Translation

Equivalence above word level 

   A.    COLLOCATION

Collocation consists of the association a word acquires on account of the meaning of words which tend to occur in its environment.

For example: In English: Do ( homework, research, house work..)

Make ( a cake, a noise..).

When two words collocate, the relationship can hold between all or several of their various forms, combined in any grammatically acceptable order. For instance: in English: the girl is cute/ the cute girl.

The patterns of collocation are largely in any independent of meaning. For example: in English: wear ( glass, shoes, hat).

1.      Collocational  range and collocational markedness

Range here refers to the set of collocates, that is other word, which are typically associated with the word in question. Some word have a much broader collocational range than others.

For example: verb shrug has a rather limited collocational range. It typically occur with shoulders and does not have a particularly strong link with any other word in the language. Run, by contrast, has a vast collocational range some of its typical collocates being company, bussiness, show, car, stocking, tights, nose, wild, debt, bill, river, course, water, and colour, among other.

Two main factors can influence the collocational range of an item (Beekman and Callow, 1974).

·         The first is its level of specificity: the more general a word is, the broader its collocational range; the more specific it is, the more restricted its collocational  range. For example: verb bury have hyponyms such as inter or entomb. Only people can be interred, but you can bury people, a treasure your head, face, feelings and memories.

·         The second factor which determines the collocational range of an item is the number of sense it has. For example: in its sense of manage the verb run collcates with words like company, instituation, and business. In its sense of operate or provide, it collocates with words like servise and course.

2.      Collocation and register

Collocational  patterns are not always typical/untypical in relation to the language system as a whole. Some collocations may seem untypical  in everyday language but are common in specific registers. Register-specific collocations are not simply the set of terms that go with a discipline . They extend far beyond the list of terms that one normally  finds in specialized dictionaries and glossaries. Different between collocation and register is

3.      Collocational meaning

What we do when we are asked to give an account of the meaning of a word in isolation is to contextualize it in its most typical collocations rather than its rarer ones. Asked to explain what dry means, we are likely to think of collocations such as dry clothes, dry river, and dry weather, which would prompt the definition “ Free from water”. As we move away from the most common collocations of dry, it becomes clear that the meaning of dry depends largely on its pattern of collocation and is not something that the word possesses in isolation. We can conclude that word does not have a meaning outside a context.

4.      Some collocation related pitfalls and problems in translation

Differences in the collocational pattering of the source and target languages create potential pitfalls and can pose various problems in translation. The following are some of the more common pitfalls and problems that are often encountered in translating non- literary texts.

a)      The engrossing effect of source text pattering

Collocation can be found in the target language which conveys the same or a similar meaning to that of source collocation. It is easily to translate.

For example:

Source text ( in English): Make an  appointment and make an argument

Target text ( in Indonesia): Membuat perjanjian dan berpendapat

However, sometimes translators will waste much time to produce the oddest collocations in the target language for no justifiable reason. The translator should avoid carrying over source language collocatioal patterns which are untypical of the target language, unless is a good reason for doing so.

For example:

Source text ( in English): She is writing a poem for her best friend

Target text ( in Indonesia): Dia sedang menulis surat untuk sahabatnya

b)      Misinterpreting the meaning of a source-language collocation

A translator can easily misinterpret a collocation in the source text due to interference his/her native language. This problem happens when a source-language collocation appears to be familiar because it corresponds in form to a common collocation in the target language. The translator should work from a foreign language into his/ her native language or language of habitual use.

For example:

Source text ( english): sensitive skin detergent

Target text ( indonesia): kulit sensitif dengan detergen

c)      The tension between accuracy and naturalness

In rendering  unmarked source-language collocations into his/her target language a translator ideally aims at producing a collocation which is typical in the target language while, at the same time , preserving the meaning associated with the source collocation. The nearest acceptable collocation in the target language will often involve some change in meaning.

For example:

Source text ( english) : a good/bad law in english

: hard drink refers only to spirits(whisky, gin, and brandy) in English

Target text ( Arabic)   : just/unjust law in Arabic

:alcoholic drink (including beer, lager, sherry, as well as spirits)

                                   

d)     Culture-specific collocations

If the cultural settings of the source and target languages are significantly different, there will be instances when the source text will contain collocations which convey what to the target reader would be unfamiliar associations of ideas.

When translating culture specific collocations, the translator should has a partial

Increase in information by giving the reader some hints as to how to interpret them.

For example :

Source text ( english) : hair include dry,oily, damaged, permed, fine, flyway,

and brittle.

Target text ( arabic) : hair include mainly ‘split-ends’, dry, oily, coarse,

and smooth.

e)      Marked collocations in the source text

The translation of a marked collocation will be similarly marked in the target language. This is, however, always subject to the constrains of the target language and to the purpose of the translation in question.

For example:

Source text ( canada): canada has chosen to entrench its dual cultural heritage in its institutions and, as a result, offical translation has taken fim root.

Target text ( french): canada a choisi d’enchasser- le mot est helas a la mode son double heritage culturel dans ses institutions et la traduction officielle t est, par consequent solidement enracinee.

B.     IDIOMS AND FIXED EXPRESSIONS

Idioms are sets expression of two or more words  that means something other than the literal meaning of its individual words.

For example :

“Every cloud has silver lining”

Fixed expressions are standard form of expression that has taken on a more specific meaning than the expression itself. It is different from a proverb in that it is used as a part of a sentence, and is the standard way of expressing a concept or idea.

For example:

“All of sudden, come into mind, get out of my head.”

1.      Idioms, fixed expressions, and the direction of translation

A persons competence in actively using the idioms and fixed expressions of a foreign language hardly ever matches that of the idioms and fixed expressions of a foreign language hardly ever matchers that of native speaker. The main problems that idiomatic and fixed expresions pose in translation relation to two main areas : the ability to recognize interpreact an idiom correctly ; and the difficulties involed in rendering the various aspects of meaning that an idiom or a  fixed expression conveys into the target language.

2.      The interpretation of idioms

As far as idioms are concerned , the first difficulty that a translator comes across is being able to recognize that she/he is dealing with an idiomatic expression. There are various types of idioms, some more easily recognizable than others. Those which are easily recognizable include expressions which violate truth conditions, such as It’s raining cats and dogs, throw caution to the winds, storm in a tea  cup, jump down someone’s throat, and food for thought.

For example: like a bat out of hell and like water of a ducks.

3.      The translation of idioms: difficulties

The difficulties involved in translating an idiom are totally different from those involved in interpreting it. The main difficulties involved in translating idioms and fixed expressions may be summarized as follow :

a.       An idiom of fixed expression may have no equivalence in the target language. One language may express a given meaning by means of single word, another may express by means of an idioms, and so on.

for example :

Yours faithfully and Yours sincerely have no equivalence in Arabic formal corespondence.

The English expression to carry coals to Newcastle, though culture specific in the sense that it contains a reference to Newcastle coal and uses it as a measure of abundance, is closely paralleled in German by Eulen nach Athen tragen(‘ to carry owls to Athens’). Both expressions convey the same meaning, namely :to supply something to someone who already has plenty of it.

b.      An idioms of fixed expression may have a similar counterpart in the target language, but its context of use may be different; the two expressions may have different connotations.

For example:

To go to the dogs (‘to lose one’s good qualities’) has a similar counterpart in German, but whereas the English idiom can be used in connection with a person or a place, its German counterpart can only be used in connection with a person and often means to die

c.       An idioms may be used in the source text in both literal and idiomatic senses at the same time.

4.      The translation of idioms: strategies

a.       Using an idiom of similar meaning and form

This strategy involves using an idiom in the target language which conveys roughly the same meaning as that of the source-language idiom and, in addition, consist of equivalent lexical items. This kind of match can only occasionally be achieved.

For example:

Source text (englsh): Force the hand

Target text ( spanyol):  Forzare la mano

b.      Using an idiom of similar meaning but dissimilar form

It is often possible to find an idiom of fixed expression in the target language which has a meaning similar to that of the source idiom or expression, but which consist of different lexical items.

For example:

Source text (english): one good turn deserves another

Target text (indonesia): satu giliran yang baik layak mendapatkan yang lain

c.       Translation by paraphrase

This is by far the most common way of translating idioms when a match cannot be found in the target language or when it seems inappropriate to use idiomatic language in the target text because of difference in stylistic preference of the source and target languages.

For example : The boy quickly ran across the finish line, seizing yet another victory (original sentence)

The quick boy seized yet another victory when he ran across the finish line (Paraphrase)

In this example, many parts of speech are changed: the adverb quickly becomes the adjective quick, and the verb phrase with gerund seizing becomes the verb seized.

d.      Translation by omission

As with single words, an idiom may sometimes be omitted altogether in the text. This may be because it has no close match in the target language, its meaning cannot be easily paraphrased, or for stylistic reasons.

For example:

Source text (moroccan arabic): annaq sahbo wmsaw bzuz lyid flyid

Target text ( english): he held his boy friend tightly and went together.