DRAFT – Contents of the Translator’s Manual (for Sinhala/English Translators)

From Known to Unknown

TRANSLATOR’S MANUAL

CONTENTS

 Preface
 Acknowledgment
 Messages
 List of Abbreviations

CHAPTER 1

1.0 INTRODUCTION

 Background to the Government Translators Service

 Role of the Official Languages Department as the Official Translator to the Government
 Scope of the Translator’s Manual
 Limitations
o Much emphasis is on the non-literary translations
o Priority is given to Sinhala to English Translation
o Time constraints to conduct a larger corpus based analysis over a considerable period of
time

CHAPTER 2

2.1 What is Translation

2.2 Role of a translator

2.3 Types of Translation

2.3.1 Literary Translation

 Introduction
 The difference between Literary and Non-Literary Translation
 Unique characteristics of Literary Language
 Model and the related terminology
2.3.2 Non-Literary Translation

2.3.2.1 Technical Translation

 Introduction
 Characteristics of Technical Language
 Challenges in Technical Translation
 Strategies to Overcome Challenges in Translation
 Model and the related terminology

2.3.2.2 Scientific Translation

 Introduction
 Interface Between Scientific and Technical Translation
 Challenges in Scientific Translation
 Strategies to Overcome Challenges in Translation
 Model and the related terminology

2.3.2.3 Institutional Translation

 Introduction
 Types of Institutional Translations
 Challenges in Institutional Translation
 Strategies to Overcome Challenges in Translation
 Model and the related terminology

2.3.2.4 Legal Translation

 Introduction
 Legal Jargon ( Borrowed legal terms with examples)
 Challenges in Legal Translation
 Strategies to Overcome Challenges in Translation
 Model and the related terminology
CHAPTER 3

3.0 Discussion of Issues (based on authentic examples)

3.1 Method of Analysis

3.2 Discussion of Issues based on Authentic Examples

3.2.1 Word Level (Lexical)

3.2.1.1 Defining words and morphemes

 Lexical meaning
 Propositional and expressive meaning, etc.
 Evoked meaning

3.2.1.2 The problem of non-equivalence and strategies to deal with it

3.2.1.3 Discussion of issues in translation

3.2.2 Above Word Level

3.2.2.1 Collocations

 Introduction to Collocations
 Discussion of Collocation-related problems
 How to improve collocations
 Fine examples and Exercises

3.2.2.2 Idioms as means of Non-literal Language

 How to differentiate idioms from other figures of language

 Characteristics of idioms
 The translation of Idioms: difficulties
 Strategies to translate idioms

3.2.3 Grammatical Equivalence

3.2.3.1. A brief contrastive study of the two languages concerned with a

special emphasis to word order

3.2.3.2. The use of passive version

3.2.3.3. Prepositions, phrasal verbs etc.

3.2.3.4. Discussion of common mistakes in grammar

 3.2.4 Syntactic Equivalence

3.2.4.1. Introduction to Syntax

3.2.4.2. Difficulty of dealing with complex sentences

3.2.4.3. Misplacement of constituents/dislocation (specially adverbials)

3.2.4.4. Syntactic variations for better standard

3.2.4.5. Discussion of issues and strategies for dealing with them

3.2.5 Textual equivalence and Pragmatic equivalence

3.2.5.1. Boundary between Semantics and Pragmatics

3.2.5.2. Cohesion: Reference, Substitution, ellipsis, etc.

3.2.5.3. Coherence, implicature and translation strategies

3.2.6 Miscellaneous

CHAPTER 4

4.0 TIPS FOR CLEAR WRITING

4.1 Grammar, Usages and Mechanics
4.2 Elements of Style
o Word Choice
o Sentence Fluency
o Voice

4.3 Examples of lucid writing

ANNEXTURES

 Models (sufficient material for each category)

 Formats (sufficient material for each category)
 Bibliography

Prepared by:

H.A.N.D. Hettiarachchi
J.A.M. Hansani
W.K.S. Weerakkody