Didactics of Translation: Text in Context

Correlating Groupings of Linguistic Features with Recurrent Situational Features

In order to make ST textual profiles, one has to become familiar with correlations between some recurrent or situational features and some linguistic features (see House 1997). The following is a summary of these correlations:
x FIELD: Situation
The writer/speaker’s choice of linguistic items (vocabulary and
structure) will vary according to what is going on: a speech, a story for children, an academic article…
x Language:
For each domain of activity, we will find a preponderance of certain
vocabulary, of certain structures and certain cohesive devices. Scientific writing, for example, is characterized by the following features:
Lexical Means technical terminology

1. 
   heavy use of the passive
   
2. 
   a predilection for sentences beginning with “it” (a pleonastic “it”) to indicate an impersonal approach. Ex: It has been observed that the genetic make-up of marine mammals predisposes them to reproductive failure when exposed to even moderate levels of PCB s.
   
3. 
   the use of conditional clauses, where often the subject and the verb “to be” are omitted and the “if” or “when” may also disappear. Ex: Heated to 150°C, the substance melts.
   
4. 
   a preference for the subordinate clause coming
   

Syntactic Means
before the main clause; this structuring reflects the logical approach of science itself; that is, a condition giving a result, a cause giving an effect.

5. 
   starting a sentence with an infinitive rather than an adverbial clause of purpose. Ex: To obtain good results, the compound was ….
   

MODE: Situation (simple or complex)
Simple: Here language is “written to be read silently” or “spoken to be heard”.
Language: For the “written to be read silently mode”, the following features are usually found:

1. 
   absence of ellipsis and contractions
   
2. 
   absence of spoken language signals (gambits), such as: well, you see, you know, I mean…
   
3. 
   presence of expanded postnominal and pronominal modification resulting in the separation of the head of the subject noun phrases and the
   

Syntactic Means

Lexical Means

corresponding verb. Ex: The principal reason for the establishment of this system and the distribution of its components was to permit the continuation …

4. 
   frequency of long and complex clauses featuring subordination and multiple coordination.
   
5. 
   placing of expanded subordinate clauses before the main clause. Ex: In order to avoid the possibility of road accidents, motorists are advised not to drive in severe weather conditions.
   

1. 
   absence of interjections and other subjectivity markers
   
2. 
   presence of (+ abstract) noun phrases. Ex: Antisemitic ideology was predominant.
   

Textual means

1. 
   strong cohesion: presence of cohesion devices
   
2. 
   absence of repetition resulting in lack of redundancy
   
3. 
   frequent use of passivization as a “written” means of complex syntactic linkage, especially for the preservation of the theme-rheme sequence
   

Complex: Here language is written to be spoken Language: The language is characterized by the following:

1. 
   presence of ellipsis (incompleteness of sentences) and contractions
   
2. 
   presence of spoken language signals (gambits)
   
3. 
   structural simplicity
   

Syntactic Means
Lexical means

4. 
   frequency of short coordinated clauses
   
5. 
   presence of loosely-structured clauses featuring parenthetical and appositional structures, thus creating an impression of lack of premeditation, typical of the spoken mode
   
6. 
   use of emphasis
   

1. 
   presence of words and phrases marked (formal)
   
2. 
   use of abbreviations
   
3. 
   use of intensifiers Textual means
   

1. 
   ample use of repetition for redundancy to make comprehension easier
   
2. 
   looseness in the logical structuring of the text which is indicative of the lack of premeditation.
   

TENOR: Situation (Social role relationship and social attitude) Social role relationship (social power)
x asymmetrical: higher to lower / lower to higher
x symmetrical: equal to equal
x absence of role relationship

Asymmetrical situation: higher to lower Language:

Syntactic Means

• 
  Frequency of impersonal constructions using impersonal it, existential there and passives
  
• 
  Use of (- human) subject noun phrases adding to the impersonal character of the text.
  
• 
  Use of we to refer the addresser.