Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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Translation analysis
Legal text and its linguistic features
Legal terminology
Terminological / lexical consistency
Legal vocabulary (semi-technical and EGP
words)
Translation difficulties and problems
Multi-word lexical units
Semantic fields and lexical sets
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Legal translation?
Conceptual vs textual nature of legal text:
n Conceptual/language (arevi 2001)
n LTR derives from legal texts, an partly from
terminology and language (R. Mayoral 2000)
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Roberts (1987)
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ELP teacher
Literature (ELP teachers & subject specialists)
Background, contents & course design
Research methodology, data extraction, videoed
sessions
Goal: resolve difficulties in understanding legal
terminology
Status of legal TR
1.
2.
3.
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Functional equivalence:
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think as lawyers do
develop legal competence
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Irony
Persuasiveness
Entertainments, rhetorical style
Hyperbolae
Ways of claiming and establishing
authority
Paralinguistics (body language, tones,
pauses)
Terminology focus
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2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Official translations are generally documents that serve as legally valid instruments. They
include anything from certificates of birth, death or marriage through to academic
transcripts or legal contracts. This field of translation is now as important as it is fraught
with difficulties, for it is only in a few areas that the cultural differences are so acute and
the consequences of failure so palpable. In a globalizing world, our official institutions
increasingly depend on translations of official documents, but little has been done to
elaborate the skills and dilemmas involved.
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Roberto Mayoral deals with the very practical problems of official translating. He points out
the failings of traditional theories in this field and the need for revised concepts such as the
virtual document, pragmatic constraints, and risk analysis. He details aspects of the social
contexts, ethical norms, translation strategies, different formats, fees, legal formulas, and
ways of solving the most frequent problems. Care is taken to address as wide a range of
cultural contexts as possible and to stress the active role of the translator.
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This book is intended as a teaching text for the classroom, for self-learning, or for
professionals who want to reflect on their practice. Activities and exercises are suggested
for each chapter, and information is included on professional associations and societies
across the globe.
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Mayoral - Contents
1. Introduction
2. Professional practice
3. Social context
4. Documents
5. The Official translator as a jurilinguistic expert
6. Different ways of translating
7. Common problems and frequent solutions
8 On the translation of different documents
9. Sources of information
10. Other professional aspects
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Mayoral Contents 2
1. Introduction
2. Professional practice
2.1 Professional practice around the world
2.2 Features of official translation in different countries and regions
3. Social context
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
Participants
Loyalties
The translator's ideology
Across cultural distance
4. Documents
4.1 Types
4.2 Information and functions
5. The Official translator as a jurilinguistic expert
Mayoral Contents 3
6. Different ways of translating
6.1 Adequacy conditions
6.2 Constraints
6.2.1 Legal norms
6.2.2 Ethical norms: Professional vs. personal
6.2.3 Traditions and customs
6.2.4 Constraints imposed by the client, the initiator or the recipient
6.3 Freedom
7. Common problems and frequent solutions
7.1 Means of expression
7.2 Format and typing conventions
7.2.1 Belonging to the original vs. belonging to the translation
7.2.2 Converting complex formats into paragraph sequences
7.2.3 Text vs. image
7.2.4 Avoiding deception
7.2.5 One source language
7.2.6 Legibility
7.2.7 Understandability
7.2.8 Originality
7.2.9 Other writing conventions
7.2.10 Translating into different formats
7.3 Validity and execution of documents
7.3.1 Signature and seal
7.3.2 Certifying authorities
7.4 Medium
Mayoral Contents 4
8 On the translation of different documents
8.1 Birth, marriage and death certificates
8.2 Academic transcripts and diplomas
8.3 Agreements and undertakings
9. Sources of information
10. Other professional aspects
10.1 Fees and estimates
10.2 Professional associations
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TRANSLATION ANALYSIS
P. Kussmaul (1995)
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Pragmatic analysis
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Semantic analysis
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Situational dimensions
Communicative functions of utterances, texts and translations
The cultural background
Pragmatics and text types
A case study
Some didactic implications
Meaning, comprehension and translation
A prototypical case
Lexical gaps how to fill them
Teaching meaning, comprehension and translation
References
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