language--Culture--and-Translating.ppt

,Language,Culture,andTranslatingEugeneA.Nida,姓名：谢碧原班级：外国语言文学13级2班,BriefIntroduction,Language,Culture,andTranslatinghasitsorigininaseriesoflecturesontranslatinggivenattheSISUinthespringof1989andlaterthatsameyearattheMauriceThorezInstituteofLanguagesandTranslatinginMoscow.Theapproachisessentiallypractical,althoughtheprincipaltheoriesoftranslatingarediscussedinChapter10.Thisbookhasfourmainemphases:(1)theneedtounderstandthoroughlythesourcetext,(2)thecloserelationbetweenlanguageandculture,(3)thenecessitytofocusattentiononstyleanddiscourse,and(4)therelevanceofinsightscomingfromseveraldifferentdisciplines.,(1)Theneedtounderstandthoroughlythesourcetext:Sinceamajorityoffailuresintranslatingseeminglyresultfromaninadequateunderstandingofthetextinthesourcelanguage,threechaptersaregiventodescribethecrucialsemanticandformalfeaturesoflexemes(wordsandidioms),syntax,anddiscourse.(2)Thecloserelationbetweenlanguageandculture:Theroleoflanguagewithinacultureandtheinfluenceofthecultureonthemeaningofwordsandidiomsaresopervasivethatscarcelyanytextcanbeadequatelyunderstoodwithoutcarefulconsiderationofitsculturalbackground.,(3)Thenecessitytofocusattentiononstyleanddiscourse:Certainmistakesinterminologyandgrammarcanbeforgiven,butafailuretoreflectthespiritanddynamicofasourcedocumentisa“mortalsin”.(4)Therelevanceofinsightscomingfromseveraldifferentdisciplines:Manypeopleassumethattheonlyprerequisitesfortranslatingareabilingualdictionary,anexhaustiveencyclopedia,andanabilitytospeakandwritetwolanguages.Butabilitytotranslatealsodependsonanumberofveryimportantinsightswhichcomedirectlyorindirectlyfromseveraldifferentdisciplines,e.g.culturalanthropology,linguistics,psychology,communicationtheory,andliteraryanalysis.Itistheinterdisciplinaryapproachtointerlingualcommunicationwhichcontributesthemajornewinsightsforeffectivetranslatingandinterpreting.,Chapter1.ParadoxesofTranslating;Chapter2.TheFunctionsandTheoriesofLanguage;Chapter3.TheStructuresofLanguage;Chapter4.TheStructuresandMeaningofLexemes;Chapter5.TheStructuresandMeaningofSyntax;Chapter6.TheStructuresandMeaningofDiscourse;Chapter7.LanguageandCulture;Chapter8.FunctionalEquivalence;Chapter9.TranslationProcedures;Chapter10.TheoriesofTranslation;,Contents,Chapter1.ParadoxesofTranslating,1.Mostpersonsassumethatliteralnessintranslatingmeansfaithfulnesstothetext;InEnglish,e.g.therepetitionofawordusuallyimpliesemphasis,butnotinBahasaIndonesia,whererepetitiononlysignalsplurality.2.Translatingisvalidbutparaphraseiswrong;InEnglish,aswellasinmostotherEuropeanlanguages,onespeaksofthe“heart”asbeingthecenterofemotions,butinmanylanguagesinWestAfricaaperson“loveswiththeliver”andinsomeoftheindigenouslanguageofCentralAmericapeopletalkabout“lovingwiththestomach”.Soherecomestheconclusion:sincelanguagesdonotdifferinwhattheycansay,butinhowtheysayit,paraphraseisinevitable.Whatisimportantisthesemanticlegitimacyoftheparaphrase.,Chapter1.ParadoxesofTranslating,3.Translatorshouldfirstproduceamoreorlessliteralrenderingofthesourcetextandthenproceedtoimproveitstylistically.Styleisnotthefrostingonthecake,butanintegralpartoftheprocessofinterlingualcommunication.Itmustbebuiltintothetextrightfromthebeginning.Itisusuallybettertoaimfirstatastylisticallysatisfactoryrenderingofthesourcetextandthenreviewitcarefullyto“tightenitup”byanalyzingandtestingthecorrespondences.Afewerrorsinthecorrespondencesoflexicalmeaningaremuchmoreexcusablethanmissingthespiritandaestheticcharacterofthesourcetext.,Chapter1.ParadoxesofTranslating,4.Sincetranslatingisaskillwhichgenerallyrequiresconsiderablepractice,mostpeopleassumethatitcanbetaught.Toanextent,thisistrue.Butitisalsotruethatreallyexceptionaltranslatorsareborn,notmade.Potentialtranslatorsmusthaveahighlevelofaptitudeforthecreativeuseoflanguage,ortheyarenotlikelytobeoutstandingintheirprofession.“Buttheresultsofmachinetranslatingareusuallyinanunnaturalformoflanguageandsometimesjustplainweird.Humantranslatorswillalwaysbenecessaryforanytextwhichisstylisticallyappealingandsemanticallycomplex.”Themostdifficulttexttotranslateisoneinwhichthespeakerorwriterhasattemptedtosaynothing.,Chapter1.ParadoxesofTranslating,5.Thereisneveracompletelyperfectortimelesstranslation.Bothlanguageandculturearealwaysintheprocessofchange.Furthermore,languageisanopensystemwithoverlappingmeaningsandfuzzyboundariesthebaneoflogiciansbutthedelightofpoets.Theindeterminacyoflanguageispartofthepricethatmustbepaidforcreativityandforthenewinsightswhichcomethroughsymbolicreinterpretationofhumanexperience.6.Apersonwhoknowstwolanguageswellcanbeagoodtranslator.Knowingtwolanguagesisnotenough.Itisalsoessentialtobeacquaintedwiththerespectiveculturesoneoftheimportantreasonsforthetitleofthisbooklanguage,Culture,andTranslating.Theparadoxesoftranslatingarebasicallyoflanguageandculture.,Chapter7.LanguageandCulture,.,Sincecultureisdefinedsuccinctlyas“thetotalityofbeliefsandpracticesofasociety,”nothingisofgreaterstrategicimportancethanthelanguagethroughwhichitsbeliefsareexpressedandtransmittedandbywhichmostinteractionofitsmemberstakesplace.Therelationbetweenlanguagesandculturewouldnotconstitutesuchseriousdifficultiesforcross-culturalunderstandingifitwerenotforthenumerousmisconceptionsaboutlanguageanditsfunctionwithinasociety.1.Perhapsthemostseriousmisconceptionistheideathateachlanguagemoreorlesscontrolsthewaypeoplethink.Sometimesexpressedas“wethinkthewaywethinkbecausewetalkthewaywetalk.”Itistruethattheparticularstructuresofalanguagemayreflecttoacertaindegreethewaypeoplethinkandtheymaybesaidtoform“therutsorpathsforthinking,”buttheydonotdeterminewhatorhowpeoplemustthink.Languagesaretooopen-endedandhumanimaginationistoocreativetoberigidlyruledbytheregulationsofsyntaxorofanyotherfeatureoflanguage.,Chapter7.LanguageandCulture,2.Theideathatsomelanguagesarefarmoresuperiortootherlanguagesandaccordinglysomeculturesarefarsuperiortoothercultures.Whenpeoplespeakaboutlanguagesuperiority,theyareusuallytalkingabouttheliteraturewhichhasbeenproducedinsuchalanguage,ortheyevaluatethelexicalandsyntacticintermsofthewaystheseshavebeenexploitedbycreativewriters.Itistruethattheoralandwrittenliteraturesofdifferentlanguagescandifferconsiderablyinquality,butAlllanguageshavethePotentialforoutstandingaestheticexpression.Itissimplyoneofthe“accidents”Ofhistorywhichdeterminestheemergenceofliterarygenius.Somepeople,however,believethatsomelanguagesarefundamentallyugly,whileothersareintrinsicallybeautiful.Arabic,forexample,isoftencitedasanacousticallyunpleasantlanguageinviewofitsvariousgutturalconsonants,butanumberofArabpoetshavesucceededinproducingexquisitepoemswithrichsoundpatternsasacousticallysensuousandpleasingasoccurinanylanguage.,Chapter7.LanguageandCulture,1.Alanguagedoesreflectincertainaspectsthecultureofasociety,butprimarilyinitsoptionalfeatures,i.e.incertainofitshierarchiesofvocabularyandintheprioritiesgiventovariousdiscoursepatterns.Itdoesnot,however,reflectthecultureinitsphonologyorsyntax,whicharelargelyfixedandarbitrary.2.Alanguagemayhaveaproportionallyhighnumberoftermsinparticulardomainsisanimportantindextothefocusofaculture.Forexample,mostlanguagesofWesternEuropehaveanexceptionallyhighpercentageoftechnicalterms,Sudanesehavehundredsoftermsfordifferentkindsandfeaturesofcattle,andPeruvianhavescoresofwordsfordifferentkindsandformsofpotatoes.3.Changesincultureoftengiverisetonewtypesofdiscourse,e.g.technicalprose,financialreports,andnewsresumes.,4.Thepopularityofcertaintypesofdiscoursemayalsoreflectculturalconcerns.Forexample,lyricpoetryisfarmorepopularinLatinAmericathatintheUS.Andingeneral,epicpoetryseemstohavesufferedaseverelossofpopularityexceptincertainisolatedregions.Alloftheseinterestingindicesofrelationbetweenlanguageandcultureareprimarilymattersofhowlanguageisusedandarenotmattersoflanguagestructure.Sincealllanguagesareopensystems,theyhavethepotentialityforgrowth,change,anddecline.Inthehandsofliterarygeniusestheycanbethemediumforbrilliantaestheticexpression,andtheycanbeseriouslymisusedbypersonswhohavelittleornosensitivityforclarityorelegance.,Chapter7.LanguageandCulture,Chapter7.LanguageandCulture,BilingualismandBiculturalism;Bilingualcompetencehasalmostalwaysbeenregardedasanessentialrequirementfortranslators,butthisdoesnotalwaysmeanthatonemusthaveanactivecompetenceinboththesourcelanguageandtargetlanguage.Fortrulysuccessfultranslating,biculturalismisevenmoreimportantthanbilingualism,sincewordsonlyhavemeaningsintermsoftheculturesinwhichtheyfunction.Dictionariesandencyclopediasareanimportantsourceofstrategicculturalinformation,buttheycannevertaketheplaceofpersonalinvolvementinaforeignsociety.OnlybybeingintheforeigncountriesCanoneacquirethenecessarysensitivitytothemanyspecialMeaningsofwordsandphrases.LanguageandSubcultures;,Chapter8.FunctionalEquivalence,Theadequacyoftranslationhastraditionallybeenjudgedonthebasisofthecorrespondencesinlexiconandgrammarbetweenthesourceandtargetlanguages.Thecorrespondencehasfrequentlybeenstatedintermsof“equivalence.”Itisbesttospeakof“functionalequivalence”intermsofarangeofadequacy,sincenotranslationisevercompletelyequivalent.Thismeansthat“equivalence”cannotbeunderstoodinitsmathematicalmeaningofidentity,butonlyintermsofproximity,i.e.onthebasisofdegreesofclosenesstofunctionalidentity.Amaximal,idealdefinitioncouldbestatedas“thereadersofatranslatedtextshouldbeabletounderstandandappreciateitinessentiallythesamemannerastheoriginalreadersdid.”Thismaximallevelofequivalenceisrarely,ifeverachieved,exceptfortextshavinglittleornoaestheticvalueandinvolvingonlyroutineinformation.,Chapter8.FunctionalEquivalence,PrinciplesforProducingFunctionalEquivalence:1.Ifaclose,formaltranslationislikelytoresultinamisunderstandingofthedesignativemeaning,certainchangesmustbeintroducedintothetextofthetranslationor(b)theliteraltranslationmayberetainedandafootnoteexplainingthelikelymisunderstandingmustbeadded.Inpracticallyallcircumstancesthefirstalternativeinthisprincipleshouldbefollowed,buttherearecertaincircumstancesandtypesofdocuments,e.g.legalcontracts,wills,politicalstatements,andpurposelyesotericorcabalisticreligioustexts,inwhichaliteralrenderingwithanexplanatorynotemaybewarranted.,Chapter8.FunctionalEquivalence,2.Ifaclose,formaltranslationmakesnosense,i.e.istotallyobscureindesignativemeaning,certainchangesmaybeintroducedintothetextunlessthesourcetextispurposelyobscure,inwhichcasetheobscuritymayberetained,andafootnoteexplainingthenatureoftheobscuritymaybeveryusefulandinmostinstancesfullyjustified.3.Ifaclose,formaltranslationissosemanticallyandsyntacticallydifficultthattheaveragepersonforwhomthetranslationisbeingmadeisverylikelytogiveuptryingtounderstandit,certainchangesarewarranted,althoughitmaybeusefultoindicatesuchchangesinanintroductionorinfootnotes.Forexample,thetranslationofahighlytechnicalarticleforpeoplewhoarerelativelyunfamiliarwiththecontents,mayrequiresimplificationofvocabularyorbuilt-inexplanationsfortechinicalterms.,Chapter8.FunctionalEquivalence,4.Ifaclose,formaltranslationislikelytoresultinseriousmisunderstandingoftheassociativemeaningsofthesourcetextorinasignificantlossinaproperappreciationforthestylisticvaluesofthesourcetext,itisimportanttomakesuchadjustmentsasarenecessarytoreflecttheassociativevaluesofthesourcetext.Toomanytranslatorsassumethatacorrectreflectionofdesignativemeaningisallthatisrequiredintranslating.Infact,however,theassociativemeaningsaregenerallyfarmoreimportantinconvincingreadersoftherelevanceofthecontent.,Chapter8.FunctionalEquivalence,5.Themannerinwhichatranslationistobeusedhasasignificantinfluenceupontheextenttowhichadjustmentsaretobemade.Thetranslationofadramatobereadinthequietofoneshomeisgenerallyquitedifferentfromonewhichisdesignedtobeactedonthestage.6.Thefactthatasourcetextmustbetranslatedinsuchawayastooccurwithaccompanyingcodesusuallyrequiresanumberofadjustmentsonalllevels:phonology,lexicon,syntax,anddiscourse.Thetranslationofsongsalmostalwaysmeansconsiderableformaladjustments.ofoperasinvolvesevenmoreseriousdifficulties,sincethewordsmustfitthemusicandalsotheaction.,Chapter8.FunctionalEquivalence,Theseprinciplesfortheproductionoffunctionallyequivalenttranslationshaveanumberofverypracticalimplications:1.thegreaterthedifferencesinthesourceandtargetcultures,thegreatertheneedforadjustments.2.thegreaterthedifferencesbetweenthesourceandtargetlanguages,thegreatertheneedforadjustments.3.themoredistinctivethestyleofthesourcetext,the.4.thegreaterthedifferencesinsocialandeducationallevelsofthesourceandtargetau