Translation Studies

Lecture: 5
Topic: Translation Product and Process
Instructor: Amjad Ali
 SEVEN METHODS
Borrowing
Calque
Literal Translation
Transposition
Modulation
Equivalence
Adaptation
 Vinay and Darbelnet
Way back in the 1950s, two French scholars
named Jean-Paul Vinay and Jean Darbelnet
explored the linguistic aspects of translation.
The field of Translation Studies didn't really
exist at the time, so most of what Vinay and
Darbelnet did was considered comparative
literature.
 Contrastive Linguistics
When looking at the work of Vinay and Darbelnet,
the term contrastive linguistics seems much more
appropriate, as what they did was look at the
differences between two languages in order to
inform their understanding of both of them. While
other scholars sought to merely compare two
languages in order to inform the relationship
between them, Vinay and Darbelnet looked at the
process of translation.
 Stylistique comparée du français et de
l'anglais
Their efforts culminated in what is considered
their seminal work in the linguistic turn of
translation studies, Stylistique comparée du
français et de l'anglais : méthode de
traduction, which around four decades later
was translated into an English version,
Comparative stylistics of French and English : a
methodology for translation.
 Processes, or Procedures
The fact that it was still worth translating into
English nearly half a century later shows you
just how important it was. In the book, Vinay
and Darbelnet posited that there were seven
main processes, or procedures, at work during
any given translation. Here's the seven they
came up with:
 1. Borrowing
Borrowing is the idea of taking the word from the
source language (SL) and maintaining it in the target
language (TL). It is considered the simplest of the
procedures and tends to be employed in two
situations: either when discussing a new technical
process for which no term exists within the TL, or
when maintaining a word from the SL for stylistic
effect, in which the translator uses the foreign term
to add flavour to the target text (TT).
 Borrowing
SL TL Explanation

‫ ایک‬،‫ میں ناشتہ میں ایک پراٹھہ‬I take a paratha, an egg Here a word “paratha”
‫انڈا اور ایک‬ and a cup of tea in my from SL (Urdu)
‫کپ چائےکا لیتا ہوں۔‬ breakfast. remains the same in TL
(English).

Our machine is defunct. ‫ہماری مشین خراب ہے۔‬ Here a word “machine”
from SL (English) fills
the gap in TL (Urdu).

‫فی شرب زم زم شفاء۔‬ ‫آب زم زم پینےمیں شفا ء ہے۔‬ Here a word “ R‫زمزم‬
“from SL (Arabic)
remains the same in TL
(Urdu).
 2. Calque
A calque is when an expression from the
source text (ST) is transferred literally into the
TT. Calques either follow the syntax of the TL
while translating each word literally or ignore
the syntax of the TL and maintain the syntax of
the SL, rendering the calque in an awkward
syntactical structure in the TT.
 Calque
SL TL Explanation

‫ یہ راستہ بابا شادی شہید کوجاتا‬This way leads to ‘’Baba In this example, the
‫ہے۔‬ Shadi Shaheed” expression
“‫اباشادیشہید‬RR‫“ب‬from SL
(Urdu) will remain the
same in TL (English).

‫طواف الکعبہ نزھب االلجبل‬ After Tawaf- e- Kaba we In this example, the
‫الحراء۔‬ went for Ghar-e –Hira. expressions “Tawaf-e –
Kaba “and “Ghar-e –Hira
“are borrowed from SL
(Arabic) to TL (English).
 3. Literal Translation
The third translation method is only to be
used under certain circumstances according to
Vinay and Darbelnet. The idea of translating
word for word in a way that does not alter the
meaning is considered an acceptable use of
literal translation by the two scholars. Literal
translation, put simply, expands the scope of a
calque but in a much more acceptable way.
 Literal Translation
SL TL

‫دو اور دو‬ Two and two

‫چارہوتےہیں۔‬ makes four.

‫تم کیوں رو رہے ہو؟‬ Why are you

weeping?
 4. Transposition
Vinay and Darbelnet referred to transposition as
changing word class without changing meaning.
This refers to when translators (often without
thinking) change the word type, such as from nouns
to verbs. Vinay and Darbelnet considered
transposition to be either obligatory or
optional, and referred to the ST as the base
expression and the TT as the transposed expression.
 Transposition
SL TL Explanation

He writes neatly. ‫وہ صفا ئی سےلکھتا ہے۔‬ In SL the word “neatly”

is adverb, but the word in
TL ‫ی‬( ‫ )ص فائ‬function as an

Travel light. (verbal Here the phrase “travel

phrase) ‫سے کم سامان کے ساتھ‬ light” is a verbal phrase
in
phrase) R‫سفر کرو۔‬
SL (E English) but its
‫( کم‬Adjectival translation in TL (Urdu)
act as an adjectival
phrase.
He drinks the drinks. ‫وہ مشروبات پیتا ہے۔‬ Structural change.
(p-v-n) (P-N-V)
 5. Modulation
The fifth of Vinay and Darbelnet's procedures
is modulation. Modulation refers to rendering
the TT from a different point of view to that of
the ST. Vinay and Darbelnet consider this
procedure to be necessary when the results of
the former procedures would produce an
awkward-sounding translation, despite it
being grammatically, syntactically, and lexically
correct.
 Modulation…
Modulation is a way for the translator to find a
degree of naturalness in their TT without
sacrificing any meaning or accuracy originating
from the ST. A great example given by Vinay
and Darbelnet shows how the double negative
construction used in English is uncommon in
French, and how modulation would render
this in French as a simple affirmative
statement using a positive modifier.
 Modulation
SL TL Explanation
It is easy to ‫یہ سمجھنا مشکل‬Negation of
understand. ‫نہیں۔‬ opposition.
The sun has set. ‫اب دن نہیں ہے۔‬Negation of
opposition.
My ‫ میری نانی ماں مرد‬Negation of
grandmother is ‫نہیں۔‬ opposition.
female.
All the hands ‫ تمام لوگ کام میں‬Part for the
were at works. ‫مصروف تھے۔‬ whole.
 6. Equivalence
The idea of equivalence can be simultaneously simple
and complex in Translation Studies. Vinay and Darbelnet
explain equivalence as something almost inherently
cultural, using the example of someone expressing pain.
In English the term "ouch!" is used, while in French, a
literal rendering of the sound would be of no use to the
reader. Instead, the equivalent of "ouch!" in French is
"aïe!".
 Equivalence
Both words would immediately indicate to
readers that there is some level of pain
involved. Equivalence also relates to idiomatic
expressions, whereby all the lexical and
grammatical elements are there but
translating literally would leave a reader
confused. In fact, you can't "speak of the
devil" in French, as in the equivalent
expression they speak of a "wolf".
 ‫‪Equivalence‬‬
‫‪SL‬‬ ‫‪TL‬‬
‫‪He is nonsense.‬‬ ‫وہ بے وقوف ہے۔‬
‫‪He is an idiot.‬‬
‫‪Dainties‬‬ ‫آم کے آم گٹھلیوں کے دام۔‬
‫‪and‬‬ ‫چپڑی ہوئی ‪،‬اور دو دو۔‬
‫‪plenty.‬‬ ‫پانچوں انگلیاں گھیوں میں‬
‫”‪Sense‬‬ ‫سر کڑہائی‬
‫میں۔‬
‫‪Double‬‬
‫”‪profit‬‬
 7. Adaptation
The most complex of Vinay and Darbelnet's
translation procedures is the final one, adaptation.
Adaptation is similar to equivalence in the way that
the translator seeks to render the SL into the TL
whilst ensuring it is just as relevant and meaningful
as the original was. Imagine the ST mentioned
something that was so undeniably English that
translating it into French would have absolutely no
meaning, or vice-versa.
 Adaptation
A brilliant example of this is the term banlieue,
which can be a bit of a double-edged sword when
translating into English. While the suburbs of French
cities can be rich or poor, the term has been
increasingly used to describe run-down areas of
cities with low income housing, which is not the idea
that springs to mind when the English hear the term
suburbs. In this case, a translator would be forgiven
for translating banlieue as council estate (UK
English) or even the projects (US English).
 Adaptation
SL TL Explanation
In English “cricket” In French “Tour de Here in English
France” culture the word
cricket conveys the
same sense as in
French “tour de
France.
In the Muslim
community
Christmas (Eidain‫)عیدین‬
the concept of
eidain(‫ )عیدین‬is same
as
the concept
Christianity.
Thank You
For Your
Time
 Assignment # 1
• Select any Procedure/Process presented by
Vinay and Darbelnet and apply it on any
TEXT.
• You will be shared a book of (Urdu-English)
Translation to select any poem
• You will also be shared an Mphil Level Thesis
for help