Errors in translation, part I

8/10/2019 Errors in translation, part I

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Second lecture

Errors in translation


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1. Translations are still bound to befull of errors.

2. Different languages have differentproblem areas. What might bedifficult when translating an English

text into German does not necessarilyhave to be difficult when translatingthe same English text into French.


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Articles and definiteness

Definitenessis a feature of a noun phraseselected by a speaker to convey his

assumption that the hearer will be able toidentify the referent of the noun phrase,usually because it is the only thing of its

kind in the context of the utterance orbecause it is unique in the universe ofdiscourse.


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This definition must be put into a larger context of semanticsinorder to actually understand what it is about.

Thus one of the basic concepts semantics is dealing with is theconcept of referencewhich is usually defined as the relationshipbetween a linguistic utterance and a referent outside language.

e.g. dog /dog/ - a hairy four-leg animal with a tail able ofmaking a specific sound referred to as barking.

The speaker uses a particular linguistic utterance so as to refer to/point to/ single out an object or entity.

The speaker can refer to an object already singled out, that is familiarto the audience so that this process is not identification as in the case

when the speaker mentions an object for the first time; it is rather theprocess of defining/ specifying when more information about the objectis needed.

Only if we have properly identified and defined/ specified an object can

we be sure that our communicative intention has been realisedproperly.


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In English and in other languages where there are articles,the process of defining/ specifying may be twofold:

1. use defining referents or definite articles2. undefining referents or indefinite articles.

e.g. a man

the referent is undefining because the indefinite article a/anrefers to anyman, some man, a man we dont know.

But:the man when mentioned for the second time, andany time after that, because now it is the man that wehave already mentioned!

e.g. I went to the newsagents and bought anewspaperand a magazine. As soon as I get home, Ill

read the newspaperand later Ill read the magazine.


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Otiao sam do kioska i kupio novinei asopis. im stignem kuiproitau novine, a kasnije u proitati asopis.

There are NO ARTICLES!!!

WHY???

As far as this example is concerned, we can ignore the articles. TheSerbian newspaper-and-magazine example is in fact correct only if thearticles are not translated into some unfortunate forms of neki/ jedanor taj/ ovajas may be done in some other case.

We have adjusted the definiteness of the English nouns to the Serbian

language which does not have the same sense of definiteness.

Conclusion: The Serbian language does not need the semanticfeature known as definiteness because the context of every particularnoun clearly indicates whether it is definite or indefinite.


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A mancrossed the streetand asked me somedisturbing questionsabout the murderin the

housenext-door.

The several articles occurring in this sentence, if translatedliterally, will give us the following rendering:

Jedan/ neki ovekje preao tu ulicui postavio mi nekauznemirujua pitanjao tom ubistvukoje se desilo utoj susednoj kui.

A much better translation would be:

Jedan/ neki ovekpreaoje ulicui postavio minekolikouznemirujuih pitanjao ubistvukoje sedesilo u susednoj kui.


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What we are faced with when translating definiteness is amatter of contextand only in the sense of context can weactually have accurate renderings.

A short and precise definition of context would be that it isthe environment of a word including all other linguisticallyand extralinguistically important elements that may refer tothat particular word.

The starslit the skyand we all loved the sight.Analysis!!!!!

1. There are 3 NPs with a definite article2. Only the sight can be analysed according to

definiteness because the sentence provides thecontext for a definite article3. There is no linguistic rule for the stars and the sky

but there is the extralinguistic context of the sentence!


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A proper translation into Serbian would be:

Zvezdesu obasjale neboi svima nama se dopao taj prizor.

1. As in the case of the newspaper and the magazine there is noway by means of which we could indicate the definiteness of thefirst two NPs.

2. It is simply a matter of grammar in the Serbian languagesuggesting we know that there are no other stars or sky except theones we mention in our sentence.

3. What about the NP taj prizor? The quasi-article in front of thenoun head is clearly indicating definiteness and without it the

sentence might seem incomplete in Serbian.

4. The article is obviously indicating that we are referring to theprizorof the zvezdein the neboalthough the NPs themselves donot contain a definite article.


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Verb forms

Errors concerning proper verb forms, especially whentranslating a text from the Serbian into the English language, aremainly based on the fact that there is no direct correspondence

between most of the verb forms in the two languages. The mostcommon mistakes occurring in translations from the Serbian into theEnglish language are the following:

A) The sequence of tenses

There are mainly two cases of improper sequenceoccurring in translations:1. in indirect speechand

2. in conditional clauses.

What a translator must bear in mind is that there is aconcept of sequence which might not be so important inSerbian as it is in English.


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On je rekao da je ve uradio domai.He said that he had already donehishomework.

* He said that he already didhis homework.

Kada bih imala para, kupila bih nova kola.If I hadthe money, I would buy a new car.*If I would havethe money, I would buy anew car.


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B) Infinitives, gerunds and participles

I posmatrao je svog sina kako uzima loptu i baca je u bazen.And he watched his son take the ball and throw it into the pool.

*And he watched his son how he takesthe ball and throwsit intothe pool.

Devojka je nastavila da ide putem ne obazirui se na ljude oko sebe.The girl kept on walking along the way without looking at the peoplestanding around.

*The girl kept on to walkalong the way without looking at the peoplestanding around.

Certain expressions should be translated by means of a perfective infinitive.

Svi su smatrali da je sudija doneo nepravednu odluku.

The judge was generally considered to have made an unjustdecision.

Correct but probably not as strong as the above:

Everybody thought that the judge had made an unjustdecision.


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C) The subjunctive

After phrases, such as as if, as though, I wish, Its high

timeetc. the subjunctive form, present or past, isobligatory.

Voleo bih da imam mnogo prijatelja.I wish I hadmany friends.

*I wish I would havemany friends.

Ponaao se kao da je u najmanju ruku kralj.He acted as if/ as though he wereat least a king.

*He acted as if/ as though he isat least a king.

Krajnje je vreme da preduzmemo neto u vezi saovom situacijom.Its high time we didsomething about this situation.*Its high time we dosomething about this situation.


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D) Modal verbsModality in English is a very specific area and most Serbian speakersmight not be aware of the particular types of modality referring to

certain meanings.

Moda je ve otiao na stanicu, a mi ga nismo videli.He might already have goneto the station and we didntsee him.

Also correct but not expressing the meaning of probability as stronglyas the modal construction:

Perhaps he wentto the station and we didnt see him.

Pokuao sam da joj objasnim da situacija mora da se sagledasa raznih stanovita.I tried to convince her that the situation had to beconsidered from different points of view.*I tried to convince her that the situation must to beconsidered from different points of view.

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Errors in translation, part I