d bing 049712 table of content
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
xii
LIST OF TABLES
xiii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
xv
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION
1.1. Introduction
.. …………………………………………………
1
1.2. Purpose of the Study ......…………….. ………………………...
4
1.3. Research Questions …….………………………… ……………
4
1.4. Significance of the Study ….…………………………………….
6
1.5. Assumptions …………………………………………………..
7
1.6. Clarification of Terms ……………………………………………
8
1.7. Organizatiuon of the Study ……………………………………..
10
CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1. Introduction ……………………………………………………… 11
2.2. Translation Theories: Equivalence-based and Skopos ..…….….…. 12
2.2.1. Equivalence-based Theory …….……………………………...
12
2.2.2. Skopos Theory ………………………………………..……….
21
2.3. Definitions of Translation ……………………………………… 23
v
2.4. Difficulties Encountered in Translating …………………………. 26
2.4.1. Influence of SL properties……………………………………… 26
2.4.2. Cultural Barriers ……………………………………………….. 29
2.4.3. Linguistic Difficulties
………………………………………..
30
2.4.4. Irrelevant Issues of Rhetorical Features………………………… 33
2.4.5. The Problem of Form and Content
…………………………. 34
2.5. Skills Needed in Translation …………………………………… 36
2.6. Methods of Translation …………………………………………. 45
2.7. The Process of Translation ………………………………………. 49
2.8. Implications of the Theories to the Strategies Employed ……….. 50
2.9. The Criteria for Translating
………………….……………….. 52
2.10. Solutions to the Problems of Translating ………………………. 56
2.10.1. Addition or Removal of Meaning …………………………… 56
2.10.2. Sources of Insufficiency ……………………………………… 57
2.10.3. Theories and Rules Violated ………………………………… 58
2.10.4. Compromising and Compensating …………………………… 59
2.10.5. Cultural Context………………………………………………... 61
2.11. Difficulty versus Mandatory …………………………………….. 66
2.12. Summary ………………………………………………………… 67
vi
CHAPTER III. METHODOLOGY
3.1. Introduction ……………………………………………………… 70
3.2. Method of Research……………………………………………… 71
3.2.1. The Instruments and Informants ………………………………. 72
3.2.2. Access to the Site ………………….…………………………..
74
3.2.3. The Role of the Researcher …………………………………… 75
3.2.4. Research Phases ……….. ..……………………………………
76
3.3. Techniques of Collecting the Data ……………………………... 77
3.3.1. Research Question 1 …………………………………………… 77
3.3.2. Research Question 2 …………………………………………… 80
3.3.3. Research Question 3 …………………………………………… 81
3.4. Data Analysis
………………………………………………... 85
CHAPTER IV. THE FINDINGS
4.1. Introduction ……………………………………………………… 88
4.2. The Informants’ General Ability of Translating ……………….
4.3. Difficulties in Translating
89
……. ……………………………… 97
4.3.1. Linguistic and Cultural Differences …………………………..... 98
4.3.2. Restructuring the Source Text ………………………………...
99
4.3.3. Incomplete Knowledge of the Source Language and
Target Language …………………………………………….. 100
vii
4.3.4. Intimate Acquaintance with Subject Matter
……… …….
101
4.3.5. Effective Empathy with the Original Author and Content ...... 102
4.3.6. Stylistic Facility in the Receptor Language ………………….. 103
4.4. The Translations ………………………………………………….104
4.4.1. Insufficiency for the Target Text
………………………….. 105
4.4.2. Inaccurate Meaning in the Target Text …………………….. 105
4.4.3. Writing at the Author’s Linguistic Level (Emphasizing on the SL
More Than at the Readership’s)
……………………………. 107
4.4.4. Constructing a New Reader (with Different Textual Expectations
and Cultural Knowledge from the Translators’) ……………. 108
4.4.5. The Translators’ Bias (Omission or Alteration) …………...... 104
4.5. Readability in the target Language
4.5.1. The Missing Part in the Target Text
……………………….... 109
……………………….. 111
4.5.2. Different Translating Abilities …………................................ 111
4.5.3. Explorative Informants (3) 1, 3, and 6 As Compared to Inferior
Informants (7) 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, and 10 …………………………. 120
4.5.4. Compromising with the Source Text
……………………… 132
4.5.5. Flexibility ……………………………………………………. 134
4.5.6. Lacking in Intuitive Empathy
……………………………….. 135
4.6. Observations on the Informants’ Strength and Weaknesses …….. 136
4.6.1. Following Unpredictable Turns …………………………………138
viii
4.6.1.1. Following Unpredictable Thought ………………………..…. 138
4.6.1.2. Following Unpredictable Nuances …………………………… 139
4.6.1.3. Following Unpredictable Subtleties ………………………….. 139
4.6.2. Writing the Language Imprecisely and Inaccurately ……………140
4.6.3. The Methods Employed …………………………………………141
4.6.3.1. Primarily Semantic …………………………………………… 141
4.6.3.2. Secondarily Communicative …………………………………. 142
4.6.4. Accuracy, Clarity, Naturalness ………………………………... 143
4.6.4.1. Accuracy …………………………………………………….. 143
4.6.4.2. Clarity ……………………………………………………….. 144
4.6.4.3. Naturalness ………………………………………………….. 145
4.6.4.4. Untranslatability …………………………………………….. 146
4.7. The Translators’ Profiles ………………………………………... 147
4.8. The Translations Reflecting the Informants’ Abilities ………….. 160
4.8.1. Misunderstandings of Certain Words, Phrases, and Sentences .. 160
4.8.1.1. Words ………………………………………………………... 161
4.8.1.2. Phrases ……………………………………………………… 162
4.8.1.3. Sentences ……………………………………………………. 163
4.9. The Process of Translating ……………………………………… 164
4.9.1. The Translations of the Abstract ………………………………. 162
4.9.2. The Translations of the Content ……………………………….. 165
ix
4.9.3. The Translations of the Summary and Conclusions …………... 167
4.10. The Overall Picture of the Librarians’ Translating Abilities ……168
4.11. The Common Thread of the Translating Abilities ……………... 168
4.12. Unexercised Skills ……………………………………………... 169
4.13. Evidence of Insufficiency of Meaning …………………………. 170
4.14. Meanings Insufficiency ………………………………………… 172
4.15. Readership’s Expectation ………………………………………. 180
4.16. Tracks of Attempts to Translate Hard Written Expressions …… 189
4.17. The L1 Ideas Involved …………………………………………. 191
4.17.1. Unfamiliar Words …………………………………………… 191
4.17.2. The Second Language Intent ………………………………... 192
4.18. Pragmatic Equivalence………………………………………..... 194
4.19. Translation Methods Frequently Employed……………………. 190
4.20. The Total Frequency …………………………………………... 199
4.20.1. Being Compromising …………………………………………200
4.20.2. Being Flexible ……………………………………………….. 200
4.20.3. Being Relatively Close to the Readership’s Expectations …... 201
4.21. Typical Insufficiency of Meaning …………………………...... 201
x
CHAPTER V. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS, AND
RECOMMENDATION FOR FURTHER RESEARCH
5.1. Summary …………………………………………………………. 203
5.2. Conclusions ………………………………………………………. 205
5.3. Limitations of the Study ………………………………………….. 207
5.4. Implications ………………………………………………………. 207
5.5. Recommendations for Further Research ………………………… 209
BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………………212
APPENDICES
VITA
xi
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Illustration
1. The equivalences
page
………………………………………..…………………........ 17
2. A map of the concept of skopos theory
3. The methods of translation
…………………………………………. 21
………………………………………………….....
4. The process of translation ……………………………………………………….
46
49
5. Translation strategies with a ‘top-down’ procedure ............................................... 95
xii
LIST OF TABLES
Table
page
1. Five Difficulties of Achieving Equivalences ……………………………………...
31
2. Components of Translation Skills ……………………………..…………………
37
3. Context-based Meanings of the Word Present …………………………….......
39
4. Sentences Using Non-Idiomatic Phrases ………………………………………… 40
5. Sentences with Rhetorical Structures………………………………………………
42
6. The Criteria of Translating Ability …………………………………………….....
55
7. The Existing Skills ……………………………………………………………... 147
8. The Skills Supposedly Acquired …………………………………………………. 147
9. The Frequency of Supposedly Acquired Abilities During the Process of
Translating ……………………………………………………………………… 169
10. Nine Components Supposedly Acquired with Their Degree of Frequency ……… 171
11. Insufficient Meanings Due to the Failure of Exercising Component 11 ………... 172
12. Insufficient Meanings Due to the Failure of Exercising Component 7 …..……… 173
13. Insufficient Meanings Due to the Failure of Exercising Component 9 ……..……. 174
14. Insufficient Meanings Due to the Failure of Exercising Component 6 …..………. 175
15. Insufficient Meanings Due to the Failure of Exercising Component 10 …..……... 176
16. Insufficient Meanings Due to the Failure of Exercising Component 7 …..………. 177
17. Insufficient Meanings Due to the Failure of Exercising Component 5 …..………. 178
xiii
18. Insufficient Meanings Due to the Failure of Exercising Component 5 …….……. 179
19. Insufficient Meanings Due to the Failure of Exercising Component 6 …..……… 180
20. Words or Phrases Wrongly-Transferred and Their Potential Insufficiency of
Meanings …………………………………………………………………..…… 190
21. Frequency of the “P” Equivalence Achieved
………………………………….. 195
22. Frequency of the Methods Employed …………………………………………….. 197
23. Typical Inability of Translating Leading to the Insufficiency of Meaning ………. 199
24. The Elements of Typicality ………………………………………………………. 201
xiv
Page
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
xii
LIST OF TABLES
xiii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
xv
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION
1.1. Introduction
.. …………………………………………………
1
1.2. Purpose of the Study ......…………….. ………………………...
4
1.3. Research Questions …….………………………… ……………
4
1.4. Significance of the Study ….…………………………………….
6
1.5. Assumptions …………………………………………………..
7
1.6. Clarification of Terms ……………………………………………
8
1.7. Organizatiuon of the Study ……………………………………..
10
CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1. Introduction ……………………………………………………… 11
2.2. Translation Theories: Equivalence-based and Skopos ..…….….…. 12
2.2.1. Equivalence-based Theory …….……………………………...
12
2.2.2. Skopos Theory ………………………………………..……….
21
2.3. Definitions of Translation ……………………………………… 23
v
2.4. Difficulties Encountered in Translating …………………………. 26
2.4.1. Influence of SL properties……………………………………… 26
2.4.2. Cultural Barriers ……………………………………………….. 29
2.4.3. Linguistic Difficulties
………………………………………..
30
2.4.4. Irrelevant Issues of Rhetorical Features………………………… 33
2.4.5. The Problem of Form and Content
…………………………. 34
2.5. Skills Needed in Translation …………………………………… 36
2.6. Methods of Translation …………………………………………. 45
2.7. The Process of Translation ………………………………………. 49
2.8. Implications of the Theories to the Strategies Employed ……….. 50
2.9. The Criteria for Translating
………………….……………….. 52
2.10. Solutions to the Problems of Translating ………………………. 56
2.10.1. Addition or Removal of Meaning …………………………… 56
2.10.2. Sources of Insufficiency ……………………………………… 57
2.10.3. Theories and Rules Violated ………………………………… 58
2.10.4. Compromising and Compensating …………………………… 59
2.10.5. Cultural Context………………………………………………... 61
2.11. Difficulty versus Mandatory …………………………………….. 66
2.12. Summary ………………………………………………………… 67
vi
CHAPTER III. METHODOLOGY
3.1. Introduction ……………………………………………………… 70
3.2. Method of Research……………………………………………… 71
3.2.1. The Instruments and Informants ………………………………. 72
3.2.2. Access to the Site ………………….…………………………..
74
3.2.3. The Role of the Researcher …………………………………… 75
3.2.4. Research Phases ……….. ..……………………………………
76
3.3. Techniques of Collecting the Data ……………………………... 77
3.3.1. Research Question 1 …………………………………………… 77
3.3.2. Research Question 2 …………………………………………… 80
3.3.3. Research Question 3 …………………………………………… 81
3.4. Data Analysis
………………………………………………... 85
CHAPTER IV. THE FINDINGS
4.1. Introduction ……………………………………………………… 88
4.2. The Informants’ General Ability of Translating ……………….
4.3. Difficulties in Translating
89
……. ……………………………… 97
4.3.1. Linguistic and Cultural Differences …………………………..... 98
4.3.2. Restructuring the Source Text ………………………………...
99
4.3.3. Incomplete Knowledge of the Source Language and
Target Language …………………………………………….. 100
vii
4.3.4. Intimate Acquaintance with Subject Matter
……… …….
101
4.3.5. Effective Empathy with the Original Author and Content ...... 102
4.3.6. Stylistic Facility in the Receptor Language ………………….. 103
4.4. The Translations ………………………………………………….104
4.4.1. Insufficiency for the Target Text
………………………….. 105
4.4.2. Inaccurate Meaning in the Target Text …………………….. 105
4.4.3. Writing at the Author’s Linguistic Level (Emphasizing on the SL
More Than at the Readership’s)
……………………………. 107
4.4.4. Constructing a New Reader (with Different Textual Expectations
and Cultural Knowledge from the Translators’) ……………. 108
4.4.5. The Translators’ Bias (Omission or Alteration) …………...... 104
4.5. Readability in the target Language
4.5.1. The Missing Part in the Target Text
……………………….... 109
……………………….. 111
4.5.2. Different Translating Abilities …………................................ 111
4.5.3. Explorative Informants (3) 1, 3, and 6 As Compared to Inferior
Informants (7) 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, and 10 …………………………. 120
4.5.4. Compromising with the Source Text
……………………… 132
4.5.5. Flexibility ……………………………………………………. 134
4.5.6. Lacking in Intuitive Empathy
……………………………….. 135
4.6. Observations on the Informants’ Strength and Weaknesses …….. 136
4.6.1. Following Unpredictable Turns …………………………………138
viii
4.6.1.1. Following Unpredictable Thought ………………………..…. 138
4.6.1.2. Following Unpredictable Nuances …………………………… 139
4.6.1.3. Following Unpredictable Subtleties ………………………….. 139
4.6.2. Writing the Language Imprecisely and Inaccurately ……………140
4.6.3. The Methods Employed …………………………………………141
4.6.3.1. Primarily Semantic …………………………………………… 141
4.6.3.2. Secondarily Communicative …………………………………. 142
4.6.4. Accuracy, Clarity, Naturalness ………………………………... 143
4.6.4.1. Accuracy …………………………………………………….. 143
4.6.4.2. Clarity ……………………………………………………….. 144
4.6.4.3. Naturalness ………………………………………………….. 145
4.6.4.4. Untranslatability …………………………………………….. 146
4.7. The Translators’ Profiles ………………………………………... 147
4.8. The Translations Reflecting the Informants’ Abilities ………….. 160
4.8.1. Misunderstandings of Certain Words, Phrases, and Sentences .. 160
4.8.1.1. Words ………………………………………………………... 161
4.8.1.2. Phrases ……………………………………………………… 162
4.8.1.3. Sentences ……………………………………………………. 163
4.9. The Process of Translating ……………………………………… 164
4.9.1. The Translations of the Abstract ………………………………. 162
4.9.2. The Translations of the Content ……………………………….. 165
ix
4.9.3. The Translations of the Summary and Conclusions …………... 167
4.10. The Overall Picture of the Librarians’ Translating Abilities ……168
4.11. The Common Thread of the Translating Abilities ……………... 168
4.12. Unexercised Skills ……………………………………………... 169
4.13. Evidence of Insufficiency of Meaning …………………………. 170
4.14. Meanings Insufficiency ………………………………………… 172
4.15. Readership’s Expectation ………………………………………. 180
4.16. Tracks of Attempts to Translate Hard Written Expressions …… 189
4.17. The L1 Ideas Involved …………………………………………. 191
4.17.1. Unfamiliar Words …………………………………………… 191
4.17.2. The Second Language Intent ………………………………... 192
4.18. Pragmatic Equivalence………………………………………..... 194
4.19. Translation Methods Frequently Employed……………………. 190
4.20. The Total Frequency …………………………………………... 199
4.20.1. Being Compromising …………………………………………200
4.20.2. Being Flexible ……………………………………………….. 200
4.20.3. Being Relatively Close to the Readership’s Expectations …... 201
4.21. Typical Insufficiency of Meaning …………………………...... 201
x
CHAPTER V. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS, AND
RECOMMENDATION FOR FURTHER RESEARCH
5.1. Summary …………………………………………………………. 203
5.2. Conclusions ………………………………………………………. 205
5.3. Limitations of the Study ………………………………………….. 207
5.4. Implications ………………………………………………………. 207
5.5. Recommendations for Further Research ………………………… 209
BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………………212
APPENDICES
VITA
xi
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Illustration
1. The equivalences
page
………………………………………..…………………........ 17
2. A map of the concept of skopos theory
3. The methods of translation
…………………………………………. 21
………………………………………………….....
4. The process of translation ……………………………………………………….
46
49
5. Translation strategies with a ‘top-down’ procedure ............................................... 95
xii
LIST OF TABLES
Table
page
1. Five Difficulties of Achieving Equivalences ……………………………………...
31
2. Components of Translation Skills ……………………………..…………………
37
3. Context-based Meanings of the Word Present …………………………….......
39
4. Sentences Using Non-Idiomatic Phrases ………………………………………… 40
5. Sentences with Rhetorical Structures………………………………………………
42
6. The Criteria of Translating Ability …………………………………………….....
55
7. The Existing Skills ……………………………………………………………... 147
8. The Skills Supposedly Acquired …………………………………………………. 147
9. The Frequency of Supposedly Acquired Abilities During the Process of
Translating ……………………………………………………………………… 169
10. Nine Components Supposedly Acquired with Their Degree of Frequency ……… 171
11. Insufficient Meanings Due to the Failure of Exercising Component 11 ………... 172
12. Insufficient Meanings Due to the Failure of Exercising Component 7 …..……… 173
13. Insufficient Meanings Due to the Failure of Exercising Component 9 ……..……. 174
14. Insufficient Meanings Due to the Failure of Exercising Component 6 …..………. 175
15. Insufficient Meanings Due to the Failure of Exercising Component 10 …..……... 176
16. Insufficient Meanings Due to the Failure of Exercising Component 7 …..………. 177
17. Insufficient Meanings Due to the Failure of Exercising Component 5 …..………. 178
xiii
18. Insufficient Meanings Due to the Failure of Exercising Component 5 …….……. 179
19. Insufficient Meanings Due to the Failure of Exercising Component 6 …..……… 180
20. Words or Phrases Wrongly-Transferred and Their Potential Insufficiency of
Meanings …………………………………………………………………..…… 190
21. Frequency of the “P” Equivalence Achieved
………………………………….. 195
22. Frequency of the Methods Employed …………………………………………….. 197
23. Typical Inability of Translating Leading to the Insufficiency of Meaning ………. 199
24. The Elements of Typicality ………………………………………………………. 201
xiv