FUNCTIONAL APPROACHES in TRANSLATION STUDIES,

CONTRASTIVE LINGUISTICS and FUNCTIONALISM

In the early phase of translation studies contrastive linguistics played a

major role. Independent translation studies or, indeed, translatological

approaches were rare because translation theory had not evolved as an

independent area of scholarly research. Such research was usually seen as

belonging to the realm of linguistics until Wilss in 1977 published his

programmatic book which later was published in English (The Science of

Translation. Problems and Methods, 1982).

In his earlier work Wilss was influenced by French representatives of

stylistique compare; Vinay/Darbelnet (1968). He makes frequent use of the

notion of transposition or shift. Transposition and shift are still used to

describe the translation process, the idea being that the need for transpositions or

shifts arises when there is no formal one-to-one correspondence between source

and target language structures.

The basic concept is that whenever there is a need for transposition, we

are faced with a translation problem. For instance if we have to translate an

English sentence such as:

(1) The spelling of catalog/ue is divided, with the shorter form gaining.

There is no way Romanian syntax allows us to imitate the English

construction. We could therefore translate by transposition.

Contrastive approaches to translation would point out such transpositions

or shifts and translation textbooks would collect them systematically with a view

to providing help for translators in difficult situations. Some go one step

further and formulate language-pair specific rules for the translation of certain

syntactic or lexical phenomena, e.g. with plus participle is best translated into

German by the use of a wobei plus finite verb subordinate clause.

Although this approach seems to be rather obsolete from a functionalist

point of view it is still popular.

Implicitly, such approaches are based on the assumption that normally one

can (and should) imitate syntactical structures and semantic-lexical distributions

fairly closely and that it is therefore important to learn about the exceptional

cases where this is not possible. A large amount of international research has

been, and still is, devoted to contrastive studies of this kind, contrasting and

comparing specific areas of language pairs systematically with the ultimate

target to provide a contrastive grammar which will provide rules for

translators.

Most recent contrastive studies, however, are well aware of the difficulties

encountered in such an approach and introduce functionalist principles into

contrastive approaches.

Text Typology

The first step in a new direction was small but important. Katharina Rei

in her book Mglichkeiten und Grenzen der bersetzungskritik (1971) still

adhered to the principle of preserving the original function of the source text but

she based her contrastive approach not so much on lexical and syntactic units

but on text-types. It is significant that she did not base her semantic analyses on

traditional models but applied the so-called organon model of the Austrian

psychologist Karl Bhler to translating. According to him the linguistic sign has

three basic functions: it is a symbol of extralinguistic reality (representational

function), it is a symptom of the senders attitude toward the described reality

(expressive function) and it is a signal which stimulates responses from the

recipient (appellative function). Bhlers notion of a threefold function of

language was adapted by Reiss for translation purposes. She talks of the

predominant functions of texts which she labels as (1) content-focused texts

such as news items, business correspondence, official documents or manuals, (2)

form-focused texts which mainly include literary genres such as novels, plays

and poetry, and (3) appeal-focused texts such as advertising, satirical prose,

pamphlets or election speeches.

Rei text types are based on the notion of dominance or hierarchy. She is

aware of the fact that content-focused texts may have sometimes very

obvious formal features. For instance, business correspondence is marked by

a large number of politeness conventions. Also, it is hard to imagine form-

focused texts without any content, and appeal-focused texts, such as advertising,

may use formal (sometimes poetic) devices to market a product. For Reis it is a

question of dominance. There is dominance of content over form or form over

content or appeal over both form and content.

By focusing on (high-ranking) text-types, Rei introduces (lower-ranking)

variables into translation. Whereas in traditional contrastive studies words and

phrases are defined as translation units, for Rei the preservation of text types

becomes the aim of translation. Consequently, lower-ranking parts of a text may,

indeed, must be changed if this is the only way to preserve the text type. This

is particularly obvious with the appeal-focused text-type, e.g. in advertising.

In order to appeal to readers and potential customers, publicity for

products often plays with their prejudices and associations. GARDENA garden

tools, for instance, are produced in Germany and their advertisements underline

the technical sophistication of the products. In advertisements placed in the

British press, GARDENA poked gentle fun at the German pedantry and

attention to detail in the manufacturing of their products. Conversely,

advertisements for British products such as AFTER EIGHT MINTS or SIR

WINSTON TEA in Germany play on British snobbery and conservative

attitudes.

Words and phrases may or must be changed if the translation wants to

achieve the same appeal as the source text.

Mutatis mutandis the same principle obtains in the translation of the

expression-focused and information-focused text types: information and appeal

are less important in expression-focused passages of this text type than the

preservation of the expression focus, e.g. rhymes, imagery and alliteration must

be preserved when translating poetry. When translating information-focused

text-types, however, (e.g. Business English, manuals), the information must be

preserved, even if this means that in certain passages appeal- or expression-

focus may be lost.

It is easy to underrate or, indeed, criticise Rei pioneering work with

hindsight and from a modern functionalist or relevance-oriented (see below)

point of view. Seen in the context of its time, it was a major step forward in

introducing more flexibility into translation by moving away from a rigid system

of contrastively defined equivalences.

By making the dominant text type the basis for translation-related

decision-making processes, Rei firmly established that there is no absolutely

correct translation of individual words or phrases out of context. At the same

time she provided her readers with methods and approaches to textual analysis

which helped them to define this context in a more detailed way.

It must be seen, however, that Rei, when discussing the translation of her

text types, does this with a view to preserving the function of the source text.

She is aware of the fact that there are changes of function through translation,

but she essentially sees them as exceptions. So the focus of her approach is still

on the source text.

SKOPOS Theory

In 1978, Hans J. Vermeer, then professor at the Faculty of Applied

Linguistics in Mainz/Germersheim, published an article entitled Ein Rahmen

fr eineallgemeine Translationstheorie (A General Framework Theory of

Translation). It marked the beginning of a new approach to translation studies

which later became known as functionalism.

There is no functionalist school in the sense that the concept was worked

out programmatically, but other scholars have contributed to developing the

functionalist approach among them Hans G. Hnig and Paul Kumaul and

Christiane Nord (then University of Heidelberg).

Hans Vermeer went one decisive step further than Rei. He placed

translation firmly in the context of sociolinguistic pragmatics by declaring that

translations must be seen as acts. Texts, according to Vermeer, are produced for

defined recipients and with a defined purpose. This general principle also

obtains for translations they are special cases of text-bound pragmatic acts.

One of the key words to understanding his approach is information

offered, which means that the source text should no longer be seen as the sacred

original, and the purpose (Skopos) of the translation can no longer be deduced

from the source text but depends on the expectations and needs of the target

readers. In order to translate successfully, the translator has to get acquainted

with the specific situation of the recipients of his/her translation in the target

culture.

Vermeers ideas have become widely known under the label skopos

theory. The Greek word skopos stands for the purpose of the translation which is

basically decided on by the translator. S/he may be held responsible for the

result of his/her translational acts by recipients and clients. In order to act

responsibly, however, translators must be allowed the freedom to decide in co-

operation with their clients what is in their best interests.

The most comprehensive discussion of Vermeers ideas can be found in

the book he wrote in collaboration with Katharina Rei under the title

Framework Theory of Translation (1984). It is probably the most influential

work in translation studies quoted and referred to by both friends and foes of this

framework theory of translation. Skopos theory and functionalism focus on the

translator, giving him/her both more freedom and more responsibility. S/he can

no longer refer to rules of the kind developed by contrastive approaches, and the

traditional notion of equivalence becomes obsolete to those who have adopted

Vermeers ideas.

At the same time translating is described in far more complex terms than

before. Translators do not just apply linguistic rules, nor is translation a purely

linguistic activity. Knowledge and methods from other disciplines, notably

psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, communication studies, even brain

physiology are integrated into translation studies (seen from this angle, Mary

Snell-Hornbys important book Translation Studies. An Integrated Approach,

published in 1988, can be seen in this context of skopos theory and

functionalism).

It is not surprising that Vermeers ideas have been attacked and

occasionally misunderstood. He has been accused of advocating arbitrariness

and a disregard for the value of the source text. In actual fact, he never

maintained that the purpose of a text should always be changed in translation.

He is aware of the present tradition of literary translation in Western cultures

where a literary text remains embedded in the source culture. Indeed, his

approach is far from dogmatic.

The DEGREE of PRECISION and LOYALTY

Even in the eyes of those scholars who generally adopted Vermeers

ideas, two questions remained open, both connected with the actual decision

making processes involved in translating:

(1) How can we make sure that translators base their decisions for a

certain translation-skopos on intersubjectively valid criteria, thus defending

them against the above-mentioned criticism of acting arbitrarily? This question

was addressed by Christiane Nord.

(2) Is it enough to provide a framework theory of translation, should

there not (at least for didactic purposes) be a more detailed account of

translation relevant decision-making processes?

It is significant for the functionalist approach that we talk about strategies

and not about rules or principles. Translation theory must provide support for

decision making strategies, but it cannot and must not establish rules instead of

decision making. Therefore, the principle of the necessary degree of precision

was proposed as a guiding line (for a discussion cf. Snell-Hornby, 1988: 44ff.).

The word necessary, of course, again emphasises the fact that in functionalist

approaches there can never be absolutes what is necessary depends on the

function of the translation. I shall illustrate this principle by giving a few

examples from Hnig and Kusssmaul (1982: 58ff).

When we are faced with institutional terms such as bachelors or

masters degree, grammar school, comprehensive school, county council,

House of Lords etc., there is no equivalent institution in the target culture, and

we have to paraphrase or explain the meaning of the term, but we often do not

know how much information to give our target readers. Is a short paraphrasing

enough or should we add a sentence in brackets or even insert a footnote? Nor is

it sensible to advise translators to tell their readers everything about the

cultural background of these terms and concepts. There has to be a cut-off point

where translators can safely say: This is all my readers have to know in this

context.

But how to find and define it?

The principle of the necessary degree of precision is by no means limited

to culture-specific terms and indeed not to the meaning of words alone, but it

can best be illustrated by this type of translation problem. For instance, the term

public school implies such a large amount of culture-specific knowledge that it

is impossible to render its meaning completely in a translation. Within a

functionalist approach, however, the function of a word in its specific context

determines to what degree the cultural meaning should be made explicit. In a

sentence such as:

(2a) In Parliament he fought for equality, but he sent his son to Eton.

The translation will have to be different from translating the identical term

Eton in the sentence:

(3a) When his father died his mother could not afford to send him to Eton

any more.

The following translations would be sufficiently detailed:

(2b) In Parlament milita pentru egalitate, dar pe fiul sau l-a trimis la una

din scolile englezesti de elita.

3b) Cand a murit tatal lui mama lui nu si-a mai permis sa-l trimita la o

scoala privata costisitoare/scumpa.

Of course, there is more factual knowledge implied in the terms Eton or

public school than expressed in the translation, but the translation mentions

everything that is important within the context of the sentence, in other words,

the translation is semantically precise enough.

This is, of course, not only true for cultural terms. Practically all lexical

items contain several semantic features and it depends on (verbalised) co-textual

or (implied) contextual information which of them is activated. There is a very

illustrative example provided by Barclay et al. (1974) and quoted by Hrmann

(1981). The word piano has (potentially) several semantic features: HEAVY,

WOODEN, SOUND-PRODUCING, BEAUTIFUL possibly more. If,

however, a person hears or reads the sentences:

(1) The man lifted the piano (HEAVY).

(2) The man smashed the piano (WOODEN).

(3) The man tuned the piano (SOUND-PRODUCING).

(4) The man photographed the piano (BEAUTIFUL).

The verbs in turn activate one of the various features which make up the

meaning of piano. The first sentence activates the feature HEAVY, the second

activates WOODEN, the third SOUND-PRODUCING and the fourth

BEAUTIFUL (Barclay, et al., 1974: 476; Hrmann, 1981: 139).

To return to the examples: if the translation was focused on the British

education system, in explaining to laypersons the difference between public and

state schools, one might consider translating public school in a very detailed

way, perhaps adding an explanatory footnote. If, however, the translator can

safely (i.e. on an informed basis) assume that readers are familiar with British

cultural terms and concepts, s/he could well leave Eton untranslated or

rather, decide to translate it with Eton.

I have now suggested four different translations for one word and that

is, given other, defined functions of the translation there would probably be

two, three or four more. This is exactly what makes the functionalist approach to

translation in general (and translation quality assessment in particular) so

frustrating for its critics: there are no absolute rules, only strategies; there is no

correct translation for any one word, only an acceptable one.

This does not mean, however, that by choosing a functionalist approach

you can justify a mistranslation. Thus a translation such as:

(2c) In Parlament milita pentru egalitate, dar pe fiul sau l-a trimis la

scoala la Eton.

would not be precise enough and would have to be classified as

unacceptable. The feature elitist, which is implied in the term public school

and which is made prominent in the original sentence by the context, cannot be

deduced from the translation by the Romanian reader. Unless, that is, the

translator can provide evidence that his readers are familiar with the concept of

Eton (e.g. if the translation is going to be published in an anglophile and erudite

readers).

I shall now return to the first question asked about the functionalist

approach and provide the answer given by Christiane Nord (1993). According to

Vermeers framework theory, one could argue, any skopos convenient to the

translator could be chosen by him/her for his/her translation. But writes Nord

(1993: 17ff) there is no absolute freedom for the translator because his/her

choice is limited by what is accepted in any given society as a translation. These

cultural traditions and conventions define what degree of resemblance must

exist between a source text and its translation in order for it to qualify as a

proper translation.

It is for this reason that Nord introduces the concept of loyalty. Acting

loyally as a translator means taking the responsibilities seriously which

translators have not only with regard to their clients and users of their

translations, but also with regard to the author(s) of the source text. Authors

expect translations to have the features translations have in their cultural

traditions, but they are usually in no position to check whether translators work

in accordance with these norms. A loyal translator will therefore inform his/her

client and/or user if this is the case and s/he will not consciously violate these

norms and traditions without informing the author(s). In other words: the skopos

of the translation must be compatible with the intentions of the source text

author(s). If they are not, it is the translators duty to inform his/her client

accordingly.

Conclusion

Functionalist approaches have become popular in translation studies. The

didactic value of functional approaches lies in the fact that they support

decision-making strategies. They steer a clear middle course between vague,

unreflected maxims for translators like One should translate as precisely as one

can and freely when the need arises and absolute rules. Functional approaches

give translators the guidelines they need for their decisions. As we have seen

from the discussion of the examples, however, there are no simple rules.

Translators should be able to start a chain of reflection, as it were, and see

the links between the textual item, the immediate context, the larger context, the

function of the source text and the function (or skopos) of the target text in its

target cultural situation.

DOMAIN SPECIFIC KNOWLEDGE

As noted by Bowker and Pearson (2002:28), Because LSP users have

different levels of expertise there are different levels of LSP

communications. Some specialized subjects will be more easily accessible

to the translator than the others, depending on the complexity of subject

knowledge and the intricacy of conceptual interaction. Some apparently

densely packed texts (conceptually) may often turn out to be an accumulation

of Language Specific Purpose terms linked by Language General Purpose

words, and knowledge of what the terms refer to will often suffice for an

adequate translation. On the other hand, subjects relying on the development

of complex lines of reasoning (e.g. mathematics, quantum physics) may

prove inaccessible even when armed with appropriate terminology, due to the

conceptual organization. Bowker and Pearson remind us that there is a

difference between knowing/learning and subject and knowing/learning the

LSP used to discuss the subject (2000:29). They advocate use of specific

corpus to develop domain-specific expertise.

To be competent to translate texts from some domains, the translator may

require a degree of formal training in the subject (e.g. law), since breakdowns

in communication may entail serious consequences (financial or diplomatic).

For example, culture specificity of the system and its operating principles (a

countrys legal system) may mean that there is no TL concept to express a SL

principle or process. Documents intended to carry equal status in law in

source and target cultures (contracts, patents), will require expert knowledge

of the two systems. However, for translation for informative purposes only,

and also sometimes for highly formulaic documents attesting to simple

information (e.g. birth certificates), careful research (expert corpora) should

generate sufficient understanding to enable the translation to be completed

successfully.

Domains which may appear to be based on specialized knowledge may in

fact be more accessible to a wider public, thanks to mass media

communications and a general intention by the media to educate the

viewing and reading public, who, as a result, have become more aware of

specialist concepts in fields which interest them. National broadsheets often

carry quite specialized reports on the environment, telecommunications and

IT, the finance industry (shares, loans, credit, investment, and banking), cars,

health, sport, etc. Readers do not usually consider these as specialized texts

but in so far as specialized labels (terms) are required to discuss and

understand the domain, there is a degree of domain-specificity. Translators

who read widely and regularly in the quality national press will acquire

passive awareness of a number of subjects, which can form the basis for

further research. Being aware of the degree of subject knowledge that can be

assumed to be held by the target language addressee is another key factor,

and this can be determined by careful analysis of the translation brief,

including the intended source of publication of the TT; consider the

difference in reader knowledge between readers of a text on a similar subject,

to be accessed via the internet or the weekly press.

For example: the subject of the following extract from an advertisement

for broadband, although a specialized domain, is widely familiar to readers of

the UK broadsheet, THE INDEPENDENT. Special effects include direct

address, rhetorical questions, use of CAPITAL letters, and listing of names of

other companies. The text type is advertising, the communicative function

appellative, and the subject is semi-specialized. This is just one example of

how specialized subjects have become common-place.

Notice how you didnt have to wait for all these words to load? You just turned the page and there they were. Now why arent web pages that

quick?

Thing is they can be, if you get your broadband (T) from us.

Only VIRGIN Media use fibre optic cable (T) to deliver broadband (C) and its widely available across the UK.

Youll find everyone else BT, TalkTalk, Tiscali, Orange, Sky (intercultural references) all use copper telephone wire (T) and thats been around for a hundred years.

The truth is, copper wire wasnt designed for the internet.

The Independent, 03.02.08

TRANSLATING L1 INTO - L2

Language competence, as Neurbert put it, remains a sine qua non of

translation, and it is more than a commonplace to point out the extreme value of

the mother tongue knowledge and skill, often grossly underestimated by the

translation student; also, alas, by the practitioner and last but not least, by the

commissioner of a translation (Neurbert, 2000:7). While, theoretically, near-

perfect knowledge of both L1 and L2 is required for quality translation work, in

practice, the mastery of ones mother tongue is nearly always superior to ones

proficiency in a foreign language.

This is the reason why, for instance, a major translation service such as

that of the European Commission and of the European Parliament distinguishes

between L1-L2 and L2-L1 translations and selects its personnel accordingly.

Christiane Nord made it very clear that her model for a translation-

oriented source text analysis should be valid for both directions, i.e. translating

into as well as out of the translators native language (Nord, 1991:1-2). Indeed,

it could be argued that many of the errors present in the translations made by

non-native speakers could be eliminated should the translator take the necessary

steps, obtain the brief, identify the translation problems in the source language

text and solve them using the proper tools. However, it is our belief that, when

working into a foreign language, certain aspects definitely require a specific

focus.

Strategies for Approaching Informative Texts

First and foremost, translators must never lose sight of the fact that, to

quote the same Nord, what the translator can do, and should do, is to produce a

text that is at least likely to be meaningful to target-culture receivers (Nord,

1997:32). What happens in actual practice, however, is that the translators

confronted with the challenge of working into a foreign language revert to what

they believe to be a safety mode, striving for maximum inclusiveness and

implicitly for linguistic equivalence. Thus, they eventually come to dilute the

core message of the source language text to render it highly ambiguous, buried

under a heap of useless or irrelevant linguistic material.

Example:

The following press release was posted in England on the official site of the Romanian

government http://www.guv.ro/engleza/pres/afis-doc.php, accessed on 09.17.2007).

Statement by Prime Minister about the election of the new patriarch

of the Romanian Orthodox Church

I am convinced that through the election of Metropolitan Bishop Daniel as

Patriarch, the Romanian Orthodox Church can reaffirm once more its

important role as moral landmark of Romanian conscience. It can affirm

more its role in the important social projects it has undertaken over the

years. I am glad that it has thus succeeded a very smooth passage which

was necessary with respect to the election of the new patriarch, although I

cannot but express a certain disappointment, seeing the attempts which

have been made lately to politicize this important moment, in which the

entire political milieu ought to get involved to an even lesser extent.

We see that in this case, the intelligibility and readability of the text were

not compromised by grammatical and lexical errors, but rather by the pursuit of

a literal and detailed rendering of the original. Structure like moral landmark,

landmark of Romanian conscience, it has thus succeeded very smooth passage

which was necessary with respect to the election of the new patriarch, and in

which the entire political milieu ought to get involved to an even lesser extent

seems clumsy and out of place. It may have been preferable to speak about the

church as a provider of moral and spiritual guidance, about the PMs happiness

with this prompt and uneventful election of the new patriarch, and about his

desire to see less political involvement in such an event. It is here that Grices

maxim of manner, which advocates clarity, lack of ambiguity, brevity, and

orderliness becomes highly significant. Also relevant in this context is his

maxim of relation, which advises us to render the target text in such a way that

the reader may disregard irrelevant detail and recognize those elements which

belong to the primary ideational structure. Of course, any formally trained

translator knows that unless otherwise required by the brief, he or she should

pursue a functional equivalence between the source-language text and the target-

language text, rather than a linguistic equivalence between the two. Translators

must take into account that when working into a foreign language the

imperatives of clarity and economy of means must be given an importance at

least equal to that of functional equivalence. In point of fact, considering the

unavoidable loss incurred in the case of L1 to L2 translations, the safety mode

is not a literal rendering of the source language text, but a clear, simple,

straightforward rendering of its core message. Thus, according to Rice, If a

topic and its discussion (its essential substance) are fully represented in a

translation, the translation must be considered satisfactory (Reiss 2000a:29).

A significant body of specialized literature is available today in order to

persuade translation students of the fact that the loss of certain elements in

translation is less of a disaster than the production of a complex, ambiguous and

ultimately unintelligible message. As Nida himself pointed out, Messages

differ primarily in the degree to which content or form is the dominant

consideration in some messages the content is of primary consideration, and

in others the form must be given a higher priority (Nida, 2000:127). Nidas

observations were taken one step further by Reiss, who classified texts as

informative, expressive and operative1.

According to Reiss, in the translation of informative texts, unity of content

should take precedence over all other considerations (unless otherwise required

by the translation brief). Second, it could be argued that when working into a

language other than their mother tongue, translators unless truly confident that

they are capable of handling stylistic material in the target language should

programmatically seek concision and clarity of message at the expense of style.

Romanian into English translations chiefly specialized literature in the

humanities and nonfiction books has shown that more often than not the

unacceptable elements in a translation were precisely those that did not belong

there in the first place.

Example: Fragments from a statement made by the Romanian Prime

Minister and posted on the official site of the Romanian Government

It is an ambitious project which we want to start and hope to be able to

materialize next year so that all pupils up to high school might extend

this program for the high school too to have a computer to help them in

the education process, to open them new horizons towards knowledge.

Since today, computer has become a wonder of technology; it has become

a working instrument in all the spheres of social economic activities. We

want to allow them access to internet communication, because we are

convinced that this shall represent an important advantage not only on

todays educational process but also in their future training

1 The category of informative texts would include press releases and comments, news reports,

commercial correspondence, inventories of merchandise, operating instructions, treaties, specific

documents, educational works, non-fction books of all sorts, essais, treaties,theses and specialized

literature in the humanities, the natural sciences and other technical fields.

By and large, we could say that usually the elements that were worst translated

may have been easily dispensed with from the very beginning, or replaced by a

clearer and simpler paraphrase. In the case of scientific texts, the situation is

further worsened by the fact that the Romanian scientific style favours verbose

structures and a complex syntax, either by convention or in the belief that a

simple, straightforward statement of ideas might somewhat be interpreted as a

sign of intellectual simplicity. In English, however, the situation is the precise

opposite. In point of fact, Neurbert and Shreve mentioned that Source texts

may be unclear, ambiguous, verbose, and poorly organized, asking the question

whether the translator should or should not correct such failings. The answer,

obviously, has to do with the priorities set by the translation brief and with the

type of text under discussion. For informative texts of the kinds discussed above,

and especially when they are translated into a language different from the

translators mother tongue, we believe that clarity and economy of means are

advisable if not downright mandatory.

There is just one caveat which needs to be mentioned here. Speaking of

natural translations, translations that read easily in the target language, Nida

pointed out that some translators fall into the error of making a relatively

straightforward message in the source language sound like a complicated legal

document in the receptor language by trying too hard to be completely

unambiguous (Nida, 2000:138). Indeed, while explaining out in the target

language a piece of informative material that was rather tortuously or

ambiguously expressed in the source language is definitely a recommended

strategy, one must not disregard the fact that economy of means is more

important for the clarity of a demonstration than a minute and detailed

presentation of all of its components.

Regarding the necessity of cultural adaptation, one particular aspect

related to this issue has to be highlighted here situationality broadly

understood as the location of a text in a discreet socio-cultural context in a real

time and place (Neubert and Shreve, 1992:85), often disregarded by translators.

The element in question has to do with the place of text reception. It would be

preferable to discriminate between US and UK spelling and vocabulary when

working for one or the other of these language communities.

Other Intratextual Elements

In what concerns sentence structure, simplicity is advisable when working

for instance, from Romanian (L1) into English (L2). As a general rule, English

favours shorter, clearer sentences, especially in informative texts. As this is

hardly ever the case with similar Romanian texts, translators must develop the

skill of breaking the message into smaller, less ambiguous units, and of resorting

to strategies such as paraphrasing or fronting in order to simplify sentence

structure and make the message more clear. The systematic recourse to simple

subject-verb-object in the spirit of the English language is advisable (in the

translation of informative texts) when the translator is not a native speaker of

English.

An OVERVIEW of KEY FACTORS INVOLVED in

TRANSLATING SPECIALISED TEXTS

Functionalist approaches consider translation as a form of deliberate

communicative action, for a fixed purpose, to communicate information in a

written document to a new group of addressees in a target culture, drawing on

Action Theory and the link between intention of the actor, the perception of the

object of the action, and the form of communication chosen. The purpose or

skopos (Vermeer 1984) of the target text, together with awareness of the

presumed knowledge of the target language addressee (concerning source

culture and the subject of the text) will guide the translator in making decisions

about how much of the ST to carry over to the TT, whether or not further

explicitation will be needed, and how best to achieve this. This principle is

equally applicable in any translation situation, regardless of the genre and type

of text. Adopting a functionalist approach to translation should lead to

production of a functionally adequate text, that is, a text which is fit for the

purpose for which it was commissioned (which is detailed in that translation

brief provided by the client).

Reiss (1984) sketches a basic taxonomy of text types, in terms of their

communicative function of a text which will both set up expectations as to its

structure and use of language, and act as the basis for translation decisions. For

example, if a text is primarily appellative (e.g. advertising) but also contains

factual information (e.g. advertisement for a car), then where translation

decisions involve resolving a clash of priorities, the primary function will take

precedence. Other scholars (Nord 2005) use the label text type to denote the

genre or type of communicative event (letter, newspaper report, official bulletin,

contract).

Neubert (2000) describes key attributes of a competent translator. These

include language and cultural competence, subject, textual and transfer

competence, all of which add up to an overall translation competence.

Language competence for specialised translation will assume basic native

speaker fluency in SL and TL (ST interpretation and TL production).

Cultural competence will integrate awareness of previous key texts on a

subject and associated culture-based institutions, as well as familiarity

with the relevant body, or bodies, which regulate the domain and the

sharing of information within this.

Subject competence relates to a degree of familiarity with domain-

specific concepts, processes and objects, and their interaction with a

knowledge structure.

Textual competence is often overlooked in favour of the other five sub-

skills, and yet this is an integral element of any translation task, not least

for specialised translation. This is about knowing HOW to organize

WHAT in the written text, to be discussed in our consideration of text

type conventions.

Research skills include the ability to search for useful sources to inform

the translation process, and thus include the subject of Corpora.

For would-be translators of specialised texts, the challenge is to identify the

minimum degree of awareness, familiarity and knowledge necessary for

adequate understanding and transfer of the message, in the most appropriate

forms (cf. Neubert and Shreve, 1992: discussion of Standards of Textuality:

acceptability and intentionality).

Culture-Specificity and Text Type Conventions

Communication is a culturally defined activity, often conventionalised through

repeated refinement of practice, in order to achieve maximum clarity and

economy, through the application of patterns of text production and use of

language which both conform to reader expectations and serve to embed even

further these patterns in the collective archive of expectations.

In considering culture-specificity of behaviour, the following definition

may be useful: culture is the values, attitudes, beliefs, artefacts and other

meaningful symbols represented in the pattern of life adopted by people that

help them interpret, evaluate and communicate as members of society (Rice

1993).

Texts are described by Chandler (2002) as a collection of signs, and as

complexes of signs which cohere both internally and within the context in and

for which they were produced.

Texts are sub-sets of genres, which are exemplars of communicative

events in a given culture. Writing about the culture-specificity of genres and

their normative effect, Schaffner also notes the need for a translator "to produce

the TT as an instance of the genre for the target culture." Culture specificity in

texts is described by Nord in terms of cultural references to people, places,

institutions and intertextual references. This concept also applies in relation to

formal conventions for macro-textual features: organisation of informative

content or development of an argumentative process. The translators awareness

of how culture shapes text production and content is fundamental to successful

target text production:

The translator is not the sender of the ST message but a text producer in the

target culture who adopts somebody elses intention in order to produce a communicative instrument for the target culture or a target culture document

of a source culture communication.

For specialised translation, the primary communicative function is usually

informative, as text producers seek to share information about the specialised

domain of activity with others, usually their peers (equivalent level of expert

knowledge) but also sometimes with a wider public (for example through

specilized reports in the press, on television or radio). Information is delivered

through use of correct labels for concepts, objects and processes (terminology

and collocations) and this is often perceived as the major, or indeed sole,

translation challenge. However, in addition to accurate transfer of informative

content and correct use of terminology, the translator will need to understand

how the (written) information should be articulated in the target language

because, being culture-bound communicative signs, both the source and the

target text are determined by the communicative situation in which they serve to

convey a message (Nord).

Texts-in-culture tend, over time, to adopt ever-more standardised or

conventionalised ways of presenting the message, otherwise known as text type

conventions. These will guide and determine a range of text production criteria,

including structure and organisation of macrotextual features (chunks of

information), syntax, style, register, use of punctuation, lay-out, etc.

Communicating intentions, attitudes, facts

Domain specific communication often involves particular use of syntactic

forms to signal communicative intentions, which can be described using the

concept of Speech Acts, for example: to declare, promise, forbid, give or deny

permission, or to indicate obligations, possibility, conditional actions, warning,

emphasis, inter alia. In English these may be realised as follows:

Declare: declare, state, affirm, reiterate, emphasize; promise: pledge,

swear, promise, commit to, future simple (we will do this); forbid: is

forbidden, cannot be done, will not happen; give or deny permission:

the service provider may increase the rental charge, subject to prior

notice/provided that (conditions) the lesser is given advance notice of

this intention; the tenant may not alter the current state of decoration

of the premises without prior permission of the owner; obligations;

bills must be paid by the first of the month; tenants are required to

give the months notice of intention to terminate the contract; notice

shall be given of any changes made to the vehicle; the employee

shall give one months notice of intention to leave the employment.

Possibility, the new Act may also encompass regulations on the

subject of additional payments for renewal of ...;

Warning, if bills are not paid by the due date the tenants will incur

additional costs; non-payment of bills will result in prosecution.

In conclusion, producing an adequate translated text will include

consideration not just of terminology and encyclopaedic knowledge,

language and conceptual structure, but equally important, of text type

conventions, as deviation from expected forms will impede the smooth

flow of message reception.

GUIDELINES for the TRANSLATION of

SOCIAL SCIENCE TEXTS

Translation is a complex and intellectually challenging process, and all those

who commission and edit translations need to familiarize themselves with it.

While the catch-phrase lost in translation highlights the pitfalls, difficulties,

and potential insufficiencies of the translation process, we wish to emphasize

from the outset that successful communication through translation is possible.

Moreover, translation is a creative force: it enriches the target language by

introducing new words and the concepts and conventions that go with them.

The Specificity of Social Science Texts

Are social science texts sufficiently distinctive to warrant an approach to

translation distinct from that used for natural science texts (texts in chemistry,

physics, mathematics, and the like) and technical texts (instruction manuals and

the like) on the one hand and literary texts on the other? We believe they are.

Texts in the natural sciences and technical texts resemble those in the

social sciences in that they require of the translator an intimate knowledge of the

subject matter at hand. However, since the natural sciences deal primarily with

physical phenomena and their measurement, lexical choices tend to be cut and

dried, ambiguities rare. Natural science texts would seem, then, possible

candidates for machine translation. Insofar as certain sub-categories of social

science texts approach the technical nature of natural science texts documents

issuing from governmental agencies, for example they too may lend

themselves to machine translation.

While literary texts thrive on specificity of style and manner of expression

social science texts do not as a rule depend for their meaning and impact on the

manner of expression, though notable exceptions do exist: some social science

texts historical narratives, for instance come close to literature.

Generally speaking, however, literature privileges nuance, social science,

clarity. In literature ideas and facts are created by and in the text; in the social

sciences they come from outside. Both are culture-specific, though social

science texts frequently more so than literary texts, many of them depicting

interactions among cultures.

Social science discourse is also distinctive in that it communicates

through concepts that are shared (or contested) within a specific community of

scholars or groups such as governmental/non-governmental organizations

sharing common goals. Concepts tend to take the form of technical terms, which

in turn tend to be culture-specific. Their specificity may be linked to the period

in which they originate as much as to ethnic or ideological characteristics. They

may also implicitly incorporate historical assumptions. Straightforward

dictionary translations of such words may thus fail to convey subtle

differences in meaning and mislead the reader. Thus in Romanian compromis

can imply a negative connotation absent from compromise in English. The

resultant inter-referentiality demands that the translator be familiar not only with

the subject matter of the text but also with the broader field of meanings through

which it moves. Social science translators need to know the language of the

discipline or organization they are dealing with (its jargon, its givens, its

historical background) as intimately as the natural languages involved in both

source and target languages.

To what extent should a social science translation strive to reproduce

the distinctive rhetoric and style of the source?

Although there can be no absolute answer, the question raises a corollary

one, namely: how much of the meaning of a social science text is conveyed by

form? If the form is lost, is not something of the content lost as well? Here much

depends on the genre and the author. Journalism and popularizations derive

much of their impact from their means of expression. In general, however, the

translator will be seeking a middle ground between clarity and distinctiveness of

form.

The manner in which ideas take shape and find verbal expression differs

from culture to culture. Derrida has gone so far as to posit that only numbers can

be translated without considering the cultural and historical baggage involved.

As a rule of thumb, however, the translator should stretch the stylistic confines

of the target language as far as they will go to reflect the peculiarities of the

source language, and stop just before the result sounds outlandish in the target

language. In other words, the translation needs to be comprehensible, but need

not read as if it were written by a social scientist in the target culture. The goal is

to make the text as plausible as possible in its own terms.

Pitfalls of Social Science Translation

Correcting the text. Although translators function to a certain extent as editors-

they clarify the text and make it acceptable to a new audience- they must not

attempt to correct what they perceive to be errors in the text. If tempted to do so,

they would be advised to introduce any disagreements they may have with the

original in a footnote or a translators introduction, which should be as objective

as possible and take the form of explanations rather than argumentative

commentaries. Translators may feel free to make tacit corrections of minor

errors on the order of spelling mistakes in toponyms.

Levelling stylistic peculiarities. The spirit or genius of a language influences

the ways its users write. Common knowledge has it, for example, that English

syntax favours shorter sentences than do many languages. A translator working

into English may therefore be moved to turn a complex, highly polyvalent

French text, for example, into a text of short, transparent sentences. But

concision is not a value in itself, even in English. While manuals of English

language style may prescribe optimum sentence lengths of ten words and

proscribe sentences of more than twenty as convoluted, English can in fact

accommodate much longer sentences. Careful attention to syntax (and the

concomitant precise use of punctuation) makes it possible to reproduce longer

sentences without violating the spirit of the English language. Translators must

keep in mind that syntax bears a message. Its message may not be as direct as

that of, say, terminology, but it does influence the way we perceive and unpack

an argument. It may therefore even be advisable to go farther and allow a note of

foreignness to enter the translation, without, again, disrespecting the structure

of the target language.

Altering the method of argumentation. Just as the spirit of a language influences

the ways in which its users write, so the intellectual tradition of a culture

influences the ways in which its users think and formulate their arguments.

While translators must try to preserve the quality of the source languages

concepts and argumentation when it differs considerably from those of the target

culture, they must also avoid going so far as to make the author sound foolish.

Examples of such a difference on the ideological level (analogous to the issue of

complex sentences on the stylistic level) are

1) argumentation from the particular to the general (the inductive method)

vs. arguments from general to the particular (the deductive method), and

2) the empirical approach (deriving knowledge primarily from sense-data or

experience) vs. the speculative approach (deriving knowledge primarily

from contemplation and ratiocination rather than observation).

False friends. Translators need to be on the lookout for words that take the same

form in two languages but have different meanings in each: Eng. sympathetic vs.

Rom. simpatic (which means likeable, nice). They are often loanwords (also

called calques), such as Fr. pick-up (which means record player).

Conceptual false friends. A related but more insidious danger is the conscious or

unconscious tendentious translation of technical terms, especially when they are

conceptual false friends.* Globalization may be leading to an increasing

consensus on the meaning of technical terms, but false conceptual cognates still

exist. A literal translation of the state, for example, may give rise to

misconceptions due to discrepancies between Western-based concepts of the

state, which refer either implicitly or explicitly to Webers definition, and

conceptualizations of the state by authors engaged in a critical reading of

Western social science as applied to the social institutions of non-Western

countries. What looks like international terminology may therefore be

deceptive or, in extreme cases, an attempt to impose meanings from one culture

on another. A word like democracy, which would seem to offer automatic

equivalents, may turn out to require an explanatory footnote or -if it affects the

way the reader is to view a concept throughout a work or article- a translators

introduction.

Conceptual false friends may also develop over time, because the

semantic content might change while the form -the word itself- remains the

same. Such is currently the case in former Communist countries. Thus the

Chinese word, commonly translated as peasant(s) in Communist texts, may

now be translated as farmer(s) to reflect the new economic situation.

Sometimes the issue is more complicated.

Wordiness. Social science texts in most languages tend to be wordy. One way to

deal with the problem in translations is to cut grammatical words:

in order to facilitate implementation > to facilitate implementation

the reforms which have been recently introduced > the recently

introduced reforms

Inconsistent terminology. Generally speaking, a key term that occurs more than

once should be translated by the same word each time, but the translator must

first determine whether the meaning is in fact the same. If it is not, the translator

may choose another word, but the decision must be a conscious one. To foster

consistency, translators may create a personal glossary of key terms as they

work through a text.

Period-specific language. To guard against linguistic and cultural anachronism,

translators must rely on their awareness of differences in thought and convention

between the time the original was conceived and the time the translation is

taking place. For example, they should refrain from imposing politically correct

language retroactively.

Dealing with Technical Terms

Social scientists who introduce new concepts usually express them in words or

phrases devised expressly for the purpose. (Bourdieus capital culturel and

Webers protestantische Ethik are typical examples). If widely accepted, they

become technical terms. The concepts and the terms that convey them are often

highly culture-specific. Their specificity may depend as much on the period in

which they came about as on ethnic or national factors. Moreover, they are

likely to become conceptual false friends, that is, even in one and the same

tradition they may come to mean different things to different authors.

Since the prevalence of technical terms is one of the prime distinguishing

features of social science discourse, translators must take special care not only in

rendering them but also in making their audience aware of them. Although no

blanket solution will cover all instances, the two time-honoured approaches to

devising equivalents for technical terms are

1) accepting the term as a loanword, that is, borrowing it outright (for

example, using Eng gulag (for Russian gulag < gosudarstvennoe

upravlenie lagerei state camp administration) and

2) providing the term with a loan translation as in eng political instructor for

Russian politruk.

Both approaches produce words or expressions that initially sound strange, the

former because they are in a foreign language, the latter because they force the

target language into the mould of the source language. But languages have

accepted and naturalized borrowed words and loan translations from time

immemorial. English was enhanced by untold borrowings from the French after

the Norman Conquest, and it has continued to absorb foreign words to this day.

As for loan translations, how many English speakers realize that the expression

to kill time is a loan translation from the French tuer le temps?

In either case, translators will want to use a footnote when they are

introducing a term they have invented or when they wish to replace an accepted

term with one of their own. They do not need to footnote terms that appear in a

medium-sized monolingual dictionary of the target language (The Concise

Oxford Dictionary or Websters College Dictionary). Thus, gulag would not

require a footnote, but political instructor would. It might read as follows: We

are using the term political instructor to translate politruk, a portmanteau word

derived from politicheskii rukovoditel political instructor. It refers specifically

to a Party official assigned to provide soldiers in the Soviet armed forces with

ideological guidance. A footnote for a term like the Fr grandes coles (which

translators would most likely leave in French in the translation, that is, they

would translate it as a loanword rather than as the great schools, given that

the word cole figures in the names of all the schools at issue) might read: The

grandes coles are the premier institutions of higher learning in France and

include the cole Normale Suprieure, the cole Polytechnique, the cole

Navale, etc.

Footnotes should be spare and to the point. Comments of a discursive or

interpretive nature belong properly in the translators preface. Footnotes can also

serve to identify and elucidate puns and wordplay, proverbs, literary or general

cultural references, etc. They should, however, explain only what is clear to

source language readers but not to target language readers. Furthermore, they

are not the only way to clarify a term. For example, the translator may insert an

unobtrusive word or two by way of explanation. If readers of a text translated

from the French can be expected to perceive from the context that the grandes

coles are French institutions of higher learning but not necessarily that they

stand above the rest in prestige, the translator might inconspicuously insert a

word of explanation: the prestigious grandes coles.

Occasionally the need for footnotes may be attenuated by the inclusion of

the source-language term after the translation in parentheses. Let us return to the

use of political instructor as the English equivalent of Rus politruk. If, again, the

context surrounding the term makes its connection with the armed forces

sufficiently clear, the translator may put it in parentheses in the original after the

translationpolitical instructor (politruk)thereby both indicating its status as

a technical term and signalling its provenance to members of the reading

audience who happen to be conversant with the term in its original form. But it

is not advisable to fall back on such a device frequently because it might turn

into a crutch. It might also undermine confidence in the translators ability.

Technical Issues for Translators and Editors

Punctuation follows the conventions of the target language.

Reproduction of toponyms follows the conventions of the target language: Rus

Moskva > Eng Moscow. Street names appear in the original language, though

the words for street, avenue, etc., especially in languages generally unknown to

the culture of the target language, are translated: Fr Rue de Rivoli > eng Rue de

Rivoli (not Rivoli Street), Sp Avenida de la Constitucin > eng Avenida de la

Constitucin (not Constitution Avenue), Rus Nevskii prospekt > eng Nevsky

Prospect, but Rus ulitsa Gorkogo > eng Gorky Street.

Newspaper and journal titles appear in the original language: Le Monde, The

New York Times, Renmin ribao, Pravda. Book and article titles also appear in

the original language, but are followed by a translation in parentheses.

This holds equally for titles in the text proper and in footnotes. Capitalization of

titles follows the conventions of the language of the title or of the translation of

title, thus: Le Contrat social (The Social Contract), Literatura i revoliutsiia

(Literature and Revolution).

Local units of measurement are followed in parentheses by a conversion into

the metric system: fifty miles (eighty kilometres), a hundred mu (sixty-seven

hectares). Local monetary units are to be preserved; no conversion need be

given.

Names of institutions generally appear in the original language -cole Normale

Suprieure, British Council, the duma -unless conventional translations exist

(White House > Fr Maison Blanche) or the translation tradition of the target

language dictates otherwise. Names of institutions may also be translated,

preferably only the first time they appear, when the literal meaning is necessary

to make a point.

Foreign words used by the author are generally retained (and followed by a

translation should the translator deem it necessary). If the foreign word is in the

target language (for example, if the author uses an English word and the

translation is into English), the translator will want to indicate this by placing the

word in italics or in a footnote.

N.B. This rule does not apply to loanwords that have earned a place in

the target language (like the word marketing in French, Russian, and

many other languages).

References to words and titles in writing systems differing from that of the

target language must be transliterated. Translators should use the standard

transliteration system when one exists. Some systems, such as the Chinese

pinyin Romanization, have been adopted by virtually all languages; other

systems, however, are language-specific. The Library of Congress system (see

Barry Randall, ALA-LC Romanization Tables. Washington: Library of

Congress, 1997) is becoming the standard for transliteration into English, but

not into French, German, Spanish, etc. When the transliteration system is

language-specific, the translator must convert the system used in the source

language to the system used in the target language. (Thus what appears as

Tchernobyl in a French text will appear as Chernobyl in its English translation.)

Sometimes the situation is complicated by the fact that two systems co-exist, a

popular one used primarily for names and toponyms (as in the personal or city

name Gorky) and a scholarly one used for lexical items, titles, references, and

quotations (Gorkii). Translators in doubt as to the proper system to apply

should consult the local translators association.

When the author quotes a passage from a source written in the target language,

the translator must reproduce the original passage, not translate back from the

authors translation of the passage. If the author has not provided the reference,

the translator must search for it, using the relevant data bases, or query the

author. In addition, the translator must render all bibliographical references in

footnotes according to the scholarly conventions of the target text.

The main reference works for the translator are monolingual dictionaries of the

source and target languages. Bilingual dictionaries are useful in two instances:

1) when the translator knows what a word in the source language means but

cannot momentarily come up with the equivalent in the target language, and

2) when the translator has learned from a monolingual dictionary that the word

is a plant, animal, or the like, that is, when equivalence is likely to be one-to-

one. Thesauruses provide more synonyms than even the most complete bilingual

dictionaries.

ECONOMIC TERMINOLOGY

Terminology studies the labelling and denoting of specific concepts to one

or more domains by researching and analyzing terms within a context so as to

promote a correct use, a norm.

What do we mean by economic terminology?

Technical terminology refers to the specialized vocabulary characterizing

a profession, or some other activities to which a group of people dedicate

significant parts of their lives, or sometimes even a slice of an industry.

Sometimes terminology is improperly labelled as jargon. In its early history,

linguists considered terminology as a mere marginal discipline, showing a single

orientation towards an aspect of the vocabulary of a language. In time, together

with the society evolution, with the progress of sciences and techniques,

terminology changes from a discipline having just a practical aspect, into a

theory ever more interesting and appealing to linguists. Due to the theoretical

concepts it operates with, and thanks to its study object, terminology creates an

interesting link between linguistics and exact sciences.

Technical terminology was the result of the need of experts coming from

a certain area to communicate precisely and concisely, having sometimes the

undesired effect of excluding those unfamiliar with the specific language of a

certain group. This may produce difficulties and misunderstandings, for instance

in the case of patients that can hardly or cannot understand at all the medical

vocabulary, and therefore there own state or the indicated treatment. Difficulties

may also come up when experts belonging to different area of activity that are

still connected, use different terms to denote the same phenomena and

processes. On the other hand, the term jargon may and most of the times it really

happens to bear pejorative connotations, especially referring to business

culture.

The rapid development of commerce, international relations, accounting,

management, the more refined organizational systems contribute daily to the

apparition of new specialized economic terms. Thus, within this general label of

economic language there are a lot of specialized financial, banking, accounting,

marketing, planning, administrative terms, just to mention some of them.

For the present Romanian language, the economic vocabulary represents

an organized assembly of terms continuously growing and developing. The

economic technique requires some principles according to which the

terminology of different branches and area subordinated to this science should

be precise, accessible and united.

The importance of studying issues in the economic field seems

indubitable. It is the correct and adequate economic terminology that greatly

decides for a correct communication, and the proper understanding of technical,

organizational problems, the effective communication among specialists, the

employer-employee, manager-manager, successful relationship, and even the

winning business. The investigation domain we are approaching now is

terminology with practical use for economy, meaning conceiving specific

terminologies, term graphical registration of information as databases,

dictionaries, lexicons, specialized encyclopaedias, etc.

There is a linguistic aspect of the economic vocabulary that is of great

interest for the common language. Specialists of a certain area need a

specialized vocabulary to properly communicate about notions and concepts

specific to their field. Anyway, they do not live isolated from the other speakers

of the language, and thus many professional terms come to be used frequently

and to be included in the common language in time. Some other times, the

process proves to be mutual and many items belonging to the common language

may penetrate to specialized vocabulary.

All these changes happen as a result of some linguistic processes:

terminologisation, reterminologisation or the semantic transfer.

A means of creating economic terms: terminologisation

Terminologisation is a linguistic process meaning that a word or

expression of the general language is turned into a term denoting concepts in a

specialised vocabulary. The advantages of this process rely in the fact that the

term is concise and easy to remember, enabling speakers to accept it easier,

growing its chances to be accepted and largely used. The disadvantage is that,

starting from an initial meaning, most of the times by means of a metaphor, its

new usage and meaning may bring about ambiguity.

Terminology actively contributes to the creation, accumulation, synthesis

and generalization of knowledge about the essence of things, phenomena and

processes in nature, society and mind. In time, terms of a language change: the

significant may vary, the meaning may evolve. In order to be capable of

rendering the essence of the new technologies, techniques etc. any language

needs new resources and means of expressing, besides neologisms and

international words. These new resources may come from inside the language.

We could also add to these the strongly effective character of some common

words, subjected to terminologisation offering them a wider meaning with

obvious fluctuating limits and having an extremely comprising applicability.

That explains also the polysemantic character of the newly created terms

motivating their ability to belong to the active vocabulary of the Romanian

language. These words coming from the fundamental lexis are given

terminological context within a scientific context, an economic context in this

particular case, they become new units bearing new meanings, elements of a

different dictionary, not the general one.

The economic terminology has been developing tightly connected to

society. Consequently, it often appears to the common language in order to meet

the time imperatives. A great deal of lexical units of the common usage adapts

themselves to the new functional situation, it gets new meanings - or it is

terminologised - so as to express economic notions, concepts.

For example:

- The common item fluidity state, characteristic of what is fluid has got

an entry in the specialised dictionary as well meaning notion used to

characterise the situation when the offer easily adapts to supply and

demand

The common vocabulary is enriched with words taken from the

specialised vocabularies, which, in their turn find in the common vocabulary a

source that will be offered specific meaning in the respective domains. This

process of terminologisation of some lexical units of the common vocabulary is

a complex semantic phenomenon with multiple aspects based on two semantic

mechanisms that change the meanings of the lexical units - metaphor and

metonymy. The lexical unity of the common language becomes specialised

penetrating the economic language. The new lexemes are settled by entering the

specialised lexicographical works (the economic dictionary). Getting a new

meaning, the word expands the semantic sphere and the functioning potential.

To conclude, we mention that terminologisation, generated by different

word combinations, represents an important place in developing the specialised

lexis and the common one, turning the rigid language of sciences into a vivid,

moving language, spotlighting some areas of vocabularies less studied.

The semantic transfer - new valences of economic terms

The semantic transfer is the process by means of which a term that already

exists is used to denote another concept as a result of a logical extension.

When referring to the economical terminology we refer to changing the

semantic content of the term according to the economic field. What is worth

mentioning is that both the initial meaning and the new valences got after the

semantic reinterpretation receives a status of semantic- functional independence.

Here are some examples: the lexical unit distribution repartition functioning

initially in the terminology of arts, the technical terminology (DEX) is also

attested in economy: totality of economic and organizational actions so as to

direct and transmit goods and products from producer to consumer (DM).

In non-economic context: the distribution of parts in a movie (casting). In

economic context: product distribution. Other examples: operation (medicine,

mathematics, economy), value, etc.

Being used in different context and activity domains, terms suffer several

changes, leading to the appearance or to the developing of multiple meanings.

We could conclude that the economic terminology obtains more and more

elements from other languages, enriching it, and semantic transfer is extremely

useful for the language as it reduces the non-motivated terminological

borrowings.

Inter-Disciplinary Borrowings

Most of the changes that may occur in any language are extra-linguistic: the

evolution of the society, the use of the most modern means of communication

and information, the complexity of the economic relations, just to mention some

of the causes that favored transformations of the Romanian language.

The inter-disciplinary borrowing refers to the phenomenon by which a

term belonging to one domain is attributed to a new concept coming from

another domain, the two domains being associated through analogy (e.g.

memory used both in psychology and computer sciences).

The general vocabulary permanently interacts with other specialised

vocabularies. This is a double way phenomenon: on one hand it is a

specialization of words belonging to the usual vocabulary so as to gain the

status of terms, and, on the other hand, the specialised terms become useful for

the common language. This migration process from a specialised area to the

general, common use is called determinologisation and the gain is a richer

literary language, it becomes more colourful and full of linguistic expressivity.

Thus, referring to the economic vocabulary, we may consider

determinologisation the process of updating the economic terms and of

including them in different functional styles or registers of the language.

As a conclusion we can say that this process reflects the general tendency

of enriching the literary language greatly using the other specialised domains of

the language.

Types of Metaphors in the Business Media Discourse

A major criterion that governs conceptual metaphor classification is the degree

of conventionality with which one particular mapping is associated.

It is relevant to aproximate how well worn or how deeply entranched a metaphor

is in the usage of a linguistic community.

The following metaphorical samples are highly conventionalized in both

respects; most English speakers would find the following expressions as natural

and ordinary language used in connection with money:

1. The stock prices of the Japanese megabanks are high, but the profits are

low.

2. McGraw-Hill Q4 Revenue Climbs 13,2 % as Margins Slide.

3. Dollar Declines As Investors Await Fed Rate Decision.

4. Currency Drop Doesnt Mean Crisis.

Conceiving of the value of money in terms of directional movement is a matter

of convention, popular with experts in the field and non-expert people alike.

Such linguistic expressions representing the conceptual metaphor THE VALUE

OF MONEY IS AN ENTITY THAT MOVES UP AND DOWN are inactive

metaphors that have become conventional tools in the financial reporting toolkit.

As there are both conceptual metaphors and their corresponding linguistic

expressions, conventionality/lack of it may manifest itself at either the

conceptual or linguistic level, or both.

Unconventionalized metaphorical expression can also be spotted in the media

business discourse.

Consider the examples:

1. Born January 1, 1999, the euro had a gestation period of about six years.

It is a big baby, taking its place with the dollar, pound, and numerous other

world currencies. As with any new commercial birth, it will take years of actual

experience to sort out the intricacies.

2. Moreover, it says, notes have a short life: they circulate fast and furiously,

and quickly turn to shreds.

=> Money IS A Person; significant elements in the birth or life schema get

mapped via metaphorical projection.

As for novel conceptual and linguistic metaphors, no one would expect business

discourse to be their recipient; the following examples are however by no means

rare:

1. Maybe, but the euro is the alarm clock that woke us up.

2. After a miserable performance in the first two years, at least in terms of the

exchange rate, the single European currency seems to have confirmed its year-

end recovery against the dollar.

3. Euro-illusion; a natural experiment.

ECONOMICS METAPHORS in ENGLISH

The use of metaphor to extend our concepts in science is a tradition; legends

include Bohrs model of the atom based on the solar system analogy. Metaphor

is vital to the modeling processes that pave the way for scientific research and

development.

Metaphors are widely present in economic discourse. The fragment below

remarkably illustrates the emphasis laid on metaphors with a didactic purpose in

mind; the ensuing explanations further specify the analogy:

Let us consider the roles that are necessary for encouraging

entrepreneurship in the firm. First, each innovation in an

organization begins with an idea champion. This is an

employee who generates an idea and retains responsibility

for developing that idea in the organization. Often, the idea

champion with expertise power is a technical or professional

employee with few management responsibilities. The idea

champion recognizes a problem and generates a solution.

For each idea champion, there must be a sponsor who

nurtures the new concept and applies organizational

resources to the increasingly disruptive and expensive

development of the idea. The sponsor, who may be from

another department, lends his positional power (and perhaps

his reputation) to the idea, project, process, service or

product in question. The best sponsors are former or current

idea champions. They are employees who like to innovate

and who tolerate pressure to be innovative.

For the new concept to succeed, the organization must have

employees who occupy the role of orchestrator or

godfather. This individual handles all of the political

obstacles surrounding the commercialization of the product,

service, etc. He is often the president or general manager

who has the authority to say: Were going to develop this

concept. The godfather makes resources available, gets

people working together and builds coalitions which help

convert non-believers. The best godfathers were once idea

champions and sponsors themselves.

The creation of the special roles noted above is not sufficient to sustain

entrepreneurship and innovation in the large organization. The organization

must also create horizontal coordination mechanisms which protect innovation

teams from outside interference. Galbraith calls these islands for unencumbered

creative thinking reservations or greenhouses.

The bolded phrases were all bolded in the original version of the text

(Organisational Behaviour, by Robert Deily, an MBA course book). This

printing emphasis foregrounds the metaphorical expressions that- facilitate

comprehension and enhance memo ability, assist the expert reader in the

learning process, although similar other metaphors have been inserted in the text

(nurtures, orchestrator, islands, etc.)

OVERVIEW of TRANSLATION STRATEGIES

USED in LEGAL TRANSLATION

Legal translators rely on translatorial procedures and practices that are not

so widely different from the ones used in general translation practice. However,

the distinctive quality of legal texts is now widely acknowledged in translation

studies and most authors agree that, as the translation of legal texts is confronted

with such a high incidence of extra-linguistic issues, the legal translator

frequently has to adopt special strategies to suit the specificity of legal

translation problems. Knowledge and awareness of both the difficulties of legal

translation and of a set of dedicated strategies to cope with them is a key

requirement for the legal translator.

The process of translating a legal text into a foreign language is littered

with a series of various obstacles, which may be divided by type. Obstacles in

translation are likely to be posed first by the comprehension of the legal text

itself, which may be hampered, on the one hand, by syntactic and stylistic

peculiarities of legal texts, and , on the other hand, by the level of competence of

the author of the text and, consequently by the clarity and accuracy of the text.

Secondly, problems caused by differences in cultures are more tightly related to

the ideational content of legal texts. It is a well-known fact that the legal

translation as such poses many problems due to the differences in legal systems

from one country to another. Among these problems, that of terminological

equivalence, more specifically the lack of correspondence between legal terms,

is one of keen current interest.

While selecting the appropriate strategy for the problem at hand, the legal

translator is guided by a number of criteria, among which prevail the functional

ones, i.e., purpose and use of the source and target text, recipients, author intent,

intended legal effect, the very fine distinctions made in contrastive terms

between different text genres and types, but also by the degree of divergence

established between the legal systems involved and the context of translation

(e.g. translation within a single national legal framework, within a bilingual or

multilingual framework, or in a supernatural framework). This functional

orientation is relevant not only for the selection of the overall strategy applied in

translation, but also for the lower-level translating decisions made in drafting the

target text with regard to microstructures (terminology, sentence organization,

stylistic features), as well as text format and layout.

Strategic Decisions and Translation Techniques

This outline is based on the study of two text types and situations of

translation, namely the translation of a Romanian law (Legea privind societatile

comerciale - Business Corporation Law) in English and French, Commissioned

by the Romanian Ministry of Justice, published in a bilingual compendium and

posted on its official website; and the official translations into Romanian of a

European Union directive (Council Directive of 11 December 1986 on the

application of the principle of equal treatment between men and women engaged

in an activity, including agriculture, in a self-employed capacity, and on the

protection of self-employed women during pregnancy and motherhood) and of a

regulation (Council Regulation (EC) No 23/97 of 20 December 1996 on

statistics on the level and structure of labour costs), un