Bài giảng Translation Theory - Lesson 4: Semantic and communicative translation

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1. INTRODUCTION TO TRANSLATION Truong Van Anh Sai Gon University, HCMC E-mail: truongvananh@cvseas.edu.vn 1
2. Lesson 4: Semantic and communicative translation Semantic translation This kind of translation tends to be dependent on the source language, so it usually sounds unnatural. It includes literal and faithful translation methods. Semantic translation attempts to render, as closely as the semantic and syntactic structures of the source language allow, the exact contextual meaning of the original.
3. Ex: Tôi mất hai giờ để đi Tây Ninh. I lost two hours to go to Tay Ninh. (Semantic translation= Syntactic structure) It took me two hours to go to Tay Ninh. Ex: Tôi uống thuốc hai lần một ngày. I drink the medicine twice a day. (Semantic translation) I take the medicine twice a day.
4. Ex: Qua phà Hậu Giang, Tây Đô hiện ra trước mắt. Taking Hau Giang ferry, Tay Do appears in front of our eyes. (Semantic translation= Syntactic structure) Taking Hau Giang ferry, we see Tay Do appear in front of our eyes.
5. Communicative translation attempts to render the exact contextual meaning of the original in such a way that both content and language are readily acceptable and comprehensible to the readership. Communicative translation attempts to produce on its readers an effect as close as possible to that obtained on the readers of the original. Communicative translation is used for “informative” and “vocative” texts, while semantic for expressive texts.
6. Ex: Good morning. Chào buổi sáng (Semantic translation) Xin chào/Chào bạn Thưa (chú, bác, ông, bà, cô, anh, chị) (Communicative translation) Chúc mừng ngày Phụ nữ! Happy Women’s Day! (Communicative translation) Congratulations on Women’s Day! (Semantic translation)
7. Happy New Year! The same to you! Chúc ông bà sống lâu trăm tuổi! I wish you to live until one hundred years old! (Semantic translation) I wish you every longevity! (Communicative translation) Eve New Year Eve, On the Eve of the Revolution
8. COMMUNICATIVE AND SEMANTIC TRANSLATION SOURCE LANGUAGE BIAS TARGET LANGUAGE BIAS Literal Free Faithful Idiomatic Semantic / Communicative
9. The following is an example of semantic and communicative translation: • 'I never hear or read the name of Yarmouth but I am reminded of a certain Saturday on the beach ' (extracted from David Copperfield by Charles Dickens) • Semantic translation: Tôi không bao giờ nghe hoặc đọc đến tên 'Yarmouth' (tên một thị trấn) mà tôi lại không nhớ đến một sáng thứ bảy nào đó trên bãi biển ( không bao giờ mà lại không )
10. • Communicative Translation: Cứ mỗi lần nghe hoặc đọc đến tên 'Yarmouth' thì tôi lại nhớ đến một sáng thứ bảy nào đó trên bãi biển. (Cứ mỗi lần thì lại ) • Not until: He is not married until he is forty years old. Không cho tới khi Mãi cho tới khi mới
11. Good luck!