O‘zbekiston davlat jahon tillari universiteti

Lesson 4
Word choice in translation
Plan:

1. 
   Word choice is affected in translation
   
2. 
   Ideas for classrom activities
   
3. 
   Translation activities for word choice
   

Key words:
Clash of civilizations, shadowing, memory development, violent conflicts
At Trusted Translations we work with a wide variety of customers whose projects lie in many different areas of knowledge. This varied spectrum spans anything from literature to the most technical manuals for all sorts of machinery. Oftentimes, we receive projects from customers whose area of expertise is very specialized or targeted to a specific type of audience. In these cases, it is extremely important to establish the relevant communication with the customer before starting the project in order to avoid the back and forths once the project has been completed.
Fort the people in charge of managing the project, it is important to know what specific language variant to use; they must also focus on getting resources, both translators and editors, who specialize in the particular subject. At the very least, they must make sure that the proofreading step is carried out by a translator specialized in the area.
Quite often, a word in the source language has many meanings, and so choosing the correct translation can be hard work. In such cases, both the translator and the editor will have to do some research, maybe use glossaries or reference material related to the topic they are translating about. Internet is no doubt a very useful tool in these cases since, for example, if we are translating a manual for a certain product brand, we might be able to find previously translated manuals and thus maintain the same style and the same vocabulary that has previously been used. In this way, we can avoid confusing the users of a particular product who are already familiar with certain terms used to refer to certain parts or uses.
This is a significant consideration that should prompt us, before starting a project, to try to get as much reference material as possible in order to maintain consistency. The use of glossaries, term bases and translation memories helps improve the work of translators and to prevent errors. It is paramount that both vendors and customers be aware of these aspects.
The choice of word, just as its name implies, is the choice and use of word, which is the first t o be affected in translation. No matter in English or in Chinese, polysemy is quite common to see. Moreover, English and Chinese languages have great differences in cultural backgrounds, words may have opposite connotation, and social customs varies according to many aspects.
If you want to translate English to Chinese smoothly, you should pay special attention to these differences, and vice verse. Translators must think about the meaning carefully, and find the corresponding expression in target language.
The connotation of words always means its emotion, stylistic meaning and figurative meaning, etc. Different cultural backgrounds cause different social attitudes; people in different cultures may have different recognition in one thing. If you do not take these aspects into account, apply the thoughts and pattern of target language, you are probably to cause misunderstanding.
Thus, some words with the same literal meaning may have different association and adjustment in different languages. For example, the word of “dog”, even through dog is considered as a lovely pet in both China and West countries, it has different complimentary.
In Chinese, words and phrases with “dog” are usually pejorative, such as 走狗, 癞皮狗, 狗腿子. While in English, most of such phrases are meliorative, except those affected by loanwords. Such as “to work like a dog” mean one who is word hard, and “a lucky dog” means one who is lucky.
In addition to these, some words mean different than their literal meaning. Here are some examples: “restroom” means toilet rather than lounge; “adult books” means pornographic book rather than booked used by adult; “dry goods” means textiles, not dried goods; “sweet water” means fresh water, not water with sweet flavor.
Thus it can be seen that words and expressions in English and Chinese may indicate inconsistent concepts, or some words may connote special emotional meaning.
Thus, we can not understand one word just as a word, but to put it into certain context and cultural background. And then, choose the best word with the same connotation in the target language, to achieve equivalence in literal meaning as well as implied meaning.
In translation, we should pay special attention to collocation of words. Such as play, in English, we say, play basketball, play football, play games. While in Chinese, we use different verbs in such phrases: 打篮球, 踢足球, 玩游戏. Another example is the word “wear”. In English we say wear clothes, wear hat, wear a tie. But in Chinese, we say 穿衣服, 戴帽子, 系领带.
When translate from Chinese to English, one thing I want to emphasis here is: avoid using long words or uncommon words or phrases. In English vocabulary, there are plenty of synonyms, such as empty and vacant, home house and room, clothes and clothing, etc. Some of these words are not common to see. If you can use a simple and easy word to express what you want to express, do not use complicate one.
For example, we should better say “In China, the new term begins on Sep.1st and ends on Jan.15th.” rather than “In China, the new term commences on Sep.1st and terminates on Jan.15th.”
In one word, if you want to be smooth and fluent in translation, the choice of word is very important. We must choose the correct word according to the theme of the article, its style and target readers, to make translation appropriate and concise.