Meaning-based Translation: A Guide to Cross-language Equivalence PDF

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L _ Cupyril:hl C 1\t98 by UniHnity I'Ta5 of America ,iII lnc. 4720 Ro!;IOn W ay luhln, Maryland 20706 12 Hid's Copse Rd Cunlln..,.. Hill, o~r\l'd OX2 9SJ ACKNOWLEDGMENTS All riPII rt~wd Printed in the UniTed SlUes of Amvica Brilish Library Cllalov.ing in l'ublication 1"forma/io...

Description

L _

Cupyril:hl C 1\t98 by

UniHnity I'Ta5 of America ,iII lnc. 4720 Ro!;IOn W ay

luhln, Maryland 20706

12 Hid's Copse Rd Cunlln..,.. Hill, o~r\ll'd OX2 9SJ

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

All riPII rt~rwd Printed in the UniTed SlUes of Amvica

Brilish Library Cllalov.ing in l'ublication 1"forma/ion AYl ilabl" Co-publi$hed by amMIg....

,,'uwith !he SurnIMf '"stUute of

Unl"islics. lfI(;.

Previous edition C 1984 Volume editor: Boonie Brown

Ub ....,· of ConCr ... Cati loJinc·m-I'. blitalion Data l-Ilrron. Mi!drt:d L. Meanina.basc11II all pta,·· into the Aguaruna language ofPmJ. ntil Spanisb fonn oonslsllJ of the verb fun\) 'eng- 'have·. the ."Uffix ..() ·fl1Sl pcr$OrI", and 1be word.....,110 ·.Ieep." The combination means Ihat ~a person, the opeak.., iI in the S\.3le ""bcln& 'l eepy. ~Tocoo~y t.hil S811le mc:anina in Ag\.l.1nllla """ would use KajDlfg pwja_i.

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OIbers IIOOUoe..l JoJu, Qf beio, I.. pcnI lMguage a lUI ",hiGh coijllnunk:!lles the sacne message a.o; Ihe source 1""8""8e bu.t usinllhc natural grammalical and lexical choices ofille rcc;e",..- I'""¥l"'Se. ffu goal Is !loll Idiom . lie tr-.n~liG". In Ibe cha",en \\flkII follow, the manyde\lils invol""" In productogsucb I trlnl latiOll will be dJ=sed. The b;lsic ovmiding princ iple is tlIII! "" M

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OVERVIEW OF TilE TIUNSUTION TASK

KiJuIs '" T"'IUJ~IIoitJ

idlo",.lk traulat>on reprod~ 11M' 1I'''''l)ing oflhe SOtlf'Ce I.:mguagc «(hal if. Lbe "'''Ming intended by the "';l:ill8l OOOIll1unicator) i~ the namn! form of llle re.:eptor language. Howevfr, Ihere is always the ~":r ()f interference from [he fonn oft/II> .looreo language. The Study o(many tTaf\SlaUI'nlI show. Iballn order 10 translal:o idiomalically a trnnslator will need 10 Ina« mauy adjustllK'll(S In form.. Some ..ump'" of III2

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o l to argue lingulSlic thoory but to pNsent tool, which will help tmnslatofS. Nevertheless, it is importallt to nate tbat the procedures are based on the two "".umptiom givtol .hove. Seman tic s truct ure is more nelll'ly universallhan : rammatica l struct ure. l bm ;' .lypes of unitt, the feature., and the ",lationships a", e""",Hally the same for all languages. All have mn.n;nll ,,"mponea u which Can be classified as THINGS, EVENT$, ATTRJBlJTES, OJ'RELATIONS, for example. BUI oot al l language, hve til ••ame su rfate SlruC1Ure grarrunalical classos-£ome have canjuno;tiQn.~, olhers de no!, some have preposilional p11~, olhers do not. Word classes ditTer from language to l"ngll8g•. The fou r semantic classes listed above occur in all languages. Any (x!pupt occurrtng in any l angu~ge "ill refer to either a THING, EVEt-IT, AlTRlBUTE, or

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OVERVIEW OF TffE TRANSUTfON TASK

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SURFACE (GRAMMATICAL) STRucruRES

(I) Yest'JrdAy John went 10 IOwn ""d bought a Car. He drove i1 hom" and shmved it to Mary, who was "elY happy

(2) John bought a Car yestCIday when he WMI 10 town. Drivint£ il home he showod Mary tlw enr, wh ich made her vcry happy. (3) John bought a car in town yeSlerday. Mary was very happy wbel'_he brougbllt heme and sbowed it to her. In m.- eumple above, th e paragra).Jh i. firsl written \\.ith all Ihe concepts. propositions, and propositiooal c!ustm given in full. Then the !lrrtt surface structures which fol1vw:ue u.>oo to communicaI( the same meaning. In these Ihree different rewJ ites What srice forms (specific words) all' used to refer \0 the conceptJohl1?

h. What ,urf""" forms are ulled to refer 10 the = p t car? c. 'What surface forms are used to express the propositi(l!l N"1a John dra..., the car home? d. Whal .urface fonDS

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StrlleiUU of Lan8uII8e

The day was beautiful. II was 10 ,,·~1e ltft the hOllse. The hoose belonged 10 Jane. Next Jane drove the car 10 tile post office. Ne~t Janc sto pped the car. Ne;>;;t Jane got oUl. Next Jane l00~ a hold of the doorkllob. l be dooIkoob

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on the door. The door was part ,,[the post offic.e. The door WM locked. Therefor•• Jane was frustrated . But Jan"was nol a"CTY. Rather Jane was concerned. Jane wonnd Imd the matter lakrn can of.

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10WII. he lI/"Ti,oed In IOW~. 1lle tnt says !hal " ht o:blk.ltd 10" bill docs not My 1h::11 hi! KlUl.Uy did so.

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I. The Kina iW"IIInOOed IUs wise ll"'ll and ahold bdore the project !ids UI'Idnw:o),. It mar, boWe'o'l'(, l'Iw change as me p'OjeJJ'ce IaDg\IIge lind ~ \angua&e ... hkb Oft available. The team will WIlIIt Ill< much j"lOrnution .,,'3llablc as ~b1e wbile tnrIIlaling. All "f th""' fool~ IIhould Ix> bro"BJIt (0 Ihc tr:Imlatloa sile In ~patlltion for the !"",,jed, For some projects, tllft"lO wi U be a weal'.h of mntcrlah 1b3t can be used to help in loterrntl ng Ihe OOltrCe loogU>'lse text ~ in finding equivalents in the = ptor III!\iLla!\e. f or Olha projects, th= may be a sureiry of mch matcrlal, but whl!te\'Cr is ovailable thould. be !here 10 make lhe: ......n: ......... Equipmml ,..-d fll18neC:!l r.re alJo fools needed to (any on an dfcah-~ prosrom. 00c0I: !be In ,•, , [ i •• .., ;; • I • , .! ~ ~; ·~ .·• ••,,• •i 1 ! "J1 , ! . ,;; • ~ i •• .; , , • • I l •, , . 0

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Chapter 6

Words as "Bundles" of Meauing A. dl;cusoed in the previous chapter., tbe ai m of the fran51ntor is to conununicatc dearly the meaning of the SOtJrcc tut in tlte tmmlalion. Tn chapler T. ( h.raeteri.tics of language whkh . ffOC'( how a IrIInslMor dots Ihis are listed. The first ch"""'teTi~t ic mnliOllcd WaJ that meaning comfX>OiJ sk~"fing ill tile sour«]a.-.gUlip. Once the meaning is clear_ thq ClUl lbink about bow 10 teoonslr\lCt the metllling ill !he receptor INtgll8&c. "The ,"",~Iator mm! guard Itgain>llrying to mak:b pans ohp«d> from language (() Llnguagc, ,in~ exb iMg"Uagc ha$ ill own syJlem for lJ1"nlliing ooncepu: InIO dHTcrtnl pM.< of~. TIlcre I, lilli e guarantee that wlutl. It • !>Oun in one Laaguage is be$ltral\&!Uled by a blu~.

lanauases 01)1,) often DOles a fuirly l'OOSislcol ~Ialioll bcrwu:o. lWO dlffeR'llt parIS of ~ch. ~ one language is usia& 1.bc ~·ctb ,..ilb

SOUle d~ee of~. "OIber taoguaae fUy be expressing \he \'ef)' $aI~ meanings by means o f the "l"fbal nOlm. Such ob&cIviUions

abou' the ""'lnl diffcterJ«s booo~ iMgUagcs can be ' -n}' usdbIlO [he tnwlator. Tl'1IffiIalrng fium 3 langlIage whicb uses many \"erbr; inlQ • bnguagt "lIich uses many "erbs wi l[ bt; caller Ibn ffOlD a

lan&uage ",hieh IJ'lei maRY nouns imo a lan&\lage wblcb uses mostly

n,e I kew lng bel:wem >emanlic dll~ nud parIS of specch occurs fre loak iiI£: ihh ~~~

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3. It iscommOlli.:nowledgethat the U.S. share in the foreign trade bas shown a lend""cytoward reduction in ree~'flt yea.,..

4. A co/tlpll'IC e/i",;nalion of the general dediM in econom Ic activity seems almost impossible.

5. The gOl'emmelU is taking an nocessary steps f(lI a

,_ ThaI wonld be a cr'-me

8 He rises early. 9. Wlth my knowledge of Hungary's pa~t, I can ,""yiew the past it 11M tr''''''rsed and a,,,,,,", its present developm..,u, I O. Today Icatkrs and rtmk andfile laborers are m(lt"e united (han at any time in the past.

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The word speak bas a very general meaning, whil~ command, rebuk2. ask. reply, and a,mounce !lfe m(>Te sped fie. That is, they have added component< of meaning. The ce ntral component of meaning, speak. occurs in all oftbem. but there are add itional Ci bil field He planted h~ seed an d il gn:w like cane in a C3nc-pllC~. The peple said, "Wl~ 11;< grown and we see that ills ripe aqd t b~t you we eating ii, lei us have somt! too.~ Bm I~ replied. ~S!nc:. you ",fus.cd 10 slIMe " ' jlll me .,d lII.e.ll "f f""/'J. I rd;,ue 100. When milt/'; is ripe I will deYQ~r it.11 by mysdf." S"b5lit ule .. ord~ at .. u..ed when lhe: receptor lanJuage natural pattel"l'l! prefer a variety of words to refe.- to , be same Ihine or event. On the other hand, tile revene "",y be 11UC:. The source leXI may U$e .ub. tltutt wordl which would b~ !lIore nat",al in the reccplor language if the oritinal noun Dr verb were: used. Subs!l_ IlIl t " 'ordl; should not be IromlllleI{"" offli:Y. po:>Itc.rna", alld cap all r~f~r to:> the same Ihing. but cop is tnuch less (o:>rmal than po&e o:>ffictr. A =:000 langll/lge may nOi have I specific wOfd for each of the S)'tiIay." of the '«lUlU IlUIll1llic. Soo!~t l me. the rtCCpWr lanlU:O~ =y ha"e more ,,·ortIs to ch()Me

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f,om Ihn the oour~e language. It is: , 'cry Impo!1:Ull that the lrallS iator be aware o f the very minute dl/fereQOeS in lDCM1iD& bnwttll WDrd5 l!KI near ,~'no.~·ms so as 10 ~hoose the word lllat has the ri\lhl connot.~llon. (Connotation wl1\ be d~~ In chaplet" 13.) For

example, when lfiIn~lating Inlc English from .ome other ~li~agc which has only Ollt: woo:! for poIi«, "'hkh wool $hould be cbosen in English. pqliu officer, PC/iUWlOlf, or cop? The tmnsillor would need to know the djfference betwe.n Ihe near .ynoIlYIII I. The r.f~=~ iii to the some person. but lh. words arc used di1fcrwlly. AJltoll Y"U The ~n lo n)'ln of" word l< the e:( words which an: lhe reciproc:.1 o:>f oc InolhC1". Fsl it u!e word" 'Remember thm s"bstitU le "'om refer to oomcthing already mentioned in the I~xt bill Wi

2 101m rescued a young man who almost drowned,

W~en

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he had done oo.:ame known, he was given a special award for his deed. 3. Peter ale a hig In'3kfasl, and haviogoon c tbat.be wenl outside 10 watch the sunrise.

G. In " language where there is no literal counterpan oftl.e leXical Hem UaJici2cd, it may be QCCCIiS"IY to "re a N"cip .... cal lexiclll item as a substitute. Rewrite the following in Engli,h Ui;lng the reclpr""~ 1 action rather Ihan tho actioo it.1licized hON. Then tmnsbtc the meaning inlo another language you speak using e ither one equi\lIlenl "ftlle furmgh'en here or Ihe rttiprocsl, whidiever SOOIll'l more lltItural. John gaw lhe boot to Bill. 2. The peoplefollrm'tid Ibe king into the palace

The Iypewriter broke again. r .hou ld have throvm. the thing away loog ago. ! bought it on discoWll and it's never been II good machine

E. Give a $),nonym for each of the following:

3. When he heard that they v.-e", coming, he made preparations to ",,,,,lye them. 4. Mary had recieved the flowers from a friend.

I. amusing

6. sage (person)

5. Someone lold her that the incident wm: not true.

2, monage

7. piece

6. Jolm /wMd the book to Bill

3. fib

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7. Mary borrowed. pen from Jane

4. durable

9. goodt!i:ss

5.C101 a $1>111 mistak e

S, Parking is fIO/fo/bidden here.

1. In the follOWing translaliorn inU> English, the italicized words hu,-. been translated li!e",Uy and may (If mny J}()\ be idiomatic or 00=. AJl an exercise, chaoge (be italici""d words in such a manner thaI .. m nnllth'e senten'. find "el:a~ th·. seolen:es are made .ffirmQf;ve. Do not change the mean ing of the S~"IItm' .. -

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EXERCISES

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Di_I-ering Meul .. , by CtOUpiDI: and C"nlrllK

["',""gel

A. Compare th words fOf pans r>/ .. houu ill Iwo which you speak. If possible. get I'Omcone else 10 Ii$! all the panl they can think of in one language. Ind a different pcr$on to list al l the pam they Clll think of in a _ d l,,"&ualle . Thf.ll (ampo.re the

IWO lists. ~ kinship trons of anolhcr language wb ichyou ~peak. ComJlln: tb e. 'yitan ..... Itb EngJish am! Alluaruna rnsentcd in this ch~~et. What diffen:nces do YOlU lind?

B. Diagr.om tile l>"fern or (arurusu for

C, In English, the word!: -m.. ga:c, S/QI'r. gl~rt, put peer. and SlllllCC art aU ""ys (lj1ootilll al rJrings. %at '" the eonan..l i,', con' ...."""'''' (dllferenc.eo;; of mulling) which 5ej)8r1Ue lbern in meaning?

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THt: LEXICON

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