Islamic Azad University Science & Research Campus. M. A. Thesis in Translation Studies. Advisor: Dr. Mohammad Khatib. Reader: Dr.

Transcription

1 Islamic Azad University Science & Research Campus M. A. Thesis in Translation Studies The Functional Unit of Translation in Practice Advisor: Dr. Mohammad Khatib Reader: Dr. Farzaneh Farahzad Mehri Absari August 2005

2 Table of Contents ABSTRACT VI CHAPTER ONE: Introduction Introduction 1 2- Statement of the Problem 4 3-Significance of the Study 5 4-Research Question 7 5-Hypothesis 7 6-Definition of Key Terms 8 7-Delimitations of the Study 12 CHAPTER TWO: Review of the Related Literature Introduction 13 2-Translation Strategies Semantic Translation VS. communicative Translation Literal Translation Free Translation The Concept of Equivalence in Translation Studies Translation and Semantics Text and Discourse Analysis Semantic Structure Analysis Basic Feature of Each Unit Formal Organization Feature of Each Unit Meaning Feature of Each Unit 38

3 III 6. Categorization of Translation Units The Relationship between Units of Translation The Unit of Translation and Translation Equivalence Disagreement about the Range and Scope of the Unit of Translation The Clause and Paragraph seen as the Unit of Translation The Feasibility of Accepting the Sentence as the Key Functional Unit of Translation The Plausibility of taking the Text as the Unit of Translation 57 CHAPTER THREE: Methodology Subjects Instrumentation Procedure The Design of the Study 64 CHAPTER FOUR: Data Analysis & Research Findings CHAPTER FIVE: Conclusion and Discussion Restatement of the Problem Summary of Findings Pedagogical Implication Implication for Teaching Implication for Testing Suggestion for Further Research 78

4 IV References Appendices - Test of Translation - Questionnaire - Statistics

5 Abstract V According to most researchers, the length of translation units is an indication of proficiency, with professional translators working with larger units (sentence and discourse, or group) and moving more comfortably between different unit levels. However, because of the difficulty of analyzing the translation process, there is no full agreement as to what the unit of translation is. Some theories stress that the major unit must be the text itself, that is impossible to translate well unless the significance of the whole text has been established. Yet, practicing translators are often required to undertake a translation without having had the time (or, in some instance, the opportunity) to read or access the whole of a lengthy text. Considering Newmark s definition, sentence is the most common unit of translation; however, since it is a controversial issue due to the fact that it is not exactly determined what the unit of translation is, this study attempts to investigate the most frequent unit of translation between undergraduate and graduate translation trainees. In order to cope with the research question, a short informative text extracted form CNN s News site administered to 70 undergraduate and graduate translation trainees in group of 35, at Islamic Azad University, Karaj Branch and Science and Research Campus respectively.

6 Accordingly, subjects were assigned an informative text to translate form Persian to English with no time limitation. Besides, they were asked to mark their unit of translation while translating as well as specifying them in the presented questionnaire, enclosed with the test, including five choices; namely, word, clause/group, sentence, paragraph, the whole text. It is worth mentioning that subjects could employ more than one choice in treating the text due to its level of difficulty or better understanding of the text. After collecting data, they were analyzed to see which of the aforementioned units of translation was the most frequently used one in the process of translating of each unit in each of the mentioned group was calculated and compared to see whether any significant difference could be observed between two groups of subjects in practice or not.

7 چكيده نظريه پردازان و محققان ترجمه تعريف يكساني از واحد ترجمه ندارند و هر يك كلمه, عبارت, پاراگراف و يا حتي كل متن را به عنوان واحد ترجمه معرفي مي كنند. لذا هدف از اين تحقيق, بررسي انواع واحدهاي ترجمه جهت يافتن رايج ترين واحد ترجمه بود. بدين منظور, يك متن خبري كوتاه برگرفته از سايت خبري CNN به 70 دانشجوي مترجمي زبان انگليسي در مقطع كارشناسي و كارشناسي ارشد ) 2 گروه 35 نفر) دانشگاه آزاد كرج و واحد علوم و تحقيقات تهران داده شد تا آن را از انگليسي به فارسي ترجمه كنند. در ضمن از آنها خواسته شد در حين ترجمه, واحد ترجمه خود را در متن و پس از اتمام ترجمه نيز آن را در پرسش نامه اي كه به همراه تست ترجمه داده شده بود مشخص نمايند., فراواني هر يك از واحد هاي اتخاذ شده محاسبه SPSSپس از گردآوري داده ها به كمك ابزار شد و مشخص گرديد جمله با فراواني %42,2 رايج ترين واحد ترجمه مي باشد.

8 دانشگاه آزاد اسلامي واحد علوم و تحقيقات پايان نامه كارشناسي ارشد مترجمي زبان انگليسي واحد كاربردي ترجمه در عمل استاد راهنما دكتر محمد خطيب استاد مشاور دكتر فرزانه فرحزاد نگارش مهري ابصاري تابستان 84