What is translation?

Generally, translation is a process of rendering meaning, ideas, or

messages of a text from one language (source language/SL) to
another language (target language/TL). This is no easy task,
especially when the source text (ST) and the target text (TT) belong
to two different cultures, such as those of English and Arabic.
Translated texts vary according to the method of translation,
translators skills and abilities, as well as other factors involved in
the process of translation. The following translators principles can
be regarded as a summary of contradictory qualities of a translated
text:
1. A translation must give the words of the original.
2. A translation must give the ideas of the original.
3. A translation should read like an original work.
4. A translation should read like a translation.
5. A translation should reflect the style of the original.
6. A translation should possess the style of the translation.
7. A translation should read as a contemporary of the original.
8. A translation should read as a contemporary of the translation.
9. A translation may add to or omit from the original.
10. A translation may never add to or omit from the original.
11. A translation of verse should be in prose.
12. A translation of verse should be in verse. (Lev, 33-34, transl.
J.Ch.).
The choice of one or more of the abovementioned principles to
follow depends on several factors. These include the type of the ST,
the distance between the two languages and the two cultures, the
aim of the translation, the translator's level of experience, and the
target audience, among other factors.

The nature of the translated text is a result of the type or method of

translation adopted, as well as the translation strategies or

techniques employed in the translation process. The principles

above correspond with several translation types and techniques that
will be considered in detail below. Before that we need to consider a
very important issue; i.e. types of meaning.
Baker (???) claims that every lexical unit has something that is
individual and makes it different from other words. There are four
main types of meaning that deal with words and utterance:
Conceptual or Denotative Meaning (also known as propositional,
literal, logical, or dictionary meaning): This type of meaning
provides the speaker of a particular language a description of a
particular word or utterance in a real or imaginary world. According
to Cruse this type of meaning provides the basis on which one can
consider the utterances as a true or a false.
Example: Woman = human + female + adult ()
Examples: (owl ( ;)

Connotative
meaning:
Connotative
meaning
is
the
communicative value of an expression over and above its purely
conceptual content. It is something that goes beyond mere referent
of a word and hints at its attributes in the real world. It is something
more than the dictionary meaning. Thus purely conceptual content
of 'woman' is 'human + female+ adult', but the psychosocial
connotations
could
be gregarious, having
maternal
instinct or typical attributes of womanhood such as babbling,
experienced in cookery, skirt or dress wearing' etc. Still
further connotative meaning can embrace putative properties of a
referent due to viewpoint adopted by individual, group, and society
as a whole. So in the past woman was supposed to have attributes
like frail, prone to tears, emotional, irrigational, inconstant ,
cowardly etc. as well as more positive qualities such gentle,
sensitive, compassionate, hardworking etc. Connotations vary age
to age and society to society.
Connotations can be general or personal. General connotations refer
to what a word or concept means to a large group of people.
Example: owl = bad omen
Personal connotation: associative meaning:
A meaning that is unique to the user; the emotions or feelings a
word creates in you or in any one individual

Example: cat = playful, spiteful, etc.

Under personal connotations, we can also speak of expressive
meaning: This type of meaning is related to the speaker's feelings
and attitudes rather than to what a word or an utterance refers to.
For instance, the difference between Dont complain and Dont
whinge is not in the propositional meaning but it lies in the
expressiveness of the latter mentioned which shows a certain
degree of the speakers annoyance. Expressive meanings cannot be
judged as true or false.
With this type of meaning we can explain differences
between synonyms like:
Unkind, cruel (disapproval is stronger in cruel)
Famous in English = Well-known (neutral)
Fameux in French = ill-reputed (negative)

presupposed meaning: This meaning results from co-occurrence

of restrictions. There are two types of restrictions to be
distinguished: selectional and collocational. Cruse defines
selectional restrictions as a function of the propositional meaning
of a word. Regarding to these restrictions, it can be expected what
kind of words can occur before and after a certain lexical unit as for
instance a use of particular types of adjectives with a human
subjects and subjects that are inanimate. Nevertheless, these rules
can be broken when figurative language is considered yet in all
other cases they should be strictly observed.
Examples:
Studious ( an adjective for a human being);
a studious person
Geometrical (an adjective for a shape)
A geometrical shape

On the other hand, collocational restrictions do not follow

logically from the propositional meaning of a word. For instance,
teeth are brushed in English, they are polished in Italian and washed

in Polish. It means these restrictions are semantically arbitrary and it

should be bear in mind that there are differences among languages
in this arbitrary use.
Break the law =

Evoked meaning. It arises from dialect and register variations.

Depending on the origin, three types of dialect are distinguished:
geographical (e.g. American compared to British English lift and
elevator)
- temporal (e.g. words and structures used by members of
different age groups within a community as well as words used at
different periods in the history of a language verily and really)
social ( e.g. words and structures used by members of different
social classes scent and perfume).
B- Register: A variety of language that a language user considers
appropriate to a specific situation
(1)
(2)

Field: What is going on (football match, political speech)

Tenor: The relationship between speaker and listener/ writer
and reader (mother/child; doctor/patient)
(3)
Mode: speech, essay, lecture, instructions, written
The problem of non-equivalence
Non - Equivalence at Word Level
Non - equivalence at word level means that the target language has
no direct
equivalence for a word that occurs in the source text. There are
many factors to cause the problems of non equivalence. Baker
(1992) lists the following problems of non equivalence at word level:
1. Culture specific concepts

The source-language word may express a concept which is

totally unknown in the target language (abstract or concrete; it may
relate to a religious belief, a social custom or even a type of food).
eg. English concept difficult to translate: Speaker (of the House of
Commons)- it has no equivalent in many languages, such as

Russian, Chinese and Arabic, among others. It is often translated

into Russian as Chairman, which does not reflect the role of the
Speaker of the House of Commons as an independent person who
maintains authority and order in Parliament.
e.g.

2. The source language concept is not lexicalized in the target

language
eg. Landslide

3. The source language word is semantically complex
eg: arruao, a Brazilian word which means clearing the ground
under the coffee trees of rubbish and piling it in the middle of the
row in order to aid in the recovery of beans dropped during
harvesting
e.g.

4. The source and target language make different distinctions in

meaning
eg. Indonesian makes a distinction between going out in the rain
without the knowledge that is it raining (kehujanan) and going out in
the rain with the knowledge that it is raining (hujanhujanan). English
does not makes that distinction, with the result that if an English
text referred to going out in the rain, the Indonesian translator may
find it difficult to choose the right equivalent.

5. The target language lacks a superordinate term

The target language may have specific words (hyponyms) but

no general word (superordinate)to head the semantic field.

eg. Russian has no ready equivalent for facilities, meaning any

equipment, building, services, etc. that are provided for a particular
activity or purpose. It does, however, have several specific words
and expressions which can be thought of as types of facilities, for
example sredstva peredvizheniya (means of transport), naem
(loan), neobkhodimye pomeschcheniya (essential
accommodation) and neobkhodimoe oborudovanie (essential
equipment).

6. The target language lacks a specific term (hyponym)

More commonly, languages tend to have general words

(superordinates) but lack specific ones (hyponyms).
eg. under house, English again has a variety of hyponyms which
have no equivalents in many languages, for example bungalow,
cottage, croft, chalet, lodge, hut, mansion, manor, villa and hall.

7. Differences in physical or interpersonal perspective

Physical perspective has to do with where things or people are

in relation to one another or to a place, as expressed in pairs of
words such as come/ go, take/ bring, arrive/ depart, etc. Perspective
may also include the relationship between participants in the
discourse (tenor).
eg. Japanese has six equivalents for give, depending on who gives
to whom: yaru, ageru, morau, kureru, itadaku and kudasaru
(McCreary, 1986).

8. Differences in expressive meaning

There may be a target-language word which has the same

propositional meaning as the source-language word, but it may have
a different expressive meaning. If the target-language equivalent is

neutral compared to the source-language item, the translator can

sometimes add the evaluative element by means of a modifier or
adverb if necessary, or by building it in somewhere else in the text.
eg. the rendering of the English verb to batter (as in child/ wife
battering) by the more neutral Japanese verb tataku, meaning to
beat plus an equivalent modifier such as savagely or ruthlessly.

9. Differences in from

There is often no equivalent in the target language for a

particular form in the source text.
eg. English makes frequent use of suffixes such as ish (e.g. boyish,
hellish, greenish) and able (e.g. conceivable, retrievable,
drinkable). Arabic, for instance, has no ready mechanism for
producing such forms and so they are often replaced by an
appropriate paraphrase, depending on the meaning they convey
(e.g. retrievable as can be retrieved and drinkable as suitable for
drinking).

10. Differences in frequency and purpose of using specific forms

11. The use of loan words in the source text

Words such as au fait, chic and alfresco in English are used for
their prestige value, because they add an air of sophistication to the
text or its subject matter. This is often lost in translation because it
is not always possible to find a loan word with the same meaning in
the target language.
eg. dilettante is a loan word in English, Russian and
Japanese; but Arabic has no equivalent loan word. This means that
only the propositional meaning of dilettante can be rendered into
Arabic; its stylistic effect would almost certainly have to be
sacrificed.

12. Differences in propositional meaning

Types of Translation:
These refer to the methods you apply to a text as a whole the
primary choice you have to make here is how close to the source
text you want your target text to be. Newmark refers to the
following translation methods.
Word-for-word translation: The SL word order is preserved and
the words are translated singly by their most common meanings,
out of context. Cultural words are translated literally. The man use of
word-for-word translation is either to understand the mechanics of
the source or to construe a difficult text as a pre-translation process.
When you are in Rome do as the Romans do.
.
Literal translation: The SL grammatical constructions are
converted to their nearest TL equivalents but the lexical words are
again translated singly, out of context. As a pre-translation process,
this indicates the problems to be solved.
When you are in Rome do as the Romans do.
.
Faithful translation: A faithful translation attempts to produce the
precise contextual meaning of the original within the constraints of
the TL grammatical structures and to be completely faithful to the
intentions and the text-realization of the SL writer.
When you are in Rome do as the Romans do.
.
Semantic translation: Differs from 'faithful translation' only in as
far as it must take more account of the aesthetic value of the SL

text. The distinction between faithful and semantic is that the first
is uncompromising and dogmatic, while the second is more flexible.
When you are in Rome do as the Romans do.
.
Adaptation: The freest form of translation, and is used mainly for
plays (comedies) and poetry; the themes, characters, plots are
usually preserved, the SL culture is converted to the TL culture and
the text is rewritten.
For example the adaptation of Shakespeares play {King
Lear} into an Arabic Play called : "
"

Free translation: Produces the TL text without the manner,

content or form of the original. Usually it is a paraphrase much
longer than the original.
When you are in Rome do as the Romans do.

.

Idiomatic translation: Reproduces the message of the original

but tends to distort nuances of meaning by preferring colloquialisms
and idioms where these do not exist in the original.
.
This is like carrying coal to Newcastle.
Communicative translation: Attempts to render the exact
contextual meaning of the original in such a way that both content
and language are readily acceptable and comprehensible to the
readership (Textbook of translation 45-47). Communicative, in
comparison with literal translation, is clearer and more direct and
aims at making the reader understand the ST message often by
over-translation. The TT becomes more specific than the original.
The translator has the right to correct or improve the logic, remove
obscurities and reduce repetitions in the ST to help the reader
comprehend the ST fully. Yet, this manipulation needs to be clarified
when necessary. Communicative translation is applied in translating

various types of texts including proverbs, metaphors, standard

notices, colloquialisms and ordinary language.
When you are in Rome do as the Romans do.
. /

Some Translation Techniques

The types of translation mentioned above, except the literal one,
require certain common strategies, since they aim at making the TT
as comprehensible as possible to the TL reader.
Borrowing (Arabization): A word taken directly from another
language, e.g.,

Calque (through translation): A foreign word or phrase translated
and incorporated into another language, e.g.,
Cold war
Air to air missile
-

Transposition: A shift of word class, i.e., verb for noun, noun for
preposition e.g.,
Upon arrival

Modulation. A shift in point of view. Whereas transposition is a shift
between grammatical categories, modulation is a shift in cognitive
categories. Vinay and Darbelnet postulate eleven types of
modulation: abstract for concrete, cause for effect, means for result,
a part for the whole, geographical change, etc., e.g., the
geographical modulation between encre de Chine and Indian ink.
Abstract for concrete:
Cause for effect: He cleared his throat.
Means for result:
A part for the whole: workers
Geographical change:
Space for time:
Immediate aim vs. ultimate aim:
Negated contrary: Remember to lock the door. .
Active for passive:

Reordering or changing form: As if he owned the house

/
Equivalence. This accounts for the same situation using a
completely different phrase,
e.g., the translation of proverbs or idiomatic expressions like,
Comme un chien dans un
jeu de quilles and Like a bull in a china shop.
You're welcome.
Like father, like son.
Adaptation. A shift in cultural environment, i.e., to express the
message using a different
situation, e.g. cycling for the French, cricket for the English and
baseball for the
Americans.
He had bread and butter for breakfast.
Compensation. An item of information, or a stylistic effect from the
ST that cannot be
reproduced in the same place in the TT is introduced elsewhere in
the TT, e.g., the
French translation of I was seeking thee, Flathead. from the Jungle
Book Kipling used the
archaic thee, instead of you, to express respect, but none of the
equivalent French pronoun
forms (tu, te, toi) have an archaic equivalent, so the translator
expressed the same
feeling by using the vocative, O, in another part of the sentence: En
verit, cest bien toi
que je cherche, O Tte-Plate.
Your honor
Grammaticalization: A man in blue.
Lexicalization: A man in blue:
Generalization: front window
Particularization: front window
Explicitation: The patient: /
Reinforcement: He called for a taxi.
Amplification: Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting
Reduction: Ramadan
Substitution: Put your hand on the Quran

Description: optional pilgrimage to Mecca at any time other

than the pilgrimage time.
Modulation: You are going to have a child.
Descriptive Strategy
Rain forest

Many other translation theorists have discussed the issue (e.g.

Fawcett, 1997:34-41) and some have come up with their own
classifications.
For example, Newmark in his book Approaches to Translation
(1981: 30-32) discusses seventeen translation techniques, that
differ in importance according to the contextual factors of both the
ST and the TT.

Lundquist lists seven translation procedures, while Newmark lists a

whole bunch of them. Here is
an overview which integrates the Lundquist's and Newmark's
procedures into one list:
Direct procedures:
Literal translation: word-for-word translation
Transference / loan: transferal of a word or expression from the
source language/text
directly into the target text without translating it at all
Translation loan: retention of syntactic construction, but
translation of the words in it
Through translation: literal translation of collocations and
combinations the
difference between this and translation loans is that in through
translation, you strife for
literal translation and a higher degree of formal retention
Naturalization: basically transference in which you apply target
language spelling and
morphology (and pronunciation) to the expression or word in
question
Indirect procedures:

 Equivalence: here, you focus on equivalence in meaning in the

perspective of the reader
of the target text this means that you may sacrifice equivalent in
form, or you may
have to choose something which is note exactly the same thing as
in the source text, but
which is the closest get to it in the target language.
Cultural equivalent: translating a culturally rooted word in the
source text/language
with a roughly equivalent culturally rooted word of the target
language/text note,
this is what Lundquist calls tilpasning
Functional equivalent: translating a word in the source
language/text with a
functionally equivalent target language word (i.e. a word which has
the same
meaning)
Descriptive equivalent: translating a source language/text word
using a description
of the concept it refers to in the target language

(Near) synonymy: translating a source language/text word or

expression with a
target language expression that is nearly, but not completely,
functionally equivalent
Reduction/expansion: adding or removing elements in translation
(essentially a type
of shift)
Paraphrase: amplification or explanation of meaning in target text
Compensation: making up for the loss of something in the source
text, by adding

something else in the target text

Shifts: this is when you
Transposition: translation of a source language/text expression
into a target
language expression which involves change in grammatical
structure or in word
class
Modulation: change of viewpoint or substantial conceptual
concept in the
translation, for instance, using the name of a category for a specific
member of the
category, using a part for the whole (and vice versa), active for
passive, changing
polarity etc.
Componential analysis: splitting up a lexical unit into meaning
atoms and
translating those
Others:
Recognized translation: using a well-known accepted target
language translation for a a
specific source language institutional term
Translation label: provisional target language translation of a
source language term that
does not have any conventional translation in the target language

Equivalence in Translation
Another key term in translation theory is Equivalence. ST and
TT can be formally equivalent, functionally equivalent, or
ideationally equivalent. The following examples illustrate this
point:
.

Formal equivalence: I love her and she loves me. My he-camel loves her
she-camel.
Functional equivalence: Love me, love my dog.
Ideational equivalence: If you love me, you have to love the people I love
as well.

Discuss the three types of equivalence with your classmates

and teacher.
Now try to translate the following formally, functionally, and
ideationally. Which translation do you think causes the least
loss?
.

Formal equivalence:
Functional equivalence:
Ideational equivalence:

.
Formal equivalence:
Functional equivalence:
Ideational equivalence:


Formal equivalence:
Functional equivalence:
Ideational equivalence:

.
Formal equivalence:
Functional equivalence:
Ideational equivalence:

.
Formal equivalence:
Functional equivalence:
Ideational equivalence:

.
Formal equivalence:
Functional equivalence:
Ideational equivalence:

.
Formal equivalence:
Functional equivalence:
Ideational equivalence:

Natural translation
Which of the following do you think sound natural in Arabic?
.
1
. 2

 3 .
4 .
5 .
6 .
7 .
8 .
9 .
9 .
10 .
11
12 .
13 .
14 .
15 .
Discuss the examples above with your classmates and teacher.
The examples above prove how important, in fact essential,
naturalness is. Therefore when you translate into English, you

have to make every effort to produce natural translations. But

how can this be achieved?
To render a text naturally, you need to opt for the correct
words, collocations, and structures. You also need to be aware
of other factors at the text and discourse levels. These will be
discussed below:
First, Words:
Consider the following example:
.

The first thing you should do is to think about the meaning of
the word intra-lingually (i.e. in Arabic). Only the words "
"could be problematic here. If an Arabic-English dictionary
does not have the word as an entry, you need to look it up in
an Arabic-Arabic dictionary (Al-Wasseet is a good one). In AlMawrid Arabic-English dictionary, you can find the following:
To carry, support, bear, sustain, hold up, prop (up),
shore up, stay, brace, pillar

To undertake, take upon oneself, assume, carry (the

burden of), shoulder, bear

To harbor, entertain, cherish, conceal, hide, secrete

:( )

To incite, prompt, spur on, induce, move, actuate,

impel, drive, motivate, stimulate, inspire, cause, make

To attack, assail, assault, launch or make an attack on,

charge, raid, bear down upon, fall upon

: : )(

Which row in the table should you resort to in order to

translate the Arabic example above? Translate and discuss.

More examples:
1
.

2
.
. 3
4
.

You must have noticed that the dictionary entries provided

above were not of use for you in translating sentences 3 & 4.
So what should you do if your Arabic-English dictionary does
not help?
Consult an English-English dictionary. In example 3 above, the
word " "could be your starting point. What does " "mean in
English? Seriousness, serious, seriously. You would opt for
"seriously" as " " has an adverbial function in the

Arabic sentence. Now look up "seriously" in your EnglishEnglish" dictionary. (Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary,
Oxford Advanced Learner's Encyclopedic Dictionary, and
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English are good
choices.) Here is the entry "seriously" as found in the Oxford
Advanced Learner's Encyclopedic Dictionary:
Seriously adv 1 in a serious way: speak seriously to her
about it seriously ill, injured, etc. 2 (infml) (used at the
beginning of a sentence when turning to a serious
matter): Seriously though, you could really hurt yourself
doing that. Usage at HOPEFUL. 3 (idm) take sb/sth
seriously regard sb/sth as important and worth treating
with respect: You can't take her promises seriously: she
never keeps her word. I take this threat very seriously.

You can see that English has an idiomatic expression that

conveys the meaning we are seeking. Now translate sentence
3 above.
Which word in sentence 4 would take as a starting point?
Discuss and translate.
How did you decide among the English senses of the word "
"in example 2 above? (
) .
Here are the English senses of " " again:

To attack, assail, assault, launch or make an attack on,

charge, raid, bear down upon, fall upon

: : )(

There are nine English senses here. What should you do? The
English-English dictionary is your guide in this case. You need
to look up each and every word to find the one that can
naturally be used in a similar context in English.

Second, Collocations:
Collocation is the way words combine in a language to produce
natural-sounding speech and writing. For example, in English
you say strong wind but heavy rain. It would not be normal to
say *heavy wind or *strong rain. Language that is
collocationally rich is also more precise because most single
words in a language (say, English) embrace a whole range of
meanings. The precise meaning in any context is determined
by that context: by the words that surround and combine with
the core word by collocation.
Collocations
Collocative meaning is the meaning which a word acquires in the
company of certain words. Words collocate or co-occur with certain
words only e.g. Big business not large or great. Collocative meaning
refers to associations of a word because of its usual or habitual cooccurrence
with
certain
types
of
words. Pretty and handsomeindicate good looking.
However, they slightly differ from each other because of collocation
or co-occurrence. The word pretty collocates with girls,
woman, village, gardens, flowers, etc.

On the other hand, the word handsome collocates with boys

men, etc. so pretty woman and handsome man. While
different kinds of attractiveness, hence handsome woman may
mean attractive but in a mannish way. The
verbs wander and stroll are quasi-synonymous- they may have
almost the same meaning but while cows may wonder into another
farm, they dont stroll into that farm becausestroll collocates with
human subject only. Similarly one trembles with fear but quivers
with excitement.

Sample Collocations
There are several different types of collocation. Collocations can be
adjective + adverb, noun + noun, verb + noun and so on. Below you
can see seven main types of collocation in sample sentences.
1. adverb + adjective

Invading that country was an utterly stupid thing to do.

We entered a richly decorated room.

Are you fully aware of the implications of your action?

2. adjective + noun

The doctor ordered him to take regular exercise.

The Titanic sank on its maiden voyage.

He was writhing on the ground in excruciating pain.

3. noun + noun

Let's give Mr Jones a round of applause.

The ceasefire agreement came into effect at 11am.

I'd like to buy two bars of soap please.

4. noun + verb

The lion started to roar when it heard the dog barking.

Snow was falling as our plane took off.

The bomb went off when he started the car engine.

5. verb + noun

The prisoner was hanged for committing murder.

I always try to do my homework in the morning,
after making my bed.

He has been asked to give a presentation about his work.

6. verb + expression with preposition

We had to return home because we had run out of money.

At first her eyes filled with horror, and then she burst into
tears.

Their behaviour was enough to drive anybody to crime.

7. verb + adverb

She placed her keys gently on the table and sat down.

Mary whispered softly in John's ear.

I vaguely remember that it was growing dark when we left.

Collocations Lists
Exercise
have
have
have
have
have
have
have
have
have
have

a bath
a drink
a good time
a haircut
a holiday
a problem
a relationship
a rest
lunch
sympathy

Exercise
annual turnover
bear in mind

break off negotiations

cease trading
chair a meeting
close a deal
close a meeting
come to the point
dismiss an offer
draw a conclusion
draw your attention to
launch a new product
lay off staff
go bankrupt
go into partnership
make a loss
make a profit
market forces
sales figures
take on staff

Collocation covers the following types, among others:

Noun + adjective
Quantifier + noun

1
2

Verb + noun

Verb + noun

Noun + noun
Preposition + noun
Verb + adverb

5
6
7

Verb + preposition

Adjective + adverb

Adjective + preposition

10

Noun + of + noun

11

Culturally established

collocations
Established sequence of

elements
Borrowed collocations

Text-type relevant collocations

Do you think a bilingual dictionary can be of much use here?

What you need is a good English-English dictionary that
provides plenty of examples. Let's consider the expression
""using the Oxford Advanced Learner's Encyclopedic
Dictionary. Which word would you look up? "lecture"? OK.
Lecture n 1 (to sb) (on sth) talk giving information
.:give/deliver/read a lecture a course of lectures on
Greek philosophy [attrib] a lecture tour. 2 long
reproach or scolding: The policeman let me off with a
lecture about speeding. give sb a lecture, i.e. scold sb.

Discuss the entry above with your classmates and teacher, and
then suggest a translation of " " .
An even better resource to check is the Oxford Collocations
Dictionary. Let's consider " " as an example: We are
going to look under the entry of "light" in the Oxford
Collocations Dictionary:

Lecture noun
1 talk given to a group of people
ADJ. fascinating, interesting | boring | formal |
illustrated | impromptu | guest A two-day event of
guest lectures, seminars and workshops. | popular,
public | annual | inaugural ,
QUANT . course, program, series
VERB + LECTURE deliver, give, present | hold, put on
The society is putting on a series of lectures on the
subject next term. | attend, go to, hear (formal),
listen to | miss, skip | prepare, write
Lecture + NOUN course, programme, series | hall,
room, theatre | notes | tour | circuit a familiar figure
on the international lecture circuit
PREP. At a/the --She wasn't at the lecture.

Discuss the dictionary entry above.

Third, Structure:
What makes the following sentences unnatural in
Arabic?
. 1
. 2
. 3
4

 5
.
. 6
. 7
. 8
Discuss the sentences above with your classmates and
teacher, and then rephrase them into naturalsounding Arabic and translate them into natural
English.

Fourth, Cohesion:
By cohesion we mean the explicit and transparent linking of
sentences and larger sections of text by the use of overt
linguistic devices, such as conjunctions or grammatical
anaphora. Cohesive devices also include substitution, ellipsis,
and synonymy, among others.
Is the following Arabic text cohesive? If not, rewrite it into a
more cohesive version:

......................................................
.........
......................................................
.........
......................................................
.........
......................................................
............................................ .........
.................................. ...................
........................ .............................
.............. .......................................
.... .................................................
......................................................
................................................ .....
...................................... ...............
............................ .........................
.................. ...................................
........ .............................................
......................................................
.................................................... .
.......................................... ...........
.....................

...


:






. ...

What other features can you find in the text above? Do you
?think such features would make it difficult to translate the text

The Translator's Resources

Dictionaries:
There are different types of dictionaries, including bilingual, multilingual, historical,
biographical, and geographical dictionaries.

2.1.1 Information Found in Dictionaries

Monolingual dictionaries, and some bilingual dictionaries,
provide various kinds of information about the lexical items,
such as phonological, syntactic and semantic information, that
give the translator an insight into the meaning and usage of
the word. For instance, the entry for the word boy in the
Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary gives the following
information:
/b/ n 1. Male child up to the age of 17 or 18. 2. Son (colloq.

of any age): He has two boys and one girl.

The first piece of information given in the dictionary is the

phonological information (phonemic transcription) that helps
the user in pronouncing the word correctly with the correct
stress and syllabication; e.g.
en-thus-iasm

/njuzaz()m

The second kind of information given in the dictionary is

syntactic. It indicates the part of speech of the word ; whether
it is a verb, noun, adjective or adverb etc. It also shows
whether the verb is transitive or intransitive. The verb
enthuse, for example, is followed by the letters vi which
means that the verb is intransitive. Syntactic information also
shows what preposition goes with the verb, and the irregular
forms of the past, past participle and, sometimes, the present
participle. Other types of grammatical information are often
given such as the plural form, especially if it is irregular e.g.
data/ deit/ n pl. (pl. of Latin datum).

The semantic information follows. It is the basic meaning of

the word as in the meaning of boy above. Then we get the
other sense or senses of the word boy, son in this case.
Most college-size dictionaries, such as the Oxford Advanced
Learners Dictionary provide the user with illustrative
sentences which show how the word is used.

Finally, some larger monolingual dictionaries give brief

information about the origin of the word whether it is AngloSaxon, Latin, Greek, French etc.
As shown above, monolingual dictionaries, in general, provide
the user with valuable information and help him/her to have
access to all the shades of meanings of the words and the
way each is used.
How to use a dictionary for translation purposes
All the following are translated literally. Think of a better
translation if you think the literal translation is not
successful. Justify your decision.
ST
1. The football
match was
cancelled because
of the heavy rain.
2. Charity begins at
home.

TT Hint
Subject verb
. order

Culture-bound
expression

3. The President
delivers a speech
at 8 p.m. tonight.

. 8

Collocation

4. The committee
is to hold a
meeting tonight.

Tense

5. John works at
the Bundestag.

6. Please, do not

What is
'Bundestag'?
Unclear message

disturb.
7. This is the Voice
of America.
8. A bird in the
hand is worth two
in the bush.

9. He is in black
mood today.
10. Are you really
interested in yellow
magazines?
11. This is the
British Home
Office.

What is 'the Voice

of America'?

Not natural

Collocation

What are 'yellow

magazines'?

Cultural
Substitution

Baker, Mona. In other words: A course book of translation.

London:Routledge 1992.Print
Newmark, Peter. A Textbook of Translation. Hemel Hemptstead:
Prentice Hall International, 1988. Print.