English Department
Third Year Classes – First Semester
Module Tutor: Yousif A. Omer
2021-2022
It is important to stress that translation deals with
the transfer of written text. When the text or the
medium is oral, however, the term used is
interpreting or interpretation.
Etymologically, The English term
"translation" derives either from the Old
French translation or more directly from the
Latin translatio ('transporting'), itself
coming from the participle of the verb
transferre ('to carry over').
There are a number of theories in the field of
translation, and each of them sees the concept
of translation in a specific way. Therefore,
scholars have introduced many definitions of
translation to this field according to their
perceptions to it. Here are some definitions:
Translation is the replacement of textual
material in one language (Source Language) by
equivalent material in another language (Target
Language).
(Catford 1965:20)
Nida (1965) suggests that translation is
concerned with the reproduction of the closest
equivalent of the source language text (or
textual material) in the target language.
Hermans (1999:47) states that translation is seen
as ‘‘the replacement, or substitution, of an
utterance in one language by formally or
semantically or pragmatically equivalent
utterance in another language’’.
The transformation of a text originally in one
language into an equivalent text in a different
language retaining, as far as is possible, the
content of the message and the formal features
and functional roles of the original text.
(Bell, 1991:p. xv)
The above definitions have put much focus on
the significance of ‘equivalence’.
On the other hand, functionalists view
translation differently:
Translation is considered to be the production
of a functionally appropriate target text
based on existing source text, and the
relationship between the texts is specified
according to the skopos of the translation.
(Reiss and Vermeer 1984/1991)
In translating, the language from which a text is
translated is known as the source language (SL) and
the language of the translated product is the target
language (TL). What is also referred to as the original
text is generally known as the source text (ST) and the
translated text is the target text (TT). For instance, in a
translation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet into Kurdish, the
ST would be the English original text and the Kurdish
translation the TT.
Unit of Translation
The unit of translation can vary in the range of
word, phrases, sentences and the whole text,
depending on the translators' foci of attention
and different types of translation.
1.Word
(Thus, therefore, nevertheless, nonetheless,
bank, ground, dove)
It is not acceptable since some words have more
than one meaning.
Financial building bank seaside
2. Phrase (collocations, idiomatic expressions)
A collocation is a combination of words that are commonly
used together. It is important to learn collocations, because
they are important for the naturalization of one’s speech.
Besides, they broaden one’s scope for expression.
Break a promise
Take / have a seat
Do the shopping/ go shopping
An idiom is an expression whose meaning is different
from the meaning of the individual words. Here are
two examples:
❖ Once in a blue moon = very rarely
Once in a blue moon, I buy a fashion magazine, just to
see what people are wearing
❖ Get ducks in a row = Getting your things well
organized.
To ensure a successful product launch, we must get our
ducks in a row.
3. Sentence
I saw him near the bank.
Look at the dog with one eye.
Look at the dog using only one of your eyes.
Look at the dog that only has one eye.
Although some translation scholars prefer long
sentence or short paragraph as satisfactory unit of
translation, translators often encounter difficulties in
translating, for instance, ambiguous sentences.
4. Whole text
Newmark (1988) contends that "the mass of translation
uses a text as a unit only when there are apparently
insuperable problems at the level of the collocations,
clause or sentence level".
Bassnett & Mcquire (1980:117) suggests that full text
has to be the unit of translation.
To recap, in spite of the fact that different units
have been considered as the unit of translation,
all are not mutually exclusive. In other words, it
is an elastic unit which varies from one situation
to another.
Types of Translation
Translation theorists and researchers have made
attempts to classify translation into different types. The
reason behind their classification stems from the fact
that they tried to show the quality of the relation
established between the source text and the target text.
Here we discuss some of them.
1. Literal vs. Free Translation
The aim of a literal translation is to reproduce the
form of the source text as much as possible into the
target text since no translation is 'ever too literal or too
close to the original' (Newmark, 1988: p137). In other
words, the translator stays with one-to-one
correspondence until it is necessary to alter this for the
sake of meaning (Strauss, 2005: p156).
All that glitters is not gold.
هةموو بريسكةيةك زيَر نى ية.
Actions speak louder than words.
كردارةكان لة وشةكان بةرزتر قسة دةكةن.
Regarding Free (Literary) translation, Landers
(2001: p55) states that the purpose behind translation is
not to render what the SL author writes but what he/she
means. From this perspective, some utterances cannot
be translated literally since they tend to have a
figurative (metaphorical) meaning and in order to
translate it literary, the translator must understand this
figurative meaning. Here is an example:
All that glitters is not gold.
.ل سووريَك هةمزة ئاغا نى ية
ََ َهةموو سمي
Actions speak louder than words.
.كردارة شةرتة
2. Semantic vs. Communicative Translation
Newmark suggests ‘semantic’ and ‘communicative’
translation as follows:
Communicative translation attempts to produce on its
readers an effect as close as possible to that obtained on
the readers of the original. This type of translation
gives more priority to the meaning and form of the
original text. (literary, religious, legal texts,)
Semantic translation attempts to render, as closely as
the semantic and syntactic structures of the second
language allow, the exact contextual meaning of the
original (Newmark 1981: 39).
It gives priority to the effectiveness of the message to
be communicated. (advertisements, tourist brochures,
manuals, etc.
That dog bites.
Communicative translation: .ورياي ئةو سةطة بة
Semantic Translation: .ئةو سةطة طاز دةطريَت
-----------------------------------------------------------------
(Semantic) دوور كةوة لة طذوطيا-
ََََةرؤ
ِ تكاية بةناو طذوطيا دا م-
(Communicative)
3. Form-based translation and Meaning-based
translation
- According to Larson (1984: 15) translation is classified into
two main types, namely form-based translation and meaning-
based translation.
- Forms-based translation attempts to follow the form of the
source language (SL) and it is known as literal translation.
- Meaning-based translation makes every effort to
communicate the meaning of the SL text in the natural forms
of the receptor language.
John bought a new flat in London two months
ago.
Form-based:
كري لة لةندةن دوو مانط
جؤن شوقةيةكي نو َيي ِ
لةمةوبةر.
Meaning-based:
كري
دوو مانط لةمةوبةر لة لةندةن جؤن شوقةيةكي نويَي َِ
3. Instrumental and Documentary Translation
According to Nord (2001) translation is classified into two main types,
namely Documentary and Instrumental translations. Documentary
translation preserves the original exoticizing setting while
instrumental translation insists on the adaptation of the setting to the
target culture. She states that if the translator focuses on the
transmission of the original flavor for the reader's reference,
documentary translation is preferred, but, if she mainly intends to
convey the information for basic communication, instrumental
translation is sufficient.
Difficulties in Translation
1. Linguistic difficulties
Each language has its own linguistic system to arrange words and
phrases to form sentences. Regarding the two languages involved
in the study, English and Kurdish are different in several aspects
such as word order, tense construction, possessive construction
and so forth.
A. Word Order
The Kurdish basic sentence structure is SOV, whereas the English basic
structure is SVO. Thus, in Kurdish, verbs normally occur at the end of
sentences/clauses. This basic grammatical rule is assumed to be
respected even in translations carried out by novice translators.
John bought a new flat in London two months
ago.
كري لة لةندةن دوو مانط لةمةوبةر.
جؤن شوقةيةكي نويَي ِ
كرَي
دوو مانط لةمةوبةر لة لةندةن جؤن شوقةيةكي نو َيي ِ
B. Tense
There is much difference between English and Kurdish languages in
terms of tense construction that are used to indicate the time of events.
In this regard, there are several tenses that the Kurdish language lacks
in order to communicate the timing of actions such as present perfect
continuous, past perfect continuous, present continuous and future
tenses. Simple present is usually utilized to express present continuous
or simple future through using adverbs to indicate the aspect of the
tense (Thackston, 2006, pp. 75-84)
She does her homework.
She will do her homework.
She is doing her homework.
.بةجي دةكات
ََ ئةو ئةركي مالَةوةي ج َي
In the following example, the English present perfect verb
construction (have always been justified) has been translated
into Kurdish past perfect )) شةرعيةتيان ثيَدراوة. This is because both
tenses are used to describe an action that happened in the past
and still in progress or its result is effective now.
These anti-democratic offenses have always been justified in the
name of fighting “terrorism” or “separatism”.
»ئةم هيَرشة دذة ديموكراسيانة هةميشة بةناوي «تيرؤرزم» يا «جياكارييةوة
.شةرعيةتيان ث َيدراوة
C. Passive-Active Relation
Obligatory modulation based on a change between active and
passive voice is also relatively frequent. The most remarkable
pattern of this type of modulation occurs when a given verb
cannot be used in the passive form in the TL, for example:
Oil and gas are owned by all the people of Iraq in all
the regions and governorates.
نةوت و غاز مولَكي سةرجةم خةلَكى عيَراقن لة هةموو هةريَم و
.ثاريَزطاكاندا
The verb own, in the example above, does not have a
passive form in Kurdish. The only possible way to
translate the sentence into Kurdish is to change the
voice from passive to active.
D. Transposition in possessive construction
there are two types of English possessive constructions:
possessive ’s structure (e.g. ‘Malcolm’s legacy’) and ‘of phrase’
structure (e.g. ‘the legacy of freedom’). Kurdish, on the other
hand, only has ‘of phrase’ possessive construction. This
indicates that, in translating from English into Kurdish, phrases
constructed by possessive ’s have to be shifted to ‘of phrase’
structure.
E. Transposition in cardinal numbers
Kurdish cardinal numbers are followed by a singular noun,
whereas English cardinal numbers are followed by plural.
16 days of activism ِرؤذ لة ضاالكي16
This suggests that all English plural nouns preceded by cardinal
numbers have to be shifted to singular nouns in translations into
Kurdish.
Political Texts -1-
Translate the following text into Kurdish.
U.S. envoy to North Korea Stephen Bosworth arrived to talk to his Japanese
counterpart in Tokyo on Monday (September 7) as he continued his tour
around the region to restart the stalled six-country diplomatic efforts on
ending the North's nuclear arms programme.
Bosworth met with Japan's Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs'
Asian and Oceanian bureau Akitaka Saiki to also to discuss recent reports that
North Korea, which has produced enough plutonium for an estimated six to eight
bombs, had made advances in uranium enrichment, a move analysts saw as a
tactic to put pressure on regional powers after a month of conciliatory gestures.
North Korea's action is certainly a concern to us. However, we will
continue to make diplomatic efforts across various platforms within
the six-party talks framework and stop North Korea from
conducting any provocation towards the international community,"
Japan's Saiki told reporters after meeting with Bosworth on Monday.
Political Texts -2-
Translate the following text into Kurdish.
A suicide car bomber detonated his explosives outside a NATO military base
at the international airport in the Afghan capital on Tuesday (September 8)
killing at least one civilian, officials said. Farid Raeed, an official at the
Ministry of Health, said one civilian was killed in the blast and seven others
had been brought to two hospitals in the capital.
"Six to seven civilians were wounded as a result of the blast and two ISAF
(International Security Assistance Force) were killed. This is what I have seen
there," said Mohibullah, an army officer. Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman
for the Taliban, claimed responsibility for the blast, and said the target had
been foreign soldiers at the airport.
A police official, who confirmed the blast had no immediate
information on casualties, but a private television channel said
there were a number of casualties among Afghans and foreign
troops. NATO, which runs the military side of the airport, had no
immediate comment.
Tuesday's attack comes less than a month after a suicide car
bomber detonated his explosives outside the sprawling NATO-
led headquarters in Kabul, killing at least seven and wounding
100.
