Lexical Aspects of Interpretation: Focuses of Meaning
Lecture 1
0
LEXICAL ASPECTS
OF
INTERPRETATION
The Notion of the "Focus of Meaning"
There exist many approaches to identifying the
notion
"translation units“
, which are called
"chunks of speech“,
subject to interpreting /
translating,
however most authors: L.Barkhudarov, R. Jones,
Y. Retsker, Y. Stepanov, J.P. Vinay, J. Darbelnet
believe that any unit of speech (i.e. phonemes,
morphemes, words, word combinations,
sentences, paragraphs and texts) may be subject to
interpretation and translation.
V. Koptilov even suggests a special term
for the translation unit
–
the so-called
"translateme",
which is defined 'as an
"atom of
sense"
that cannot be
split up without ruining
the sense'.
Selection of translation units is
determined by the conditions in which
interpretation/translation is performed, by the
subject field of the SL text and by the level of
professional skills of the interpreter/translator.
It is obvious that interpreters, while
interpreting, memorize the SL text by the so-
called
"focuses of meaning".
Experiments show that human brain is
capable of keeping in memory
7 +/- 2
focuses
of meaning, therefore, interpreter's note-
taking is a useful tool which enables
interpreters to
"reconstruct"
oral messages for
their subsequent interpreting.
Focuses of meaning are formed around
the
"keywords"
of oral discourse, which
include, first of all, specific subject field words,
i.e.
terms belonging to the subject field of
interpreting.
Among other focus-forming elements of
oral discourse there are set phrases (clichés)
and idioms; numerals, proper names,
abbreviations, acronyms (the so-called
"precision lexicon"); non-equivalent lexical
items and "misleading words".
Subject Field Terms:
Ways of Interpreting Them
Terms are usually defined as monosemantic
words, deprived of any expressive meaning, or
even as a special quality, which words may
acquire or lose in discourse.
These days the problem of understanding and
interpreting terminology has to be addressed in
somewhat new dimension.
The reason for this is that
many lexical items
acquire different terminological meanings in
the context of different sectors or subject fields
of human activity.
Examples:
yield
(
potentially open set of terminological meanings
depending upon the subject field
)
:
дохід від цінних паперів
(securities markets);
продуктивність
(industry);
видобуток
(extraction of natural resources);
вихід
(processing industry);
осідання, осування
(mining);
тротиловий еквівалент вибухівки
(military
sphere)
and the like.
Another reason
is a considerable level of
"jargonization"
of professional languages,
which results in a high proportion of idiomatic
use and polysemy in terminology:
bear and bull markets;
bottlenecks;
high-fliers;
"muddle-through" scenario;
to sit on the Board;
benchmark (or yardstick),
etc.
Roughly subject field words of any language
may be classified into three groups:
1.
General subject field words
(known to
most educated speakers of the language),
e.g.
computer
(комп'ютер);
printer
(принтер);
accountant
(бухгалтер);
assets
(капітали, активи, фонди);
creditor
(кредитор);
indicator
(показник);
investor
(інвестор);
civil servant
(державний
службовець);
2. Special subject field words
(
known to all people who work in a particular
sector
,
such as
computer science
,
banking
,
accounting
,
stock
-
markets
,
civil service
,
agriculture
,
engineering
,
chemistry
,
physics
,
medicine
,
law
,
education
,
etc.
)
Examples:
accounts payable
(кредиторська
заборгованість);
accounts receivable
(дебіторська заборгованість);
economy of
scale
(ефект масштабу в економіці);
fiduciary
(фідуціарний – заснований на
довірі);
party whip
(«партійний батіг» -
парламентський партійний організатор,
який стежить за дисципліною у
партійній фракції).
3
.
Professional jargon and slang
(
words
known to comparatively narrow groups of
professionals
,
often working for particular
institutions or companies
),
e
.
g
.
bear market
(«ведмежий ринок» - ринок,
де ціна на цінні папери знижується);
bull market
(«ринок биків» - ринок, де ціна
на цінні папери зростає);
"
muddle through
"
scenario
- сценарій
нерішучих дій
It is obvious that there are no "closed
borders" between these groups which
means that words constantly "migrate"
from one group to another, the usual
direction of migration being from group
3
via group
2
to group
1,
and that new words
are coined within each sector practically
every day.
This process is accelerated by the revolution in
information technologies which makes it
practically impossible to record all newly
created words
–
even best specialized
dictionaries are at least one or two years
behind.
Hence, the following recommendations for
interpreters and translators can be made:
1)
The interpreter has to keep maximum
number of the subject field words relevant
for the subject of interpreting in his
"operational memory", constantly keep
records of the new terms, compile
personal glossaries and request glossaries
(especially of the professional jargon)
from the client.
2.
As a first step, before deciding to render a
term, an interpreter has to make himself sure
that he deals with a subject field word and not
with a word or phrase in its usual meaning
e.g.:
to sit on the Board
–
сидіти на дошці
+
входити до складу правління
акціонерного товариства
This is achieved by studying the context and
the objects, notions, situations, processes (i.e.
the denotatum) of the subject field of
translation with due regard to possible
polysemy and connotation meaning of the
subject field word or phrase.
The second step is to select an appropriate
variant of translation from various options
recorded in dictionaries
e.g.
expenditures
–
видатки;
insurance
– страхування;
subsidy
– субсидія, дотація;
etc.
Or,
if the word is not recorded
, use one
of the following
generally accepted
methods of translating/interpreting
it
(examples below are given for the terms
recorded in the dictionaries):
practical transcription,
e.g.
file
- файл
(computers);
futures
-ф'ючерси
(finance);
manager
- менеджер
;
know-how
-
ноу-хау
(science and technology);
transliteration,
e.g.
broker
- брокер
(securities markets);
clearing
-
кліринг
(finance);
hacker
-
хакер
(computers);
barter
- бартер
(commerce);
loan translation
(переклад-калька),
e.g.
player
- гравець,
тобто
учасник „гри"
на економічному, фінансовому „полі"
(economics);
floating zero
– плаваючий нуль
self-cooling –
самоохолодження
ore yard –
рудний двір
descriptive translation,
e.g.
benchmark
(or
yardstick)
- база для
порівняння даних, показник
(economics);
enforcement
- втілення законодавства в
життя та контроль за його
дотриманням
(law, politics);
sustainable development
- сталий
(усталений) розвиток
(economics,
environmental protection, politics).
In interpreting, decision to render something
has to be taken within seconds and its success
largely depends upon the capacity of the
"operational memory" of the interpreter.
Selection of the interpretation method depends
upon the existence or absence of the objects,
notions, situations, processes (denotatum)
described by the given subject field word or
phrase in the SL and TL cultures.
If the denotatum exists in the TL culture, then
there is a great chance to find a "native"
equivalent of the corresponding subject field
word or phrase
e.g.:
account
- рахунок;
arrears
- неплатежі, заборгованість;
insurance
-страхування;
hostage
- заручник;
spokesman
- речник.
If the denotatum was borrowed from other
cultures or presently does not exist in the TL
culture
,
then practical transcription
,
transliteration
,
loan or descriptive translation are
applied
e
.
g
.
dividends
- дивіденди;
holding
- холдінг (компанія, яка тримає
контрольний пакет акцій іншої компанії);
interoperability
- взаємосумісність
(сумісність тактичних та технічних
характеристик збройних сил);
However, whatever traditional or electronic
dictionaries, as well as computer translation
software (computer-assisted translation
systems
–
CAT) may be available, the best
way for a interpreter/translator to cope with
terminology is to keep personal records, then
compile them into glossaries and, thus,
improve personal skills.
See you next time!
Have a nice day!
This discussion explores the concept of "focuses of meaning" in interpretation, emphasizing how interpreters memorize and reconstruct oral messages around key elements such as subject field terms, set phrases, and precision lexicon. The necessity of understanding terminology in various subject fields is also highlighted, as different sectors may assign distinct meanings to the same lexical items.
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Presentation Transcript
Lecture 10 LEXICAL ASPECTS OF INTERPRETATION
The Notion of the "Focus of Meaning" There exist many approaches to identifying the notion "translation units , which are called "chunks of speech , subject to interpreting / translating, however most authors: L.Barkhudarov, R. Jones, Y. Retsker, Y. Stepanov, J.P. Vinay, J. Darbelnet believe that any unit of speech (i.e. phonemes, morphemes, words, sentences, paragraphs and texts) may be subject to interpretation and translation. word combinations,
V. Koptilov even suggests a special term the translation unit "translateme", which is defined 'as an "atom of sense" that cannot be split up without ruining the sense'. Selection of translation determined by the interpretation/translation is performed, by the subject field of the SL text and by the level of professional skills of the interpreter/translator. for the so-called units in is conditions which
It is obvious that interpreters, while interpreting, memorize the SL text by the so- called "focuses of meaning". Experiments show that human brain is capable of keeping in memory 7 +/- 2 focuses of meaning, therefore, interpreter's note- taking is a useful interpreters to "reconstruct" oral messages for their subsequent interpreting. tool which enables
Focuses of meaning are formed around "keywords" of oral include, first of all, specific subject field words, i.e. terms belonging to the subject field of interpreting. Among other focus-forming elements of oral discourse there are set phrases (clich s) and idioms; numerals, abbreviations, acronyms "precision lexicon"); non-equivalent lexical items and "misleading words". the discourse, which proper (the names, so-called
Subject Field Terms: Ways of Interpreting Them
Terms are usually defined as monosemantic words, deprived of any expressive meaning, or even as a special quality, which words may acquire or lose in discourse. These days the problem of understanding and interpreting terminology has to be addressed in somewhat new dimension. The reason for this is that many lexical items acquire different terminological meanings in the context of different sectors or subject fields of human activity.
Examples: yield (potentially open set of terminological meanings depending upon the subject field): (securities markets); (industry); (extraction of natural resources); (processing industry); , (mining); (military sphere) and the like.
Another reason is a considerable level of "jargonization" of professional which results in a high proportion of idiomatic use and polysemy in terminology: bear and bull markets; bottlenecks; high-fliers; "muddle-through" scenario; to sit on the Board; benchmark (or yardstick), etc. languages,
Roughly subject field words of any language may be classified into three groups: 1. General subject field words (known to most educated speakers of the language), e.g. computer ( ' ); printer ( ); accountant ( ); assets ( , , ); creditor ( ); indicator ( ); investor ( ); civil servant ); (
2. Special subject field words (known to all people who work in a particular sector, such as computer science, banking, accounting, stock-markets, civil service, agriculture, engineering, chemistry, physics, medicine, law, education, etc.)
Examples: payable accounts accounts ); ( ); economy of scale ( ); fiduciary ( ); party whip ( - , ). ( receivable
3. Professional jargon and slang (words known to comparatively narrow groups of professionals, often working for particular institutions or companies), e.g. bear market ( - , ); bull market ( - , ); "muddle through" scenario -
It is obvious that there are no "closed borders" between these means that words constantly "migrate" from one group to another, the usual direction of migration being from group 3 via group 2 to group 1, and that new words are coined within each sector practically every day. groups which
This process is accelerated by the revolution in information technologies practically impossible to record all newly created words even dictionaries are at least one or two years behind. Hence, the following recommendations for interpreters and translators can be made: which makes it best specialized
1) The interpreter has to keep maximum number of the subject field words relevant for the subject of interpreting in his "operational memory", constantly keep records of the new personal glossaries and request glossaries (especially of the professional jargon) from the client. terms, compile
2. As a first step, before deciding to render a term, an interpreter has to make himself sure that he deals with a subject field word and not with a word or phrase in its usual meaning e.g.: to sit on the Board +
This is achieved by studying the context and the objects, notions, situations, processes (i.e. the denotatum) of the translation with due polysemy and connotation meaning of the subject field word or phrase. subject regard field possible of to
The second step is to select an appropriate variant of translation from various options recorded in dictionaries e.g. expenditures ; insurance ; subsidy , ; etc.
Or, if the word is not recorded, use one of the following generally accepted methods of translating/interpreting it (examples below are given for the terms recorded in the dictionaries):
practical transcription, e.g. file - (computers); futures - ' (finance); manager - ; know-how - - (science and technology); transliteration, e.g. broker - (securities markets); clearing - (finance); hacker - (computers); barter - (commerce);
loan translation (-), e.g. player - , " , (economics); floating zero self-cooling ore yard "
descriptive translation, e.g. benchmark (or yardstick) - , (economics); enforcement - (law, politics); sustainable development ( ) environmental protection, politics). - (economics,
In interpreting, decision to render something has to be taken within seconds and its success largely depends upon the capacity of the "operational memory" Selection of the interpretation method depends upon the existence or absence of the objects, notions, situations, processes described by the given subject field word or phrase in the SL and TL cultures. of the interpreter. (denotatum)
If the denotatum exists in the TL culture, then there is a great chance to find a "native" equivalent of the corresponding subject field word or phrase e.g.: account - ; arrears - , ; insurance - ; hostage - ; spokesman - .
If the denotatum was borrowed from other cultures or presently does not exist in the TL culture, then practical transliteration, loan or descriptive translation are applied e.g. dividends - ; holding - ( , ); interoperability ( ); transcription, -
However, whatever traditional or electronic dictionaries, as well as computer translation software (computer-assisted systems CAT) may be available, the best way for a interpreter/translator to cope with terminology is to keep personal records, then compile them into glossaries and, thus, improve personal skills. translation
See you next time! Have a nice day!
