Salam dear students,
I wish you a pleasent holiday with your beloved ones.
Here is some good news for those who failed to translate the two texts in class . They can still translate them and e-mail them to Barakotta9@gmail.com so that they will not lose much of participation marks.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Themes for Term Papers
Here are some themes for term papers that will be submitted right after Hajj holiday, these will be evaluated out of ten marks. Any attempts for plagiarism or copy-paste act will be deemed as cheating and will receive no marks at all.
1- Problem of long sentences in Arabic and English; illustrated with examples
2- Bias in translation; why and when?
3- Translation of proverbs from English into Arabic, similarities or differences between proverbs in the two languages
4- Translation of proverbs from Arabic into English
5- Techniques used in Arabicization with an examination of 50 examples for every technique
Every term paper must be typed and well-written in terms of grammar and style. It must be at least 3 pages long and no more than 5 pages. A student is supposed to write his own opinion at the end of his mini-research.
Should you have any questions about research methodology and format, please follow the links provided in the site, write a post or send me an e-mail.
1- Problem of long sentences in Arabic and English; illustrated with examples
2- Bias in translation; why and when?
3- Translation of proverbs from English into Arabic, similarities or differences between proverbs in the two languages
4- Translation of proverbs from Arabic into English
5- Techniques used in Arabicization with an examination of 50 examples for every technique
Every term paper must be typed and well-written in terms of grammar and style. It must be at least 3 pages long and no more than 5 pages. A student is supposed to write his own opinion at the end of his mini-research.
Should you have any questions about research methodology and format, please follow the links provided in the site, write a post or send me an e-mail.
Monday, December 3, 2007
Two Texts for Next Week's Sessions
A-
95-year-old woman traps thif
BERLIN (Reuters) - A 95-year-old German woman solved a series of mystery thefts in a retirement home when she set a trap, hid in a toilet, and caught the thief red-handed.
"It was a real case of Miss Marple," said a police spokesman in the eastern town of Saalfeld Thursday. "It's good to know there are still courageous old ladies out there."
The elderly sleuth left cash out in her room as bait and then withdrew to the toilet to lie in wait. A cleaner then entered and pocketed the money, unaware she was being watched.
"Then the old lady hit the alarm button in the toilet and staff in the home nabbed the cleaner," the spokesman said.
The cleaner, 36, later confessed to police she was responsible for other thefts from the home near the spa resort of Bad Lobenstein.
B-
My children are expert arguers. If there's nothing handy to argue about, they invent something. Matt and Amy used to have long arguments over the supper dishes about whether a horse or a helicopter would be the best transportation back and forth from the warehouse. "But a horse is nice and friendly and you could hug it." "But a helicopter would be more efficient." Recently, Ben and Jenny had a huge row over whether that was a chomp or a nibble that Jenny took out of Ben's pretzel. "I told her she could have a nibble and she took a chomp!" Then there was the time not long ago when Jenny and Emily had a big argument over whether or not Emily was winking with both eyes at the same time.
I don't know how I got myself into this situation because I hate arguments. I refuse to discuss an issue purely for the sake of discussing it, without a goal of reaching an understanding, and arguments, with voices raised and barbs thrown, make me want to duck and run.I do, however, love conversations. Three or four ladies around a table, just talking. No agendas, no winners and losers. One tells a funny story and we all laugh. Another shares a humiliating experience and we all sympathize. Another feels tired all the time and we tell what helped us be more energetic.That's what I like.
95-year-old woman traps thif
BERLIN (Reuters) - A 95-year-old German woman solved a series of mystery thefts in a retirement home when she set a trap, hid in a toilet, and caught the thief red-handed.
"It was a real case of Miss Marple," said a police spokesman in the eastern town of Saalfeld Thursday. "It's good to know there are still courageous old ladies out there."
The elderly sleuth left cash out in her room as bait and then withdrew to the toilet to lie in wait. A cleaner then entered and pocketed the money, unaware she was being watched.
"Then the old lady hit the alarm button in the toilet and staff in the home nabbed the cleaner," the spokesman said.
The cleaner, 36, later confessed to police she was responsible for other thefts from the home near the spa resort of Bad Lobenstein.
B-
My children are expert arguers. If there's nothing handy to argue about, they invent something. Matt and Amy used to have long arguments over the supper dishes about whether a horse or a helicopter would be the best transportation back and forth from the warehouse. "But a horse is nice and friendly and you could hug it." "But a helicopter would be more efficient." Recently, Ben and Jenny had a huge row over whether that was a chomp or a nibble that Jenny took out of Ben's pretzel. "I told her she could have a nibble and she took a chomp!" Then there was the time not long ago when Jenny and Emily had a big argument over whether or not Emily was winking with both eyes at the same time.
I don't know how I got myself into this situation because I hate arguments. I refuse to discuss an issue purely for the sake of discussing it, without a goal of reaching an understanding, and arguments, with voices raised and barbs thrown, make me want to duck and run.I do, however, love conversations. Three or four ladies around a table, just talking. No agendas, no winners and losers. One tells a funny story and we all laugh. Another shares a humiliating experience and we all sympathize. Another feels tired all the time and we tell what helped us be more energetic.That's what I like.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Comments on the Mid-term
Dear students,
This Post is dedicated for comments on your last mid-term which apparently seems to have caused some sort of confusion to you. Go ahead and express yourselves here.
This Post is dedicated for comments on your last mid-term which apparently seems to have caused some sort of confusion to you. Go ahead and express yourselves here.
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Stylistic Problems
“ a change of style is a change of meaning”
- Style: the collection of choices made by language users including layout, grammar, vocabulary and phonology.
- Translators should maintain the same or at least a similar style of the original when translating.
A- Formality VS Informality
- There are many different scales that are suggested by different linguists. As an example, in 1962 Joos suggested the following scale:
1- Frozen Formal بالغ الفصاحة أو قح such as: we are terribly sorry for the inconvenience
2- Formal فصيح such as: sorry for the
3- Informal شبه فصيح
4- Colloquial عامي
5- Vulgar or slang سوقي
However, it is not always possible to have those different five levels of formality or informality. Due to differences among languages, languages can express actions differently with variable utterances, and not necessarily with the same number of variations.
B- Fronting:
- It is an important stylistic device that is used to put stress on the fronted unit of translation.
- Translators need to differentiate between the two different systems of word order which are used in Arabic and English. When fronting is made, a clear shift in word order takes place.
Examples: قول الله تعالى " إنما يخشى اللهَ من عبادهِ العلماءُ"
A thief he became.
Being a hard-working employee, he could manage his time in both jobs.
C- Parallelism
- Identical structures that are used consecutively.
- Examples: 1- Reporters are urged not to praise or belittle the minister’s comments.
2- He is not a poet. He is not a writer. He is not literate.
D- Ambiguity
- Unclarity in meaning of a translation unit. It is a stylistic function that is used to hide the message or the truth, complicate meaning, or for rhetorical purposes.
Examples:
1- Management of managers can be unmanageable.
2- He is wizard
E- Short Sentences or Utterances
Except for legal English, short sentences, as a stylistic feature, are prevailing in English. Arabic, on the other hand, tends to use longer sentences. Yet, this feature has invaded Arabic and has become a majority in some literary genres such as short stories.
Example:
1- Ali Salem, a Saudi citizen, who has never been abroad, is at last in America. He’s never expected to be one day away, not even fro a minute. Remembering his childhood at his country house, where birds of all kinds were singing, he remembered his cousin, Sara, that little girl with the most beautiful eyes.
2- This policy issued by the society on payment of the first premium stated in the schedule hereto subject to the Registered Rules of the society.
F- Passive Vs Active Voices
- Translators should be careful when translating texts of such a function. Those two contrastive styles are sometimes used on purpose and may not be used interchangeably.
Consider the following examples:
1- 20 soldiers were killed in a recent raid in Iraq
2- US troops kill 20 soldiers in a recent raid in Iraq
G- Repetition
- Repeating phrases or words more than once.
Examples:
1- My dear son, oh dear son. I have been waiting for years to see you getting married and here you are. Oh my son, it’s been a wish to see you getting married.
بني ، آهٍ يا بني ، لقد انتظرت سنيناً لكي أراك عريسآ ، وها أنت الآن. آهٍ يا بني، لقد كانت أمنية بالنسبة لي أن أراك عريسآ.
- Style: the collection of choices made by language users including layout, grammar, vocabulary and phonology.
- Translators should maintain the same or at least a similar style of the original when translating.
A- Formality VS Informality
- There are many different scales that are suggested by different linguists. As an example, in 1962 Joos suggested the following scale:
1- Frozen Formal بالغ الفصاحة أو قح such as: we are terribly sorry for the inconvenience
2- Formal فصيح such as: sorry for the
3- Informal شبه فصيح
4- Colloquial عامي
5- Vulgar or slang سوقي
However, it is not always possible to have those different five levels of formality or informality. Due to differences among languages, languages can express actions differently with variable utterances, and not necessarily with the same number of variations.
B- Fronting:
- It is an important stylistic device that is used to put stress on the fronted unit of translation.
- Translators need to differentiate between the two different systems of word order which are used in Arabic and English. When fronting is made, a clear shift in word order takes place.
Examples: قول الله تعالى " إنما يخشى اللهَ من عبادهِ العلماءُ"
A thief he became.
Being a hard-working employee, he could manage his time in both jobs.
C- Parallelism
- Identical structures that are used consecutively.
- Examples: 1- Reporters are urged not to praise or belittle the minister’s comments.
2- He is not a poet. He is not a writer. He is not literate.
D- Ambiguity
- Unclarity in meaning of a translation unit. It is a stylistic function that is used to hide the message or the truth, complicate meaning, or for rhetorical purposes.
Examples:
1- Management of managers can be unmanageable.
2- He is wizard
E- Short Sentences or Utterances
Except for legal English, short sentences, as a stylistic feature, are prevailing in English. Arabic, on the other hand, tends to use longer sentences. Yet, this feature has invaded Arabic and has become a majority in some literary genres such as short stories.
Example:
1- Ali Salem, a Saudi citizen, who has never been abroad, is at last in America. He’s never expected to be one day away, not even fro a minute. Remembering his childhood at his country house, where birds of all kinds were singing, he remembered his cousin, Sara, that little girl with the most beautiful eyes.
2- This policy issued by the society on payment of the first premium stated in the schedule hereto subject to the Registered Rules of the society.
F- Passive Vs Active Voices
- Translators should be careful when translating texts of such a function. Those two contrastive styles are sometimes used on purpose and may not be used interchangeably.
Consider the following examples:
1- 20 soldiers were killed in a recent raid in Iraq
2- US troops kill 20 soldiers in a recent raid in Iraq
G- Repetition
- Repeating phrases or words more than once.
Examples:
1- My dear son, oh dear son. I have been waiting for years to see you getting married and here you are. Oh my son, it’s been a wish to see you getting married.
بني ، آهٍ يا بني ، لقد انتظرت سنيناً لكي أراك عريسآ ، وها أنت الآن. آهٍ يا بني، لقد كانت أمنية بالنسبة لي أن أراك عريسآ.
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Re- mid-term
Salam my dear students, Let me raise the first question to students of Introduction to Translation:
Q- In your mid-term, what was the toughest question, and why?
Q- In your mid-term, what was the toughest question, and why?
Technical Translation
- Technical translation is a used to refer to translation of scientific terms.
- When Arabic is concerned , it is also given the term Arabicization.
- Methods of Arabicization:
A- Transcription or transference, is the practice of transcribing a word or text written in one writing system into another writing system or system of rules for such practice. It refers to transferring the term from language 1 to language 2 according to the way it is pronounced such as bank and computer بنك – كمبيوتر
This type can be used temporarily until a new language-2- term is coined.
B- Naturalization, which is adapting the L1 term to the phonological rules of L2. Examples of this type are oxidization أكسدة and technological تقنيّ .
C- Translation i.e. translation of the meaning of the word or term such as رقمي for digital and ثلاثي أبعاد for 3D.
D- Coinage: making up a new word to refer to a new concept that hasn’t been lexicalized yet. There are many sub-methodologies that go under coinage. Among which are:
D 1- Revival: to recover and use a dead word that is no longer used, such as سيارة for car , and قطار for train.
D 2- Derivation: using language measurements to form new words such as مرصد for observatory and مصنع for factory.
D 3- Blending: a blend is a word formed from parts of two other words. That’s used in both Arabic and English. حيعلة ، بسملة ، جيوفيزياء
- When Arabic is concerned , it is also given the term Arabicization.
- Methods of Arabicization:
A- Transcription or transference, is the practice of transcribing a word or text written in one writing system into another writing system or system of rules for such practice. It refers to transferring the term from language 1 to language 2 according to the way it is pronounced such as bank and computer بنك – كمبيوتر
This type can be used temporarily until a new language-2- term is coined.
B- Naturalization, which is adapting the L1 term to the phonological rules of L2. Examples of this type are oxidization أكسدة and technological تقنيّ .
C- Translation i.e. translation of the meaning of the word or term such as رقمي for digital and ثلاثي أبعاد for 3D.
D- Coinage: making up a new word to refer to a new concept that hasn’t been lexicalized yet. There are many sub-methodologies that go under coinage. Among which are:
D 1- Revival: to recover and use a dead word that is no longer used, such as سيارة for car , and قطار for train.
D 2- Derivation: using language measurements to form new words such as مرصد for observatory and مصنع for factory.
D 3- Blending: a blend is a word formed from parts of two other words. That’s used in both Arabic and English. حيعلة ، بسملة ، جيوفيزياء