Academic literature on the topic 'Translation from foreign languages'

<p>The purpose of this paper is to investigate the process of translating a book title from English into Swedish and vice versa. I have investigated the different methods used when translating a title, as well how common each strategy is. By contacting publishing companies and translators in Sweden, I learned of the process of adapting a title from the source language into a foreign market and the target language. Studying 156 titles originally published in English, and 47 titles originally written in Swedish, I was able to see some patterns. I was particularly interested in what strategies are most commonly used.</p><p>In my study I found nine different strategies of translating a book title form English into Swedish. I have classified them as follows: Keeping the original title, Translating the title literally, Literal translation with modifications, Keeping part of the original title and adding a literal translation, Adding a Swedish tag to the English title, Adding a Swedish tag to the literal translation, Translation with an omission, Creating a new title loosely related to the original title and finally Creating a completely different title. In the study of titles translated from Swedish into English, I found eight different translation strategies; seven of the strategies were the same as in the translation of titles from English into Swedish. The one method that differed is called Translation with an addition. The study of titles originally published in Swedish was much smaller; and yet more variety and creativity was shown in the translations. The conditions for translating from Swedish into English are different since English readers normally have no knowledge of Swedish. Names of characters and places for example, are very likely to sound very odd to an English reader, and therefore more translations are necessary. Swedish readers on the other hand are generally relatively proficient in English since they are exposed to the language naturally in their everyday lives through for example, television. Therefore it was easier to stay close to the original in the translations from English into Swedish.</p>

Role language in Japanese is a term defined in 2000 by Satoshi Kinsui. Role language usesdifferent pronouns, copula and sentence-ending particles to depict a certain type of characterusing language. This thesis compares the language of the character Kagura from the mangaGin Tama , written and illustrated by Hideaki Sorachi, to the role language definitions featured inSatoshi Kinsui’s work Virtual Japanese: Enigmas of Role Language , as well as the standardizedJapanese language. Kagura is an alien character landing on planet earth in Edo -period Japan,her character is portrayed with Chinese details and her language is known as the aruyo rolelanguage, which has been used to represent the Chinese in fiction.The case study consisted of 530 lines from the original manga gathered from seven differentvolumes spanning ten years between the first and the last.The analysis featured in the result section produced statistics of how many lines contained acertain phrase or sentence-ending particle and began analyzing the meaning of particles andhow they are used in the context of the manga . The conclusion brings forth new discoveriesregarding the command conjugation and its equivalence in role language.

The objective of this thesis is the formulation of a set of guidelines, criteria, which will serve as a bench mark for those who wish to attempt the translation of non-oral spoken discourse. This will be achieved by the examination of three modern Spanish texts and their translated equivalents in English. The Introduction sets the study in context and attempts to study the notion of translation in a general context before moving on to a closer examination of the translation of spoken discourse, and the problems which this form of language engenders. Chapter 2 examines the novel El Jarama and its translation in the light of a wide range of the published translation theories of Peter Newmark, and attempts to apply these systematically, in order to evaluate the effectiveness, or otherwise, of these theories. Chapter 3 examines Tiempo de silencio and its English language version, paying particular attention to the forms of discourse employed in the original, notably internal monologue, and the way that these formats affect the impact of the Spanish text, before moving on to examine how these issues have been dealt with in translation. Other elements which may be of relevance to the translator, such as layout and symbolism, and their effect on spoken discourse, are investigated. Chapter 4 deals with a play, Las cartas boca abajo, and its translation for the radio. This study looks at the problems associated with this medium in the context of spoken discourse, as well as examining a number of problems associated with the text, including culture and expansion. The conclusion attempts to set all the points raised in context and address the problem of drawing up a definitive list of criteria for the effective translation of spoken discourse.

In order to raise the standard of teaching and learning translation and interpretation, one of the essential points is to understand the fundamental issues of the theory of translation and interpretation as well as the qualities expected of translators and interpreters. Therefore, this Field Study Report attempts to review some of the literature available on these questions and make a survey of various translator and/or interpreter training courses outside Vietnam. Then, based upon the implications given by these theoretical issues and the findings from the survey of these courses, this Field Study Report tentatively suggests ways to raise the standard of teaching translation and interpretation at the Hanoi College of Foreign Languages. Accordingly, the context of the Vietnamese situation is always kept in view throughout these discussions.

Using Belarusian as a case study of a ‘minority’ European literature, this thesis explores the role of literary translation in the negotiation and promotion of a national identity (represented by two opposing discourses of “Old/European” and “New/Soviet” ‘Belarusianness’) as accomplished through translation from a lesser-known European tongue into the current global hegemonic language. In so doing, the research provides a wide historical panorama of all known literary translations from Belarusian to English, focusing on those published in the 20th and 21st centuries. While outlining the major tendencies of the translation process, the study considers the issues of both reception (focusing on the TL literary system) and representation (focusing on the negotiation of a Belarusian identity), recognising complex ideological, historical and political processes which accompany and, in many cases, predetermine translations and translation strategies. After examining the available terminology for the description of ‘minority’ in literary theory and translation studies, this research considers Belarus’ position as an Eastern European, post-Soviet country and discusses the case for the adoption of a postcolonial approach to the interpretation of ‘Belarusianness’. Another innovative aspect of the study lies in the contribution of a non-Western perspective to the current discussion of European minority languages in translation studies (Baer 2011; Branchadell and West 2005; Cronin 1995, 2003; Tymoczko 1995, 1999). A pioneering work on the history of Belarusian-English literary translation, this research defines several periods of translation activities: the ‘early’ translations of the 1890s – 1940s which mark the discovery of Belarusian folklore; the translations of the ‘Cold War’ period (1950s – 1980s) with two opposing ‘camps’ producing works provoked by nationalist (Western-based translations) or socialist (Soviet Union) ideologies; and, finally, the current post-independence period of Belarusian-English translation (1991-2012), with an analysis of the reasons for a relative inactivity. The evidence is based on a wide range of translations published as individual books and anthologies of poetry and prose, as well as those found in periodicals. It also includes previously unpublished findings from materials located in personal and national archives in Russia, Belarus, and the UK.

This thesis examines the role and function translations played in Turkish history, especially within the framework of its Westernisation movement from the mid-nineteenth to the late twentieth centuries. A descriptive approach is adopted, aiming to identify cultural patterns which shape and reflect translational decisions and help to a better portrayal of the socio-cultural context of translation during the time span examined. To this end, the thesis seeks to describe in detail historical, political, literary and linguistic factors which have affected the translation activity. The main assumption of this thesis is that acculturation was used as the main strategy in translations from Western languages during the periods which were marked with an extensive translation activity, especially during the nineteenth century and the first decades of the Republican era. This acculturation strategy not only helped to enrich the target literary system, bringing new literary models (genres), new subject matter, developing the language and giving rise to a new Turkish literature, it also had an effect upon the broader socio-cultural polysystem, especially on the process of identity creation. The analysis of the social, political and cultural conditions and policies suggests that the status given both to the source and target cultures has been the main factor for the acculturation. As examined in the last part of the thesis, a shift of power relations in the Turkish context, especially after the 1980s, marked a new kind of an acculturation strategy and a certain movement of resistance. The thesis concludes that there is need to know more about different translation histories in order to learn more about the acculturation process and to move beyond a Eurocentric view, and an interdisciplinary approach should be taken for such research.

<p><strong>Abstract</strong></p><p><strong>Title: </strong>From <em>To-</em>infinitives to Gerunds – an Essay on the Translation of Non-finite Clauses</p><p><strong>Author: </strong>Sanna Evaldsson</p><p>The aim of this study is to find out how non-finite clauses are translated into Swedish and what translation strategies are applied in the process of translation. Non-finite clauses are very effective stylistic devises providing condensed and concise language, which is useful in academic texts. Even though English and Swedish are both languages of Germanic origin and share similarities, the translation of these clauses into can be difficult due to the languages’ different uses of non-finites.</p><p>To provide with material for this essay, a translation of a text written by Nicholas Cook has been made by the author of the essay and the two texts have been compared in order to make generalizations. The <em>to-</em>infinitive, the present participle, the past participle clauses and the gerund are features which are treated in this study. They are treated separately and their translations are compared with the secondary literature, which include grammars and books on translation theory.</p><p>The results for this study show that the translation strategies used for these types of clauses are ‘equivalence’, ‘structural shift’, ‘correspondence’, ‘transposition’ and ‘level shift’. The former three seem to be the most common, while the latter two are less frequently used.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Keywords</strong>: non-finite clauses, <em>to-</em>infinitive, present participle, past participle, gerund, translation.</p>

Includes abstract.<br>Includes bibliographical references.<br>Translation has been a practice that has assisted many languages the world over to develop to become languages of power. The purpose of this project was to elicit some translation challenges that translators face when translating from English into Xitsonga. It is not easy to translate a document in which the domain has not been explored because the translator has to juggle with terminology which does not exist in the indigenous language. In this project, I have made an attempt to use different theories that can guide us when we encounter a lemma which does not exist in the target language. The challenges that are faced by one indigenous language in South Africa in language development through translation are the same as for most other indigenous languages.

<p>This study deals with difficulties of different nature encountered in the process of translating a tourist booklet on Dover Castle, published by English Heritage. The study focuses on grammatical aspects as the translation of the passive and attributive adjectives, and lexical aspects as the translation of terminology and cultural words and expressions. The analysis is based on Peter Newmark's translation theory and translation strategies. Passives and adjectives have been divided into groups based on the translation models and strategies used, and the focus is on changes in the grammatical structure. Most passives were rendered as passives in Swedish by the use of s-passives, which involves a change in the grammatical structure. Most adjectives in the source text were translated by the use of a corresponding adjective in the target language, with no change in the grammatical structure. However, some adjectives were translated using for example a prepositional phrase or a compound noun.</p><p>The analysis on terminology and cultural aspects focuses on what translation strategies have been used and problems that may occur concerning such aspects. Most source language terms were translated by the use of corresponding target language terms found in dictionaries or parallel texts. Some of the terms were transferred into the target text in their source text form, with an added explanation.</p><p>The cultural aspects consisted mainly of names, which were dealt with in different ways. Some were transferred using the source language form, and in some cases conventionalised Swedish forms were used. The main aim of the translation has been to render the text as natural as possible in Swedish, and the main aim of the analysis has been to discuss certain aspects of difficulty that occurred in the translation process.</p>