Equivalence Theory and Legal Translation

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ji Xuan ◽  
Dong Xiaobo
Keyword(s):  
English Translation ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Functional Equivalence ◽  
Source Language ◽  
Legal Translation ◽  
Equivalence Theory ◽  
Different Levels

AbstractOne of the difficulties in legal English translation lies in how translators understand and convey legal terminology. For one thing, it requires functional equivalence in language; for another, legal functional equivalence is also needed. According to the Equivalence Theory of Sarcevic, and considering the different levels of language and legal functional equivalence in the corresponding words from the source language to the target language, the following measures can be taken in legal terminology translation: using the exact words when concepts are equivalent; using functionally equivalent words when concepts are nearly or partly equivalent; using paraphrase, neutral, borrowed, or neologisms when concepts are totally different.

scholarly journals Documentary Subtitle Chinese-English Translation from the Perspective of Functional Equivalence: A Study on the Documentary China’s Fight against Covid-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (6) ◽  
pp. 36-48
Author(s):  
Yeheng Yang ◽  
Yi Li
Keyword(s):  
English Translation ◽  
Practical Implication ◽  
Sentence Length ◽  
Functional Equivalence ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Translation Strategies ◽  
Source Language ◽  
Equivalence Theory ◽  
Present Particle ◽  
Shed Light

This paper adopts Nida's Functional Equivalence theory and studies the Chinese-English subtitle translation of the documentary China’s Fight against Covid-19, which was filmed and broadcast throughout China amid the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in the year 2020, and it received positive responses in the country. The research objective is to find out the translation strategies, methods and skills involved in achieving the “most natural” and the “most closest” English expressions to the Chinese source text. In the study, investigations on the equivalence of Lexical level, Syntactical level, Contextual level and Textual level in the subtitle are conducted respectively, and the aforementioned translation aspects are discussed under the guidance of Nida’s functional equivalence. The key findings are that the translated texts adopt literal and liberal translation to deal with the Culture-loaded words and four-character idioms on a lexical level. While sentence restructuring, conversion of voice, and conjunction and present particle are used on the syntactic level to make source language and translated subtitle more coherent and authentic. On the contextual and textual level, the target text distinguishes the formal and informal languages through the sentence length and the complexity of the structure. This study offers a practical implication for translating Chinese pandemic discourses into English, and it can also shed light on the study of Chinese narratives during the COVID outbreak and the publicity of the Chinese countermeasures.  

The language of consecutive interpreters’ notes

Interpreting ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta Abuín Gonzàlez
Keyword(s):  
Skill Acquisition ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Relevant Factor ◽  
Source Language ◽  
Advanced Students ◽  
Interpreter Training ◽  
Expertise Level ◽  
Consecutive Interpreting ◽  
Different Levels

This paper presents an empirical study of the language of the notes produced by three groups of subjects with different levels of interpreter training and experience (beginner students, advanced students and interpreters) during an experimental consecutive interpreting task from English into Spanish. The variable under study was the note-taking language — source language vs. target language. Analyses of the notational corpus involved the application of quantitative methods so as to obtain data on the language of the notes at different skill acquisition and professional stages. The results show that as the subjects’ expertise level increases, there is a shift from the use of the source language towards the use of the target language. This finding suggests that the expertise level in consecutive interpreting may be a relevant factor in the interpreter’s choice of language. Finally, some conclusions are drawn regarding interpreter training.

scholarly journals On Mean Dependency Distance as a Metric of Translation Quality Assessment

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 23-30
Author(s):  
Chenliang Zhou
Keyword(s):  
Quality Assessment ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Source Language ◽  
Translation Quality ◽  
Automated Translation ◽  
Distance Data ◽  
Senior Students ◽  
Junior Students ◽  
Different Levels

This paper has adopted a quantitative approach to carry out a linguistic study, within the theoretical framework of dependency grammar. Translation is a process where source language and target language interact with each other. The present study aims at exploring the feasibility of mean dependency distance as a metric for automated translation quality assessment. The current research hypothesized that different levels of translation are significantly different in the aspect of mean dependency distance. Data of this study were based on the written translation in Parallel Corpus of Chinese EFL Learners which was composed of translations from Chinese EFL learners in various topic. The translations were human-scored to determine the levels of translation, according to which the translations were categorized. Our results indicated that: (1) senior students perform better in translation than junior students, and mean dependency distance of translations from senior group is significantly shorter than the junior; (2) high quality translations yield shorter mean dependency distance than the low quality translations; (3) mean dependency distance of translations is moderately correlated with the human score. The resultant implication suggests the potential for mean dependency distance in differentiating translations of different quality.

scholarly journals TRANSLATIONAL CREATIVITY: TRANSLATING GENRE CONVENTIONS IN STATUTES

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 23
Author(s):  
Sandro Nielsen
Keyword(s):  
Target Audience ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Intended Target ◽  
Source Language ◽  
Legal Translation ◽  
Pragmatic Principle ◽  
Genre Conventions

A long-established approach to legal translation focuses on terminological equivalence making translators strictly follow the words of source texts. Recent research suggests that there is room for some creativity allowing translators to deviate from the source texts. However, little attention is given to genre conventions in source texts and the ways in which they can best be translated. I propose that translators of statutes with an informative function in expert-to-expert communication may be allowed limited translational creativity when translating specific types of genre convention. This creativity is a result of translators adopting either a source-language or a targetlanguage oriented strategy and is limited by the pragmatic principle of co-operation. Examples of translation options are provided illustrating the different results in target texts. The use of a target-language oriented strategy leads to target texts that contain genre conventions expected by the target audience and at the same time retain the substantive legal contents of source texts. This, I argue, results in translations that are both factually and conventionally correct seen from the point of view of the intended target audience.

scholarly journals Figurative Language in Malay to English Translation: An Analysis of the 2015 UniMAP VC's Keynote Speech

2018 ◽  
Vol 150 ◽  
pp. 05028
Author(s):  
A. Sharmini ◽  
Muhammad Bazli Mahmood ◽  
Khairul Hisham Jamalludin ◽  
Ahmad Hifzurrahaman Ridzuan ◽  
Mohamad Zaki Abdul Halim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
English Translation ◽  
Figurative Language ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Connotative Meaning ◽  
Translation Strategies ◽  
Source Language ◽  
Original Meaning ◽  
Vice Chancellor ◽  
Keynote Speech

Translating figurative language involves more than just replacing the figurative language with its equivalent in the target language. Therefore, it is not surprising for the translation of figurative language to have its own set of challenges. Problems the translator faces in translating the Malay Figurative Language into English include complexities in understanding, interpreting and recreating the Figurative language that are unique in the Source Language (SL) culture; which have to be explained and described in Target Language (TL) where such practices and customs are non - existent. Secondly, the Source Text (ST) figurative language may appear in a variety of types and have a distinct denotative and connotative meaning and reference; most often, it is difficult to find an equivalent which totally matches the original meaning or concept. This particular paper analyses the translation of figurative language extracted from UniMAP's Vice Chancellor Keynote Speech in 2015. Findings reveal that the three categories of figurative language identified were namely idioms, metaphors and similes. Translation strategies used are either not translated, paraphrased or translated with a similar meaning but in different form.

The translation of affirmative action into legal discourse in Brazil

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 343-357
Author(s):  
Celina Frade
Keyword(s):  
Affirmative Action ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Legal Discourse ◽  
Role Identity ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Social Perceptions ◽  
Cultural Economic ◽  
Source Language ◽  
Legal Translation ◽  
Domestic Legislation

AbstractSeveral studies have recently discussed legal translation beyond the transfer of equivalent linguistic and terminological features from a source language to a target language. Such perspectives can provide linguistics, translators and legislators with a framework for translating outside events of social life, including its demands, knowledge, wishes and cultural developments throughout periods of time into legal discourse. In this paper, we aim to discuss a broader approach of legal translation to depict how public policies on affirmative action have been introduced in Brazil in the light of institutionalization and further instrumentalization by law. In particular, we make an attempt to show how domestic legislation is translated and enacted considering both the context (as the source ‘language’) and legal discourse (as the target language). Our claim is that the process entails a transformation or translation of context (common sense achieved by society) into legal discourse (law) by means of categorization of everyday concepts into legal concepts to meet both the socioeconomic and historical contexts at hand and the framework of written law. The analysis is based on the Rio de Janeiro state law 5346/2008, a landmark law ruling affirmative action in Brazil insofar as it expands the categories of beneficiaries – the so-called quotistas – taking into consideration the social, political and economic context then. In addition, we argue that the criterion of categorization is not arbitrary but is rather cultural, economic and historically driven and objectivates the human production of a role identity of the beneficiaries beyond subjective intentions. To conclude, this analysis was only made possible with the contribution of more comprehensive viewpoints on legal translation and the role played by social perceptions in the translatability of domestic legislation in monolingual jurisdictions.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document