TRANSLATION PRODUCT AND PROCESS

Vinay and Darbelnet’s Model

Way back in the 1950s, two French scholars named Jean-Paul Vinay and Jean Darbelnet explored the linguistic aspects of translation. The field of Translation Studies didn't really exist at the time, so most of what Vinay and Darbelnet did was considered comparative literature.

Comparative Stylistics of French and English

Their efforts culminated in what is considered their seminal work in the linguistic turn of translation studies, Comparative stylistics of French and English: method of translation, which around four decades later was translated into an English version, Comparative stylistics of French and English: a methodology for translation.

Vinay and Darbelnet carried out a comparative analysis of pre-existing translations, identifying a series of “strategies” (overall orientations of the translator) and “procedures” (specific techniques used by the translator).

Two General Strategies 1. DIRECT translation (what we can define “literal”)   2. OBLIQUE translation (what we can define “free”)

Seven Procedures  Borrowing  Calque  Literal translation  Transposition  Modulation  Equivalence  Adaptation.

Processes, or Procedures

The fact that it was still worth translating into English nearly half a century later shows you just how important it was. In the book, Vinay and Darbelnet posited that there were seven main processes, or procedures, at work during any given translation. Here's the seven they came up with:

1.      Borrowing (Direct)

Borrowing is the idea of taking the word from the source language (SL) and maintaining it in the target language (TL). It is considered the simplest of the procedures and tends to be employed in two situations: either when discussing a new technical process for which no term exists within the TL, or when maintaining a word from the SL for stylistic effect, in which the translator uses the foreign term to add flavour to the target text (TT).

SL	TL	Explanation
میں ناشتہ میں ایک پراٹھہ، ایک انڈا اور ایک کپ چائےکا لیتا ہوں۔	I take a paratha, an egg and a cup of tea in my breakfast.	Here a word “paratha” from SL (Urdu) remains the same in TL (English).
Our machine is defunct.	ہماری مشین خراب ہے۔	Here a word “machine” from SL (English) fills the gap in TL (Urdu).
فی شرب زم زم شفاء۔	آب زم زم پینےمیں شفا ء ہے۔	Here a word “ زمزم “from SL (Arabic) remains the same in TL (Urdu).

 

2.      Calque (Direct)

A calque is when an expression from the source text (ST) is transferred literally into the TT. Calques either follow the syntax of the TL while translating each word literally or ignore the syntax of the TL and maintain the syntax of the SL, rendering the calque in an awkward syntactical structure in the TT.

SL	TL	Explanation
یہ راستہ بابا شادی شہید کوجاتا ہے۔	This way leads to ‘’Baba Shadi Shaheed”	In this example, the expression “باباشادی شہید” from SL (Urdu) will remain the same in TL (English).
طواف الکعبہ نزھب االلجبل الحراء۔	After Tawaf- e- Kaba we went for Ghar-e –Hira.	In this example, the expressions “Tawaf-e –Kaba “and “Ghar-e –Hira “are borrowed from SL (Arabic) to TL (English).

 

 3.      Literal Translation (Direct)

The third translation method is only to be used under certain circumstances according to Vinay and Darbelnet. The idea of translating word for word in a way that does not alter the meaning is considered an acceptable use of literal translation by the two scholars. Literal translation, put simply, expands the scope of a calque but in a much more acceptable way.

SL	TL
دو اور دو چارہوتےہیں۔	Two and two makes four.
تم کیوں رو رہے ہو؟	Why are you weeping?

 

4.      Transposition (Oblique)

Vinay and Darbelnet referred to transposition as changing word class without changing meaning. This refers to when translators (often without thinking) change the word type, such as from nouns to verbs. Vinay and Darbelnet considered transposition to be either obligatory or optional, and referred to the ST as the base expression and the TT as the transposed expression.

SL	TL	Explanation
He writes neatly.	وہ صفا ئی سےلکھتا ہے	In SL the word “neatly” is adverb, but the word in TL (صفائی) function as an
Travel light. (verbal phrase)	Phrase Adjectival کم سے کم سامان کے ساتھ  سفر کرو۔	Here the phrase “travel light” is a verbal phrase in SL (E English) but its translation in TL (Urdu) act as an adjectival phrase.
He drinks the drinks. (p-v-n)	وہ مشروبات  پیتا ہے۔ (P-N-V)	Structural change.

 

5.      Modulation (Oblique)

The fifth of Vinay and Darbelnet's procedures is modulation. Modulation refers to rendering the TT from a different point of view to that of the ST. Vinay and Darbelnet consider this procedure to be necessary when the results of the former procedures would produce an awkward-sounding translation, despite it being grammatically, syntactically, and lexically correct.

Modulation is a way for the translator to find a degree of naturalness in their TT without sacrificing any meaning or accuracy originating from the ST. A great example given by Vinay and Darbelnet shows how the double negative construction used in English is uncommon in French, and how modulation would render this in French as a simple affirmative statement using a positive modifier.

SL	TL	Explanation
It is easy to understand.	یہ سمجھنا مشکل نہیں۔	Negation of opposition.
The sun has set.	اب دن نہیں ہے۔	Negation of opposition.
My grandmother is female.	میری نانی ماں مرد نہیں۔	Negation of opposition.
All the hands were at works.	تمام لوگ کام میں مصروف  تھے۔	Part for the whole.

 

6.      Equivalence (Oblique)

The idea of equivalence can be simultaneously simple and complex in Translation Studies. Vinay and Darbelnet explain equivalence as something almost inherently cultural, using the example of someone expressing pain. In English the term "ouch!" is used, while in French, a literal rendering of the sound would be of no use to the reader. Instead, the equivalent of "ouch!" in French is "aïe!".

Both words would immediately indicate to readers that there is some level of pain involved. Equivalence also relates to idiomatic expressions, whereby all the lexical and grammatical elements are there but translating literally would leave a reader confused. In fact, you can't "speak of the devil" in French, as in the equivalent expression they speak of a "wolf".

SL	TL
He is nonsense. He is an idiot.	وہ بے وقوف ہے۔
Dainties and plenty. Sense” Double profit”	آم کے آم گٹھلیوں کے دام۔ چپڑی ہوئی ،اور دو دو۔ پانچوں انگلیاں گھیوں میں سر کڑہائی میں۔

 

7.      Adaptation (Oblique)

The most complex of Vinay and Darbelnet's translation procedures is the final one, adaptation. Adaptation is similar to equivalence in the way that the translator seeks to render the SL into the TL whilst ensuring it is just as relevant and meaningful as the original was. Imagine the ST mentioned something that was so undeniably English that translating it into French would have absolutely no meaning, or vice-versa.

A brilliant example of this is the term banlieue, which can be a bit of a double-edged sword when translating into English. While the suburbs of French cities can be rich or poor, the term has been increasingly used to describe run-down areas of cities with low income housing, which is not the idea that springs to mind when the English hear the term suburbs. In this case, a translator would be forgiven for translating banlieue as council estate (UK English) or even the projects (US English).

SL	TL	Explanation
In English “cricket”.	In French “Tour de France”.	Here in English culture the word cricket conveys the same sense as in French “tour de France.
Christmas	Eidain (عیدین)	In the Muslim community the concept of eidain (عیدین) is  same  as the concept Christianity.

Some other techniques exemplified by Vinay and Darbelnet:

AMPLIFICATION: the TL uses more words, often because of syntactic expansion

ECONOMY: the opposite of Amplification

LOSS COMPENSATION: the TL compensate for a “loss” introducing a “gain”

When in Italian we go from LEI to tu, and in English this distinction doesn’t exist, we compensate, for example, going from MISTER GREEN to PETER.

EXPLICITATION: implicit information in the ST is rendered explicit in the TT

GENERALIZATION: the use of a more general word in the TT compared to the one in the ST

English: cottage cheese                                   Italian: formaggio
English: desktop                                             Italian: computer

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