Register Translation

Register in translated text production

Adriana Silvina PaganoLaboratory for Experimentation in Translation

Federal University of Minas Gerais

Register and Context 2011

Context

ProjectText production in translation with a view to computational

and machine translation modelling: (de)metaphorization in the translation process of expert translators

Federal University of Minas Gerais – Universität des SaarlandesProbral 292/08 CAPES, Brazil/DAAD, Germany


Overview• Background• Point of departure #1 – translation as a particular mode of

text production– Evidence from product– Evidence from process

• Point of departure #2 – register in translated text production– Register complexity in translation– Translation as a ‘register’/’text type’

• Modeling contextual pressure in translation tasks – issues & questions


Background


Translation in SFL

The nearest we get to non-text in actual life, leaving aside the works of those poets and prose writers who deliberately set out to create non-text, is probably in the speech of young children and in bad translations.

(Halliday & Hasan, 1976)


Translation in SFL... translator is very clearly backgrounded in the

lexicogrammatical construction of translation - a striking confirmation of Venuti's (1995) notion of the invisibility of the translator.

(Matthiessen, 2001)


Translation in SFL

A modelling of translation will force the systemic linguistic community more than hitherto - and give them the tools - to face the interesting challenge of language typology and comparison generally.

(Steiner, 2004)


Translation in SFL

... to explain why anyone says anything one must appeal to the context which exerts pressure on the speaker’s choice of meaning.

(Hasan, 2009)


Point of departure # 1

Translation as a particular mode of multilingual text production


Definitions of translation “diachronic production of text within comparable contexts in

different languages, drawing on resources located towards the monolingual pole of the language contact cline [...] “translation as the in-context version of typology” (Figueredo, 2011:340).

“multi-functional paraphrase [...] under the constraints of the process of understanding and of the typology of the language systems involved”, each individual translation being “text production under the constraints of a source text” (Steiner, 2004)


A Translation Studies perspective• Evidence from translation product i.e. translated texts as

compiled in a corpus and compared to their originals (parallel corpora) and to non-translated texts in the target language (comparable corpora)

• Evidence from translation process i.e. logs of real-time text production within experimental setting and recorded through keylogging, screenlogging and eyetracking


Universals of translation hypothesis

When compared to non-translated texts in the target language, translations manifest frequencies of linguistic features which systematically deviate from non-translations regardless of the language pair: normalization (standardization), simplification, explicitation and levelling-out (conservatism)

(Baker 1993,1995, 1996; Laviosa-Braithwaite 1996, 1997)


Universals of translation

Evidence of explicitationHigher incidence of optional that in reporting clauses in translated vs.

non-translated English – (Burnett, 1999; Olohan and Baker 2000)Higher frequencies of reformulation markers such as in other words,

namely and that is to say in translated vs. nontranslated English (Mutesayire, 2005)

Evidence of SimplificationLower type-token ratio in translations (Laviosa-Braithwaite, 1996)

Evidence of standardisation More restricted use of contracted forms in translated English (Olohan 2003)


Unique items hypothesis Translated texts would manifest lower frequencies of linguistic

elements that lack linguistic counterparts in the source languages such that these could also be used as translation equivalents

(Tirkonnen-Condit, 2002)


Unique itemsIn Finnish (and Swedish), sufficiency lexicalized in verbs jaksaa

(Sw. orka); mahtua (Sw. rymmas); ehtiaÅN (Sw.hinna); riittaÅNaÅN (Sw. raÅNcka); viitsiaÅN (Sw. idas).

In English, no single lexical verb – construal as is strong enough; is small enough; is early enough / is quick enough / has enough time; is abundant or sizeable enough; has enough initiative, respectively.

When translating from English into Finnish, translators use these lexical verbs less frequently “as they do not tend to suggest themselves readily, certainly not as one-to-one equivalents to any particular item in the source text”.


Literal translation automaton hypothesis

• Tendency to translate word by word observed in novices as well as experts, and in process as well as product data.

• Literal translation as a default unless interrupted by a monitor that alerts about literal renditions that are not linguistically acceptable or contextually appropriate as translation equivalents.

• Same evidence found in experiments with bilinguals (Mandelblit, 1996) - sentences with different mapping in source and target languages take longer to translate and are first attempted through literal rendition

(Tirkonnen-Condit, 2005)


SFL-informed translation studies

Steiner (2001, 2004), Teich (2003), Neumann (2008)

• Combined use of parallel and comparable corpora• Cross-register analysis• SFL- informed analysis


Shining Through and Normalization

Teich (2003)

English originals and English translations from German have a higher frequency of passives than German translations from English and German originals

English translations have more passives than English originals - TL normalization (due to the tendency for translations to exaggerate the typical features or patterns of the TL)

There are more passives in the German translations than in the German originals – SL shining through (due to interference from the SL)


Explicitation

Neumann (2008)

When contrasted with a reference corpus, translations in the FICTION and LETTERS TO THE SHAREHOLDERS registers, unlike originals in these two registers, show an increase in the number of conjunctions - explicitation in terms of conjunction in these registers in the translation direction English-German


Properties of translated texts

Steiner, 2001 Three sources to account for properties of translated texts• typology of source language system reflected in some of the

properties of the translation (literal translation)• registers of source text and target text for a given context may

not be the same - translator(s) may decide on changes oriented to the register of target-text

• understanding on translator’s part involves relating given units of text to more explicit and more literal paraphrases


(De)metaphorisation hypothesis “Understanding” in monolingual and multilingual text

production can be modelled based on grammatical metaphor as relating meaningful (grammatical) units to their less

metaphorical variants = explicitation of meanings in original text drawing on co-textual and contextual knowledge.

De-metaphorization taking place at same time as re-wording in target language poses constraints on translator’s work

due to typological and/or registerial reasons, or fatigue


(De)metaphorisationTranslation from English into German (more nominal-type

phrases translated into more verbal-type phrases)

The suspicion that volcanic eruptions are the primary source of aerosols in the upper atmosphere has been around for many years. (English Original)

Seit vielen Jahren vermutet man schon, dass die Aerosole in den höheren Schichten der Atmosphäre vor allem aus Vulkanausbruchen stammen. (Translation)

Since many years suspects one already that the aerosols in the higher layers of the atmosphere above all stem from volcanic eruptions (word-for-word back-translation into English)


Shifts in levels of metaphoricityMetaphorisation - TL expression more metaphorical than SL

expressionDe-metaphorisation - SL expression more metaphorical than TL

expressionRe-metaphorisation - same degree of metaphoricity in SL and TL

expressions (implies de-metaphorisation and can only be observed in translation process!)

– Source text - Im Jahr 1982 kommt Howard Schultz zu Starbucks.– Target text 1 - The year of 1982 brings Howard Schulz to Starbucks.– Target text 2 - In 1982 Howard Schultz joins Starbucks.


In search for evidence in the process

• In the case of demetaphorization and metaphorization in the product, are these solutions arrived at in first renditions or worked out in several renditions?

• In the case of re-metaphorization, is there evidence of de-metaphorization as a previous step in the process?


Translation process

Alves, Pagano, Neumann, Steiner & Hansen-Schirra, 2010

Keylogging records the “history” of every group and clause in text production, from first renditions, interim solutions and final choices as they can be seen in translation product - Pauses are taken as indicators of effortful production

Screenlogging records computer activity (web/dictionary/online databank searches)

Eyetracking records areas of interest and foci and movements of fixationRecall protocols record subject’s account for his/her decisions


Sample ocurrenceSource textWir sind davon uberzeugt, dass erfolgreiche

Unternehmensfuhrung und soziale Verantwortung sich nicht widersprechen. We are of that convinced that successful management and social reponsability do not contradict each other

Target textWe are convinced that successful management and social

responsibility are not contradictory.


Aligned words with different PoS tags

TT1: We firmly believe that success business and social responsibility do not necessarily contradict each other.

TT2: We are convinced that successful management and social responsibility are not contradictory.

ST: Wir sind davon uberzeugt, dass erfolgreiche Unternehmensfuhrung und soziale Verantwortung sich nicht widersprechen.

verb

verb

adjective!Instance of grammatical shift.Explanation?

Phase TT1 TT2

Original sich nicht widersprechen

Drafting are not contradictions in terms

do not contradict

Drafting do not necessarily contradict each other

do not contradiction

Drafting are no contradiction

Revision are not in conflict

Revision are not contradictory

Back to verb; effect: no change in metaphoricity

Rank shift:Verb noun

Rank shift:Verb noun

Verb!

Rank shift: Noun adjective; effect: change in metaphoricity

Registerial constraints

Evidence from recall protocol:3:34: “mixture of grammatical and lexical problems …

wasn’t sure whether I wanted to use … a nominal or a verbal construction… that’s why I came back to this later”

14:06: „I mentioned that before … I was in conflict (laughter) … I didn‘t like ‚conflict‘ because it seemed too (?) for a corporate text … they wouldn‘t use negative words … that‘s why I changed it back to ‚contradictory‘ I think“

Implications

Two “behavioral patterns specific of translators” (Toury, 1995) bearing an impact on translated text production

1. Relying on “literal” translation as a first strategy for rendition2. (Un)packing more or less metaphorical wording in an effort to

understand the source text or due to typological and registerial constraints


Point of departure # 2

Register as a relevant notion to model translation


Register in Translation Studies• Long acknowledged as a key concept – as the translators proceeds

in his/her text production, he/she ‘calibrates’ register• Attempts to explore register in translator education either lack an

encompassing theory of language (Newmark 1988, Nord 1991, Stolze 1992, Wilss 1982) or, when they do draw on a theory, do not work with the notion of register in translation at a level of delicacy to tackle its complexity (cf. House 1977/97, 2001, Bell 1991, Hatim and Mason 1990, 1997, Taylor 1998).

• Within SFL studies, register in language contacts (multilingual production, translation) has not been sufficiently explored


Register complexity in translation• If the values for register variables are similar in two cultures,

translation, unlike multilingual text production, entails a “relative stability of register” (Steiner, 2004)

BUT

• Changes introduced in the target text in one registerial dimension may have impact on other dimensions of variation of a text

• Register variables may change as a text unfolds, which adds more complexity to the translator’s task.


Register complexity in translationIf systems of register features (variables) and their values differ

between languages and the values for register variables are different, the translator may need to “create” a register or to introduce a change in the target text in one registerial dimension, which may have impact on other dimensions of variation of a text.


Register complexity in translationMetaphorisation as a strategy to deal with contextual constraints

We hope that the Australian Embassy services in Brazil will be able to accommodate this short time frame (original)

... esperamos que a concessão do visto por parte das autoridades da Embaixada Australiana no Brasil não se veja prejudicada pela solicitação sem a devida antecedência (translation)

... we hope that the granting of the visa by the authorities at the Australian Embassy in Brazil will not be affected by the request filed without the due amount of time in advance (back translation)


Register complexity in translation• There may be explicit instructions in the situation in which

translation process takes place to change register values e.g. changes in tenor

• There are social norms regarding translation: what a translation is expected to look like, literal wording being a valid strategy for some texts or even yielding a valid target text, though not a ‘felicitous’ one from a comparable corpus perspective (see also Juliane House’s distinction between overt and covert translation)


Literal strategy

Bilingual edition of popular tales for foreign language learners

Hace mucho tiempo vivió un molinero que tuvo tres hijos, y nada más que su molino, su burrito y un gato para ellos.

Long long time ago, there lived a Miller with three sons and nothing else than his mill, his little ass and a cat for them.


Register (in)stability and translation

Impact from another language system excerted through registers deliberatly ‘mimicking’ source language registers

• Register (in)stability due to (in)stability of target text register

• Register (in)stability due to (in)stability brought about by the act of translation



Tourism promotional texts cross languages

Cross-cultural Register Studies Group

• Adriana Pagano, Universidade Federal Minas Gerais, Brazil• Ayako Ochi, Macquarie University, Australia• Maria Herke, Macquarie University, Australia• Marvin Lam, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong• Mira Kim, New South Wales University, Australia• Pattama Patpong, Mahidol University, Thailand• Sabine Bartsch, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany• Stella Neumann, Aaachen University, Germany,


Feature matrix for the analysis

StyleIndicators

Casual Consultative Neutral

Content orientation

No Yes (?) Yes

Addressee orientation

Yes Yes No

Shared background

Yes No No


Tourism promotional texts in Argentinian Spanish• Changes in the system of social distance in Argentinian Spanish – increasing use

of form of address “vos” for interactions previously calling for “usted”• Tourism promotional texts in Spanish modelled upon texts in English – need for

addressing the reader (“you”)• Random and sometimes concomitant use of “vos” and “usted” in non-translated

texts• Norm dictates that translated texts cannot be “too different” from originals (size

and structure)


Register complexity in translation• Source text “markedness” (Steiner, 2004) – (no conformance

to the expectations of readers) may demand conscious decisions on the part of the translator

• Translator’s agenda may be to draw on literal translation to introduce “foreignization” ( Venuti 1995)


Translating the “register(s)” in fiction

How to deal with register(s) in fiction that are based on real life registers but construe a particular “style”?

Katherine Mansfield’s Bliss in Portuguese and SpanishShould the translator base his/her choices on features of more or less colloquial

registers in his/her language so as to re-construe the style of Bliss?Should the translator build on the target language literary system and construe

a style patterned on practitioners of Mansfield’s style in those target systems?

Would Brazilian writer Clarice Lispector be a model for a translation of Mansfield to be patterned on?

Which female writer could be a model for a translation of Mansfield’s style in Spanish?


BlissALTHOUGH Bertha Young was thirty she still had moments like this when she wanted to run

instead of walk, to take dancing steps on and off the pavement, to bowl a hoop, to throw something up in the air and catch it again, or to stand still and laugh at - nothing - at nothing, simply.

What can you do if you are thirty and, turning the corner of your own street, you are overcome, suddenly by a feeling of bliss - absolute bliss! - as though you'd suddenly swallowed a bright piece of that late afternoon sun and it burned in your bosom, sending out a little shower of sparks into every particle, into every finger and toe?

Oh, is there no way you can express it without being "drunk and disorderly"? How idiotic civilisation is! Why be given a body if you have to keep it shut up in a case like a rare, rare fiddle?

"No, that about the fiddle is not quite what I mean," she thought, running up the steps and feeling in her bag for the key - she'd forgotten it, as usual - and rattling the letter-box. "It's not what I mean, because - Thank you, Mary" - she went into the hall. "Is nurse back?”

"Yes, M'm."


The register of translationsBUT

even in situations in which no deliberate decision is made to foreignize and no deliberate instruction is given to follow a literal strategy or to change register parameters,

due to source text constraints demanding typological and registerial alignments and constraints related to translator’s understanding ((de)metaphorization) and reliance on lexicogrammatical wording of the source text (literal strategy),

translated texts have properties that make them different from other texts. In this sense, translations can be seen as a “register” / “text-type” in

themselves (Steiner, 2001, 2004)


Register in translation

QuestionsHow to accommodate the ‘register’ of translations within a SFL

account of register?If translation is a register, how to describe its contextual

features?What is the impact on translator education and training? Would

expansion of learners’ registerial repertoires (Matthiessen, 2009) include the ‘register’ of translation?

And many other...


Register Translation

Documents

multilingual

text production

macquarie

tl expression

registerial

target text

target language

source text