A METHODOLOGY FOR TRANSLATION

Jean-Paul Vinay
and
Jean Darbelnet
At first the different methods or procedures seem to be
countless, but they can be condensed to just seven, each one
corresponding to a higher degree of complexity. In practice,
they may be used either on their own or combined with one or
more of the others.
Direct and oblique translation

In some translation tasks it may be possible to transpose the source

language message element by element into the target language, which is
called “direct “ because it is based on

(i) parallel categories, in which case we can speak of structural

parallelism,
(ii) on parallel concepts, which are the result of metalinguistic
parallelisms.

But translators may also notice gaps, or “lacunae”, in the target language
(TL) which must be filled by corresponding elements, so that the overall
impression is the same for the two messages.
It may, however, also happen that, because of structural or metalinguistic
differences, certain stylistic effects cannot be transposed into the TL
without upsetting the syntactic order, or even the lexis. In this case it is
understood that more complex methods have to be used which at first may
look unusual but which nevertheless can permit translators a strict control
over the reliability of their work: these procedures are called “oblique”
In the listing which follows, the first three procedures are direct and the
others are oblique
Procedure 1: Borrowing
To overcome a lacuna, usually a metalinguistic one (e.g. a new technical
process, an unknown concept), borrowing is the simplest of all translation
methods. It would not even merit discussion in this context if translators did
not occasionally need to use it in order to create a stylistic effect. For
instance, in order to introduce the flavor of the source language (SL) culture
into a translation, foreign terms may be used,
‫ !افتح يا سمسم‬- ---- Open Sesame!
Some well-established, mainly older borrowings are so widely used that they
are no longer considered as such and have become a part of the respective TL
lexicon expression like “déjà vu” are no longer considered to be
borrowings. Translators are particularly interested in the newer borrowings,
even personal ones. It must be remembered that many borrowings enter a
language through translation, just like semantic borrowings,
The decision to borrow a SL word or expression for introducing an element
of local color is a matter of style and consequently of the message.
Procedure 2: Calque
A calque is a special kind of borrowing whereby a language borrows an
expression form of another, but then translates literally each of its elements.
The result is either
• a lexical calque, as example below, a calque which respects
the syntactic structure of the TL, while introducing a new mode of
expression; mobile ….‫مـوبايـل‬
• a structural calque, by….‫من قـبل‬
As with borrowings, there are many fixed calques which, after a period of
time, become an integral part of the language. These too, like borrowings,
may have undergone a semantic change, turning them into faux amis (false
friend). Translators are more interested in new calques which can serve to fill
a lacuna, without having to use an actual borrowing .

‫ القشة التي قصمت ظهر البعير‬- The straw that broke the camel's back
Procedure 3: Literal translation
Literal, or word for word, translation is the direct transfer of a SL text into a
grammatically and idiomatically appropriate TL text in which the
translators’ task is limited to observing the adherence to the linguistic
servitudes of the TL. In principle, a literal translation is a unique solution
which is reversible and complete in itself. It is most common when
translating between two languages of the same family (e.g. between French
and Italian), and even more so when they also share the same culture. If
literal translations arise between French and English, it is because common
metalinguistic concepts also reveal physical coexistence, i.e. periods of
bilingualism, with the conscious or unconscious imitation which attaches to
a certain intellectual or political prestige, and such like. They can also be
justified by a certain convergence of thought and sometimes of structure,
which are certainly present among the European languages (cf. the creation
of the definite article, the concepts of culture and civilization), and which
have motivated interesting research in General Semantics. In the preceding
methods, translation does not involve any special stylistic procedures.
If this were always the case then our present study would lack
justification and translation would lack an intellectual challenge since it
would be reduced to an unambiguous transfer from SL to TL. The
exploration of the possibility of translating scientific texts by machine,
as proposed by the many research groups in universities and industry in
all major countries, is largely based on the existence of parallel
passages in SL and TL texts, corresponding to parallel thought
processes which, as would be expected, are particularly frequent in the
documentation required in science and technology. The suitability of
such texts for automatic translation was recognized as early as 1955 by
Locke and Booth. (For current assessments of the scope of applications
of machine translation see Hutchins and Somers 1992, Sager 1994.) If,
after trying the first three procedures, translators regard a literal
translation unacceptable, they must turn to the methods of oblique
translation. By unacceptable we mean that the message, when
translated literally i gives another meaning, or ii has no meaning, or iii
is structurally impossible, or iv does not have a corresponding
expression within the metalinguistic experience of the TL, or v has a
corresponding expression, but not within the same register.
only need to look up the appropriate translation under the entry
corresponding to the situation identified by the SL message. But such
dictionaries do not exist and therefore translators start off with words or
units of translation, to which they apply particular procedures with the
intention of conveying the desired message. Since the positioning of a
word within an utterance has an effect on its meaning, it may well arise
that the solution results in a grouping of words that is so far from the
original starting point that no dictionary could give it. Given the infinite
number of combinations of signifier s alone, it is understandable that
dictionaries cannot provide translators with ready-made solutions to all
their problems. Only translators can be aware of the totality of the
message, which determines their decisions. In the final analysis, it is the
message alone, a reflection of the situation, that allows us to judge
whether two texts are adequate alternatives.
Procedure 4: Transposition
The method called transposition involves replacing one word class with
another without changing the meaning of the message. Beside being a special
translation procedure, transposition can also be applied within a language.
In translation there are two distinct types of transposition:
(i) obligatory transposition, and
(ii) optional transposition.
Translators must, therefore, choose to carry out a transposition if the
translation thus obtained fits better into the utterance, or allows a particular
nuance of style to be retained. Indeed, the transposed form is generally more
literary in character. A special and frequently used case of transposition is that
of interchange

‫ يعمل جيدا‬- He is a good worker

‫‪.The situation has broken up very sharply-‬‬

‫‪ -‬تدهور الموقف بشدة‪.‬‬

‫‪ -‬تدهور الموقف تدهورا حادا‪.‬‬
‫‪ -‬تدهور الموقف أيّما تدهور‪.‬‬
‫‪ -‬إن تدهور الموقف لشديد‪.‬‬
‫‪ -‬لشد ما تدهور الموقف‬
Procedure 5: Modulation
Modulation is a variation of the form of the message, obtained by a change in the
point of view. This change can be justified when, although a literal, or even
transposed, translation results in a grammatically correct utterance, it is considered
unsuitable, unidiomatic or awkward in the TL.
As with transposition, we distinguish between free or optional modulations and
those that are fixed or obligatory
The difference between fixed and free modulation is one of degree. In the case of
fixed modulation, translators with a good knowledge of both languages freely use
this method, as they will be aware of the frequency of use, the overall acceptance,
and the confirmation provided by a dictionary or grammar of the preferred
expression.

Out side the building -1 ‫أمام البناية‬

It’s not easy -2 ‫انها صعبة‬
Cases of free modulation are single instances not yet fixed and sanctioned
by usage, so that the procedure must be carried out anew each time. This,
however, is not what qualifies it as optional; when carried out as it should
be, the resulting translation should correspond perfectly to the situation
indicated by the SL. To illustrate this point, it can be said that the result of a
free modulation should lead to a solution that makes the reader exclaim,
“Yes, that’s exactly what you would say”.
Free modulation thus tends towards a unique solution, a solution which
rests upon an habitual train of thought and which is necessary rather than
optional.
that as soon as a free modulation is used often enough, or is felt to offer the
only solution (this usually results from the study of bilingual texts, from
discussions at a bilingual conference, or from a famous translation which
claims recognition due to its literary merit), it may become fixed. However,
a free modulation does not actually become fixed until it is referred to in
dictionaries and grammars and is regularly taught.
A passage not using such a modulation would then be considered inaccurate
and rejected. In his M.A. thesis, G.Panneton, from whom we have borrowed
the term modulation, correctly anticipated the results of a systematic
application of transposition and modulation:
Procedure 6: Equivalence
We have repeatedly stressed that one and the same situation can be
rendered by two texts using completely different stylistic and structural
methods. In such cases we are dealing with the method which produces
equivalent texts. The classical example of equivalence is given by the
reaction of an amateur who accidentally hits his finger with a hammer: if he
were French his cry of pain would be transcribed as “Aïe!”, but if he were
English this would be interpreted as “Ouch!”. Another striking case of
equivalences are the many onomatopoeia of animal sounds, e.g.:
cocorico cock-a-doodle-do
miaou miaow
hi-han heehaw
These simple examples illustrate a particular feature of equivalences: more
often than not they are of a syntagmatic nature, and affect the whole of the
message. As a result, most equivalences are fixed, and belong to a
phraseological repertoire of idioms, clichés, proverbs, nominal or adjectival
phrases, etc. In general, proverbs are perfect examples of equivalences,

‫حـ‬
‫اطلبوا العلم من المهد الى الل د‬.... Never too old to learn
The method of creating equivalences is also frequently applied to
idioms. For example, “To talk through one’s hat”(‫باــغـ‬
‫) يـــل‬vand “as like
as two peas”(‫ ) متشـابـهـان‬cannot be translated by means of a calque. Yet
this is exactly what happens amongst members of so called bilingual
populations, who have permanent contact with two languages but never
become fully acquainted with either. It happens, nevertheless, that some
of these calques actually become accepted by the other language,
especially if they relate to a new field which is likely to become
established in the country of the TL.
Procedure 7: Adaptation
With this seventh method we reach the extreme limit of translation: it is
used in those cases where the type of situation being referred to by the SL
message is unknown in the TL culture. In such cases translators have to
create a new situation that can be considered as being equivalent.
Adaptation can, therefore, be described as a special kind of equivalence, a
situational equivalence.
The method of adaptation is well known amongst simultaneous interpreters:
there is the story of an interpreter who, having adapted “cricket” into “Tour
de France”
in a context referring to a particularly popular sport, was put on the spot
when the French delegate then thanked the speaker for having referred to
such a typically French sport. The interpreter then had to reverse the
adaptation and speak of cricket to his English client
The refusal to make an adaptation is invariably detected within a translation
because it affects not only the syntactic structure, but also the development of
ideas and how they are represented within the paragraph. Even though
translators may produce a perfectly correct text without adaptation, the
absence of adaptation may still be noticeable by an indefinable tone,
something that does not sound quite right.
This is unfortunately the impression given only too often by texts published
by international organizations, whose members, either through ignorance or
because of a mistaken insistence on literalness, demand translations which are
largely based on calques. The result may then turn out to be pure gibberish
which has no name in any language, but which René Etiemble quite rightly
referred to as “sabir atlantique”, which is only partly rendered by the
equivalent “Mid-Atlantic jargon”. Translations cannot be produced simply by
creating structural or metalinguistic calques. All the great literary translations
were carried out with the implicit knowledge of the methods described in this
chapter, as Gide’s preface to his translation of Hamlet clearly shows.
One cannot help wondering, however, if the reason the Americans refused to
take the League of Nations seriously was not because many of their
documents were un-modulated and un-adapted renderings of original French
texts, just as the “sabir atlantique” has its roots in ill-digested translations of
Anglo-American originals.
Here, we touch upon an extremely serious problem, which,
unfortunately, lack of space prevents us from discussing further, that of
intellectual, cultural, and linguistic changes, which over time can be
effected by important documents, school textbooks, journals, film
dialogues, etc., written by translators who are either unable to or who
dare not venture into the world of oblique translations. At a time when
excessive centralization and lack of respect for cultural differences are
driving international organizations into adopting working languages sui
generis for writing documents which are then hastily translated by
overworked and unappreciated translators, there is good reason to be
concerned about the prospect that four fifths of the world will have to
live on nothing but translations, their intellect being starved by a diet of
linguistic pap
J. Malon highlight the important of modern linguistics.
He provides nine local strategy . eight of them appear
as pairs :
•Matching

Equation Substitution
Dealing with cultural – Type of rendering
specific items Dramatically ‫شكل كــبير‬ ‫بــــ‬
 Loan The lady's dress ‫ستان لاــسيدة‬ ‫فـــ‬
Ex. Falafel‫الفل‬ ‫فــ‬ ( modulation)
Video ‫ديو‬
‫يـفــ‬
 Calque
Photograph‫غرـاف‬ ‫فــ‬
‫توـوـ‬
 Lexical creation
Valentine Day‫عيدـ لاـحب‬
 •Zigzagging
Divergence Convergence
Process of selecting the When denotative meaning of TL word
most appropriate are narrowing or more specific
equivalent Hyperonym – particularisation
‫ عمة‬/ ‫ خالة‬aunt
Hyponym –  
generalization  
Voice /sound‫صـوت‬
 

•Recrescence
Amplification Reduction
Process of Omission of some
expanding the S elements in the T
text expression text without
by additions effecting the
meaning of the S
text
 •Repackaging
Diffusion Condensation
Concern with providing Concern with give less elaboration
elaboration Joke with ‫مزح‬
‫يـــ‬
Stress‫كد على‬
‫وـي ـ‬ ‫ يسترد‬to get (smth) back

•Reordering
Involves a new sequence of S text to fit the TL .
Ex. Day and night ‫ل يلونهار‬