Multi-word unit processing in machine translation. Developing and using language resources for multi-word unit processing in machine translation

2011 - 2012XI n.s

Cross-cultural lacunarity and translation techniques: a corpus-based study of English, Russian and Spanish

Lexicalisation patterns varying across languages reveal lexical gaps or lacunae emerging due to structural misalignments between linguistic systems. Lacunae, manifesting themselves as the absence of one-to-one equivalents in one of the contrasting languages, represent a serious translation challenge since they often conceal conceptual discrepancies. Translation of lexemes with no direct equivalents nearly always results in the loss of a certain amount of culture-specific information. This research seeks to provide insight into how speakers’ mental representations diverge in three typologically diverse languages – English, Russian and Spanish – and to investigate ways of overcoming such divergences in translation in a corpus-based study. This research identifies English lexemes which have no equivalents in Russian and Spanish primarily with the help of the Oxford English Dictionary advanced search tools. Using the Historical Thesaurus of English, their semantic neighbourhood is then investigated to explore the mechanisms of formation and evolution of lacunae. The findings from lexicographic data are further corroborated by corpus evidence. Film subtitles, containing lacunar items, and their translations into Russian and Spanish, are retrieved from online contextual dictionaries and used as parallel corpora to identify how lacunae are handled in actual translation practice. This study combines three interrelated research strands. The theoretical strand presents a data-driven model offering a nuanced interpretation of a lexical lacuna. The lexicographic strand overviews the lifecycle of lexical lacunae, outlining the mechanisms of their formation and pathways along which they become filled. Finally, the corpus strand discusses 26 identified techniques for tackling lacunae. These are systematically classified into three main translation strategies: formal, semantic and explicative transformations. The corpus-based strand also offers a breakdown of translation solutions appropriate for each type of lacuna. The presented evidence demonstrates that although translation of lacunar items typically entails deviation of varying degrees from the source text, lexical gaps can and should be bridged in translation to prevent them from turning into cultural gaps

Realia, Style and the Effects of Translation in Literary Texts:: A Case Study of Cien Años de Soledad and its English and French Translations

Gabriel García Márquez, in an interview with Plinio Apuleyo, described Cien Años de Soledad as a “poetical synthesis of the tropic”, which he accomplished by putting together “a few scattered elements, but united by a very subtle and real subjective coherence” (Apuleyo Mendoza, 1993, p. 17). Considering this idea, we could identify the two most important elements for the writer when conceiving the novel: first, the specific poetical language, which we could name as “style”, and second, that coherent subjective reality, which is reached, together with stylistic features, with elements of his local reality, some of which are referred to in this research as Realia. The poetical style of the novel is characterized by, among other stylistic features, the frequent use of a regional and familiar register, which contribute to build up its specific tone and atmosphere. The Realia refer to and describe a local reality at the same time that they participate in the configuration of the narrative world. Both elements, being language and culture specific respectively, could be problematic in a process of translation. Given the importance of these language features in the composition of the novel, the question about their interlingual transfer results relevant for the reception and interpretation of the novel in translation. How did translators achieve the transfer of such strong contextual-dependent elements? Could the readers of those translations experience the effect of nostalgia, familiarity and even intimacy as many of the Spanish version readers claim to feel each time they read the novel? My objective with this dissertation is to analyze stylistic issues and Realia used by Gabriel García Márquez in Cien Años de Soledad (1967) and their translation into French (1968) and English (1970). This analysis aims to determine the effect spectrum of the translation formulations in the recreation of the novel in both target languages (TLs). It is important to mention that even if this analysis is developed within some relevant issues of translation studies, its purpose is not to extensively discuss abstract translation theories. Additionally, being the focus linguistic constructions that could be problematic in a process of translation between the ST and the selected TTs, the selection of Realia and Style features follows this aim, leaving outside the analysis many other narrative elements of GGM’s fictional universe. Moreover, the analysis of style features is a mere observation and a hypothesis about the translations. I do not pretend to reduce the universe of style mechanisms used in the novel to the selected categories and annotations that I made in this thesis. These discussions, which exceed the borders of our proposal, are potential material for further research. How do we plan to achieve the objectives of our research? In a first moment, with a theoretical exploration of the key discussions and problematics about literary translation and about this specific novel. Later on, with the selection of examples of both Realia and Style features and their subsequent analysis as textual units using a comparative-descriptive model. And, additionally, by considering as causal conditions - following the causal model - the shifts, contrasts and modifications carried out by the formulations in both target texts as well as extra textual issues affecting the way the translators decided on these formulations. With the results of the comparative and causal analysis in hand, we are able to arrive at a characterization of the effect spectrum of the translation formulations in both translated texts.:CHAPTER I-Introduction CHAPTER II- The original is unfaithful to the translation: a theoretical approach on literary translation issues 1.Literary translation: a cultural and linguistic transfer 1.1. Issues of literary translation 1.1.1. Sense Vs. form or “les belles infidèles” 1.1.2. Source or target language orientation 1.1.3. Equivalence, adaptation, approximation 1.1.4. Untranslatability 1.2. Cultural- oriented approaches 1.2.1. Rewriting and manipulation 1.2.2. The restitution of meaning 1.2.3. Skopos or functional theory 1.2.4. The translator’s invisibility 1.2.5. Integrated approach on translation: linguistics, literature and culture 2. Narrative register in translation 2.1. Referential level: Realia 2.2. Textual level: Style 3. The literary translator: individuality and style 4. Cultural translation 4.1. Cultural translation: an overview 4.2. Cultural translation and interlingual translation 4.3. Cultural translation and the translation of Realia and style CHAPTER III- Hasta las cosas tangibles eran irreales: on magical realism and Cien Años de Soledad 1. Magical realism: The background of a term 2. Subverting the real: Magical realism and its neighboring genres 3. Magical realism’s style in Cien Años de Soledad 3.1. Local color and sense of absurdity 3.2. The ‘brick tone’ 4. Historical, social and literary contextualization of Cien Años de Soledad and its translations 4.1. The writer 4.2. The novel 4.2.1. Social, political and literary panorama during the sixties 4.2.2. The plot 4.2.3. Literary construction 4.2.4. Political dimension of CAS: between reality and realism 4.3. The translations: why focusing on the English and French version? 4.3.1. The English translation: socio-cultural context of TC1 and description of TT1 4.3.2. The French translation: socio-cultural context of TC2 and description of TT2 CHAPTER IV- Macondo era entonces una aldea de veinte casas de barro y cañabrava: Realia and the foundation of the fictional world 1. The definition of Realia 2. Categorization of Realia in the novel 3. Descriptive analysis: Realia in ST and in TTs 3.1. Natural environment: vegetation 3.2. Natural environment: animals 3.3. Natural environment: geography 3.4. Social interactions: social practices 3.5. Social interaction: oral traditions 3.6. Social interactions: Forms of address 3.7. Social interactions: Politics 3.8. Material heritage: Food 3.9. Material heritage: Tools 3.10. Material heritage: Constructions 3.11. Material heritage: Ritual objects 4. Formulation techniques for translating Realia in TTs 4.1. Formulation techniques 4.1.1. Elimination 4.1.2. Adapted formulation 4.1.3. General formulation 4.1.4. Descriptive formulation 4.1.5. Denotative formulation 4.1.6. Loan formulation 4.1.7. Inferred formulation 4.1.8. Textual functional formulation 4.1.9. Borrowing formulation 4.1.10. Combinations 4.1.11. Frequency of use 4.2. Orientation 4.3. Interferences 4.3.1. Literary interferences 4.3.2. Socio-Linguistic interferences 4.3.3. Semantic interferences 4.3.4. External interferences CHAPTER V- Las claves definitivas de Melquíades: Style and the fuzziness of reality 1. Hyperbolization- Outsized reality 1.1. Adjectivisation 1.2. Natural metaphors 1.3. Fixed locutions and statements 2. Orality effect- radio bemba 2.1. Swear words 2.2. Euphemisms 2.3. Irony 2.4. Colloquial lexical choices 2.5. Neologisms 3. Summary CHAPTER VI- Macondo era ya un pavoroso remolino de polvo y escombros : The effect spectrum of translation in the novel Cien Años de Soledad 1.Gregory Rabassa’s translation: fluent, standard, exoticizing 1.1. Formulation techniques and orientation in local unities 1.2. Influences, restrictions and priorities in Rabassa’s translation of Cien Años de Soledad 1.2.1. Influences: between the actual and the implied translator 1.2.2. Textual and extra textual restrictions 1.2.3. Rabassa’s translation decisions priorities 1.3. The effect spectrum of Rabassa’s translation 1.3.1. Fluency 1.3.2. Standard register 1.3.3. Exoticization: the foreign as magical 2. Claude and Carmen Durand’s translation: colloquial, foreignizing, functional 2.1. Formulation techniques and orientations in local units 2.2.Influences,restrictions and priorities in Durand’s translation 2.2.1. Influences: between the actual and the implied translator 2.2.2. Textual and extra textual restrictions 2.2.3. Priorities for the translation decisions 2.3. The effect spectrum of Durand’s translation 2.3.1. Colloquial register 2.3.2. Foreignising 2.3.3. Functional 3. Summary CHAPTER VII- Ya nadie podia saber a ciencia cierta dónde estaban los límites de la realidad: Final considerations 1. The borders of reality: magic and realism 2. Domestication, foreignization, exoticization 3. The translator’s voice in literary criticism 4. Summary and outlook BIBLIOGRAPH

A new model for a foreign language learner's dictionary

Tese (Doutorado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Comunicação e ExpressãoEsta tese é um trabalho de pesquisa lexicográfica voltado para o ensino de uma língua estrangeira. Propõe-se aqui um novo modelo de dicionário, melhor adaptado às necessidades dos usuários modernos. Segundo o autor, estas necessiadades são hoje muito mais de produção e não mais unicamente de compreensão. O fato dessas novas necessidades seram insuficientemente pesquisadas deve-se a uma metodologia de pesquisa inadequada. Sugere-se que um tipo de pesquisa qualitativa, no lugar de uma quantitativa, levaria a melhores resultados. Um exemplo deste tipo de pesquisa qualitativa e aplicada a exemplos, mostra que os dicionários ganhariam em eficiência se as funções lexicográficas de produção e compreensão fossem consideradas separadamente. Alguns pesquisadores já defenderam esta posição no passado a um nível teórico, mas suas conseqüências práticas nunca foram consideradas. É precisamente o que se tenta fazer aqui. Algumas recomendações são formuladas para a compilação de dicionários de língua estrangeira no futuro, mais do que nada para produção. A informática, em parte responsável para a maior necessidade de dicionários de produção, é considerada uma ferramenta essencial. A relevância deste trabalho está também nas eventuais conseqüências práticas do que se propõe aqui

The communicative theory of Terminology (CTT) applied to the development of a corpus-based specialised dictionary of the ceramics industry

Esta tesis es el resultado de un proyecto destinado a la creación de un diccionario activo, bilingüe (español-inglés; inglés-español) y especializado de la industria cerámica y azulejera con la Teoría Comunicativa de la Terminología como su pilar teórico principal. Debido al posicionamiento teórico adoptado, la investigación aquí presentada ha partido de un estudio de corpus (compilado ad hoc) en el que los términos han sido analizados in vivo y caracterizados de acuerdo al ¿habitat¿ en el que se hallan en el texto especializado. Así pues, la aproximación hecha al estudio de la terminología industrial cerámica hace pertinente el uso de la etiqueta ¿lexicografía especializada¿ a la hora de referirnos a un trabajo como éste en el que se ha tratado de ir más allá de la práctica terminográfica para dar lugar a un estudio en el que se prima el contexto, las asociaciones naturales de los términos (colocaciones) y la naturaleza comunicativa de la terminología. De este modo, en esta tesis se ha presentado de manera progresiva, además de un marco teórico detallado y coherente con el fin último de la investigación, la metodología utilizada para la elaboración del diccionario en curso, ampliamente basada en el uso de programas informáticos tanto para la explotación del corpus (WordSmith Tools 4.0), como para la creación de la base de datos terminológica (TermStar XV) y la generación de entradas finales (GENDIC).Así pues, esta tesis presenta de manera progresiva los resultados obtenidos en cada etapa del método de trabajo y 4,000 entradas finales (en este caso del inglés al español) correspondientes a las letras A, B, N, O, U y V del diccionario.This PhD dissertation is the result of an ongoing process aimed at the creation of a bilingual corpus-based specialised active dictionary of the ceramic industry, with the Communicative Theory of Terminology (CTT) as its mainstay. According to the grounding principles of the CTT, this research has departed form a corpus-based approach in which terms have been analysed in vivo and characterised from the natural habitat in which they are given in specialised communication/discourse. In this light, it has been put forward how the study of terms – made possible thanks to the activity of compiling and describing them, called terminography – may be complemented by the wider projection of specialised lexicography for the compilation and elaboration of LSP, user-oriented and user-friendly quality products in the form of dictionaries. This specialised lexicographical dimension of the work has necessarily implied the need to renew the concept of speciality language dictionaries applied to the ceramic industry and has given way to the creation of a (prospective) active dictionary in this field with a marked emphasis on context. Accordingly, the importance of pragmatic aspects in a work of this sort, has made it necessary to undertake an in-depth revision and analysis of the socio-economic context for the research in order be able to establish and solve the specific terminological needs that the ceramic industrial discourse community may find. On the basis of this theoretical framework, the method of study followed for the development of the prospective dictionary has comprised 8 broad stages: the stage of work preparation and corpus compilation, the elaboration of the field diagram, the stage of documentary corpus management, term extraction, data processing, revision and normalisation and finally, the edition stage. Two main types of results have been presented: those obtained through work in progress in the different stages of the method and final ones strictly speaking, that is, 4,000 English-Spanish entries in their final format (as they will appear in the prospective dictionary) belonging to the letters A, B, N, O, U and V of a complete dictionary which will include a total of 26,000 entries

The communicative theory of Terminology (CTT) applied to the development of a corpus-based specialised dictionary of the ceramics industry

Esta tesis es el resultado de un proyecto destinado a la creación de un diccionario activo, bilingüe (español-inglés; inglés-español) y especializado de la industria cerámica y azulejera con la Teoría Comunicativa de la Terminología como su pilar teórico principal. Debido al posicionamiento teórico adoptado, la investigación aquí presentada ha partido de un estudio de corpus (compilado ad hoc) en el que los términos han sido analizados in vivo y caracterizados de acuerdo al ¿habitat¿ en el que se hallan en el texto especializado. Así pues, la aproximación hecha al estudio de la terminología industrial cerámica hace pertinente el uso de la etiqueta ¿lexicografía especializada¿ a la hora de referirnos a un trabajo como éste en el que se ha tratado de ir más allá de la práctica terminográfica para dar lugar a un estudio en el que se prima el contexto, las asociaciones naturales de los términos (colocaciones) y la naturaleza comunicativa de la terminología. De este modo, en esta tesis se ha presentado de manera progresiva, además de un marco teórico detallado y coherente con el fin último de la investigación, la metodología utilizada para la elaboración del diccionario en curso, ampliamente basada en el uso de programas informáticos tanto para la explotación del corpus (WordSmith Tools 4.0), como para la creación de la base de datos terminológica (TermStar XV) y la generación de entradas finales (GENDIC).Así pues, esta tesis presenta de manera progresiva los resultados obtenidos en cada etapa del método de trabajo y 4,000 entradas finales (en este caso del inglés al español) correspondientes a las letras A, B, N, O, U y V del diccionario.This PhD dissertation is the result of an ongoing process aimed at the creation of a bilingual corpus-based specialised active dictionary of the ceramic industry, with the Communicative Theory of Terminology (CTT) as its mainstay. According to the grounding principles of the CTT, this research has departed form a corpus-based approach in which terms have been analysed in vivo and characterised from the natural habitat in which they are given in specialised communication/discourse. In this light, it has been put forward how the study of terms – made possible thanks to the activity of compiling and describing them, called terminography – may be complemented by the wider projection of specialised lexicography for the compilation and elaboration of LSP, user-oriented and user-friendly quality products in the form of dictionaries. This specialised lexicographical dimension of the work has necessarily implied the need to renew the concept of speciality language dictionaries applied to the ceramic industry and has given way to the creation of a (prospective) active dictionary in this field with a marked emphasis on context. Accordingly, the importance of pragmatic aspects in a work of this sort, has made it necessary to undertake an in-depth revision and analysis of the socio-economic context for the research in order be able to establish and solve the specific terminological needs that the ceramic industrial discourse community may find. On the basis of this theoretical framework, the method of study followed for the development of the prospective dictionary has comprised 8 broad stages: the stage of work preparation and corpus compilation, the elaboration of the field diagram, the stage of documentary corpus management, term extraction, data processing, revision and normalisation and finally, the edition stage. Two main types of results have been presented: those obtained through work in progress in the different stages of the method and final ones strictly speaking, that is, 4,000 English-Spanish entries in their final format (as they will appear in the prospective dictionary) belonging to the letters A, B, N, O, U and V of a complete dictionary which will include a total of 26,000 entries

Reflexive Translation Studies

In the past decades, translation studies have increasingly focused on the ethical dimension of translational activity, with an emphasis on reflexivity to assert the role of the researcher in highlighting issues of visibility, creativity and ethics. In Reflexive Translation Studies, Silvia Kadiu investigates the viability of theories that seek to empower translation by making visible its transformative dimension; for example, by championing the visibility of the translating subject, the translator’s right to creativity, the supremacy of human translation or an autonomous study of translation. Inspired by Derrida’s deconstructive thinking, Kadiu presents practical ways of challenging theories that argue reflexivity is the only way of developing an ethical translation. She questions the capacity of reflexivity to counteract the power relations at play in translation (between minor and dominant languages, for example) and problematises affirmative claims about (self-)knowledge by using translation itself as a process of critical reflection

Uncertainty in deliberate lexical interventions

Language managers in their different forms (language planners, terminologists, professional neologists …) have long tried to intervene in the lexical usage of speakers, with various degrees of success: Some of their lexical items (partly) penetrate language use, others do not. Based on electronic networks of practice of the Esperanto speech community, Mélanie Maradan establishes the foundation for a new method to extract speakers’ opinions on lexical items from text corpora. The method is intended as a tool for language managers to detect and explore in context the reasons why speakers might accept or reject lexical items. Mélanie Maradan holds a master’s degree in translation and terminology from the University of Geneva/Switzerland as well as a joint doctoral degree in multilingual information processing and philosophy (Dr. phil.) from the universities of Geneva and Hildesheim/Germany. Her research interests include planned languages (Esperanto studies) as well as neology and corpus linguistics. She works as a professional translator and terminologist in Switzerland