 4, 2010

Despite the major changes that occurred in the world during the last decade, translation theory has not taken into account the inevitable impact of these changes on the translation profession. Neither theorists nor professional translators have analyzed enough the remarkable change in perspective and method that occurred in the language field as a whole and primarily in the translation practice. This paper presents some important aspects of this change of perspective which calls for a new theoretical paradigm. The latter, which we refer to as translation­analysis, is currently a fast-growing activity.

Like many other languages on the receiving end of scientific and technical innovations. Arabic is under a growing pressure to create an ever-increasing number of terms. To respond to this pressing need, Arabic mobilizes the full potential of its conventional resources and explores innovative complementary means. This article endeavours to investigate how Arabic is currently dealing with some specific aspects of scientific and technical terminology, namely abbreviated terms, alphanumerical combinations, mixed units as well as units created by metaphor, metonymy and analogy. The creation of new roots crafted from arabized loan words is an innovative and controversial issue. Its positive and possible negative impacts on the integrity of the language are examined.Evidence at hand shows that Arabic is responding in different ways to terminological challenges. In doing so, it is engaged in a dual path and is constantly mediating between the necessity to adapt to the exigencies of modern technical and scientific communication on one hand while maintaining the integrity of its lexical system on the other hand. Claims that is falling short of expressing modern knowledge do not seem to be justified. Proof to the contrary is provided by the huge number of terms constantly created by various actors in all scientific and technical fields. But to be more effective, these efforts need to be better coordinated and validated outputs effectively disseminated. Follow-up mechanisms need to be put in place at different levels to ensure that the appropriate modes of creation are harmonized and that valid outputs are effectively used by originators of scientific and technical documentation.

Over the centuries, interaction between people of different linguistic backgrounds has thriven on the process of translating and interpreting. Wherever people have lived, these language-based activities have continued to promote communication among them, the barrier which the multiplicity of language has caused notwithstanding.This paper takes a look at translating and interpreting within the context of their origin, status, audience, modus operandi, etc. Whereas translating involves the process of writing on paper and is based on a given text, interpreting takes place orally and is not based on any written text. Whereas translating allows for the documentation and preservation of material in a written form for future readers, interpreting takes place on the spot. Whereas translating calls for an audience of readers, interpreting calls for an audience of listeners.The paper argues that though approached differently, the overall aim of translating and interpreting is to build a linguistic bridge among people and nations; to reduce the communication gap among them. It concludes that in spite of the operational variations their singular aim has always been semantics – the search for meaning between different linguistic parties in different settings. The psycholinguistic model serves as methodology.

This paper deals with the translation from Arabic to English of lists, i.e. phrases consisting of at least two, and typically three or more, noun phrases, adjective phrases, etc. which belong to a relatively coherent semantic field. Section 1 considers four standard techniques for translating Arabic semantic repetition into English: maintenance of repetition, merging, grammatical transposition, and semantic distancing. Section 2 defines listing as an extension of semantic repetition, and identifies basic listing structures in English and Arabic. Sections 3–3.5 look at techniques for translating Arabic lists into English on the basis of the first three translation techniques for semantic repetition discussed in Section 2. Section 3.1 looks at list retention (cf. maintenance of repetition), considering where this is and is not acceptable. Section 3.2 looks at list reduction/merging (cf. semantic merging). Sections 3.3–3.5 look at techniques which parallel grammatical transposition as a technique for translation semantic repetition: embedded coordination, as a form of subordination (Section 3.3), standard subordination (Section 3.4), and the combination of embedded coordination with standard subordination (Section 3.5). Section 3.6 considers summary definition, as a translation technique which goes beyond merging. Section 4 considers the significance of listing patterns in Arabic and English in the context of the more general preference in Arabic for coordination and in English for subordination. Section 5 raises the possibility that the preference for coordination in Arabic may correlate with a larger textual preference for ostensive presentation, while the preference for subordination in English may correlate with a larger textual preference for analytical summary. I suggest that, if true, this may give rise to translation issues which are effectively intractable.

Ying Ruocheng, an admirable artist in China and abroad, was responsible for the translation and production of many foreign plays in China and Chinese plays abroad, with which Ying played an important role in transforming China’s cultural life, encouraging international exchange and promoting modern drama. Based on his experience in drama and film acting and directing as well as translating, he argues that the major concern of theatre translation is its performability and speakability, which can be achieved through the recreation of the orality and gestic text with each role’s unique discourse and individuality. The paper is focused on researches on Ying’s text choice and his dramatic dialogue translation to explore the characteristics of his theatre translation and influence. The study selected his two well known translations and productions in the target theatre Death of a Salesman (English to Chinese) and The Family (Chinese to English) as case studies. Text processing software Concordance 3.0 and TextPreProcessing were used to collect appropriate data. Through the careful data analysis from the aspects of word frequency, sentence length, discourse markers and deixis, Ying Ruocheng’s idea of performability in theatrical translation were proved to be true, which demonstrates his discriminating taste of dramaturgical art and his great influence on Chinese modern drama.