TRANSLATION(3)

L E C T U R E [ 2 ] S T Y L E O F F O R M A L I T Y V S . I N F O R M A L I T Y

E M A N B A G H L A F

Types of style:

In 1962, Joos suggested a scale of five styles (or tones) of English language which is general but proved to be widely accepted by most people.

1.Frozen formal 2.Formal 3.Informal 4.Colloquial 5.Vulgar (or slang) ادج حيصف حيصف حيصف ريغ يماع يقوس .1

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Examples:

Frozen Formal Informal Sit down, please Colloquial Feel at home Vulgar Be seated Have a seat Sit bloody down سلجا سولجلاب لضفت تحمس ول سلجا حاترا ،حيرتسا ،كتحار ذخ ى لع برضنا ،كناكم يف دعقا كبلق

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The five styles are sometimes reduced to two main ones only

1. Frozen formal 2. Formal 1. Formal 3. Informal 4. Colloquial 5. Vulgar (slang

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2. Informal

 Sometimes it is difficult to draw a clear –cut line between the following pairs: Frozen formal and formal , formal and informal, informal and colloquial , colloquial and slang .

For example, idioms and phrasal verbs are classified either as formal or informal, or both : grammatical contractions like can’t , don’t , haven't etc. are considered by some as informal, and by others as colloquial.

 Although the message of all the statements in the example is the same in the Arabic(i.e. سلجا), each statement has different effects and, hence, the meaning of the 1 st one is so official and impolite said by a harsh person or a man of a high position (i.e. a king, a president, a minister, a manager, a boss, etc.) to strangers and ordinary people: whereas 2 nd one is official yet polite and used in similar context to that of the 1 st one , but to friends and personal acquaintances.

The 3 rd one is not official and more polite than 1 st and 2 nd ones , but 4 th is quite friendly, intimate and so kind . 5 th one is strong and rude in both languages.

Students are not advised to use the last two tones (colloquial and slang) in Arabic.

Students, therefore, do not need to imitate all the English styles in Arabic. The main reason is that there are usually four styles only in Arabic:

1. Classical Arabic

( i.e. .the language of the Holy Quran, the Prophet’s traditions and classical literature).

2. Modern Standard Arabic

(i.e. the formal written of Arabic today).

3. Colloquial Arabic

( i.e. the language of conversation).

4. Vulgar Arabic

(i.e. . the very local, unkind and bad language).

The English styles can be translated into these Arabic styles as follows: English

Frozen formal Formal Informal Colloquial Vulgar( or slang)

Arabic

Classical Arabic Modern Standard Arabic Colloquial Arabic Vulgar( or slang)Arabic

The most familiar styles in Arabic are the formal and the colloquial ones

1.Classical Arabic 2.Modern Standard Arabic 3.Colloquial Arabic 4.Vulgar (or slang) 1.Formal 2.Colloquial

 There is a considerable problem for the students to distinguish between these styles especially in English and partly in Arabic with regard to the differentiation between classical Arabic and Modern standard Arabic in particular. The good solution for the problem is to minimize the English styles to one general style in Arabic, that is , the modern standard Arabic because it is popular, understandable and available at different levels of English. Thus, they can translate the five statements )

The problem of formality scale appears in certain texts such as spoken English and texts of general nature which are generally informal, whereas scientific , legal and most texts of literary texts , for instance, are formal.

Here are two examples for both types:

Example 1: a general text:

“ you can't paint watercolors without knowing how to lay a wash, though anyone can learn the knack if they are willing to go a bit of trouble. People have their own fads about the drill, but my method seems to work as anyone’s .“

The Arabic informal version

: هذه ملعتي ع يطتسي دحاو يأ نأ مغر ،ناوللأا رضحت فيك كتفرعم نود ةيئاملا ناوللأاب مسرت نأ كنكمي لا ( لااعف ودب ي يقارم نكلو نرمتلا يف صاخلا مهقارم سانلل .

لكشم يف عوقولا نوديري اوناك اذإ ةراطشلا ) نيرخلآا قارم وه امك امامت

The informal features of the English text:

A. The use of the second person pronoun style (you).

B. The use of the contraction )can’t ( C. The use of words like (knack )(i.e. special skill), (a bit of ) and (fad) (i.e. whim).

D. The use of simple, common words and simple, easy sentence structure throughout the whole text.

The informal features of the Arabic translation:

كنكمي مسرت B. The use of such words as كتفرعم نود – لكشم يف عوقولا ةراطش قارم فيك C. The disregard of the concord between singular دحاو يأ and the plural of verb نوديري اوناك D. The ignorance of standard word order.

E.

The vowelless stopping at the end of words by omitting vowelization , namely, stopping on نوكس F.

The use of singular form of مهقارمinstead of the plural form مهتاقارم

Another possible, easier version for the students in particular is the use of modern standard Arabic as follows: دحاو يأ نأ مغر، ناوللأا رضحت فيك كتفرعم نود ةيئاملا ناوللأاب مسرت نأ كنكمي لا ي ف ةصاخلا مهتجزمأ سانلل .

( ةلكشم يف عوقولا ديري ناك اذإ ةراطشلا هذه ملعتي نا عيطتسي ) نيرخلآا ةجزمأ يه امك لااعف ودبي يجازم نكلو نيرمتلا Although this version can be safe and popular among students, the pervious informal one is admittedly more precise and expressive of the important function of the English style informal style which is intimate, direct, clear and simple.

Example 2 : scientific (health) text :

“a great deal of interest has been generated recently in calcium mainly because of the role it plays in the incidence of osteoporosis. At present some 35to 40 per cent of women aged 65 in the UK suffer from fractures of the forearm, femur or vertebrae as a result of osteoporosis”.

Version 1: formal Arabic :

لكشب هبعلي يذلا رودلل ارظن ،مويسلاكلا يف مامتهلاا نم ريبك ردق ةريخلأا ةنولآا يف دلوت ةئملاب 40 ىلإ 35 يلاوح نلآا يناعيو اذه .

ماظعلا ةشاشه / نيل ضرم ثودح يف يسيئر ةجيتن تارقفلا وأ ذخفلا مظع وأ عارذلا يف روسك نم ةدحتملا ةكلمملا يف ءاسنلا نم .) ماظعلا ةشاشهل (

Version 2: informal Arabic:

/ نيل ضرم ثودح يف يسيئر لكشب هبعلي يللا رودلا ببسب، ارخؤم مويسلاكلا ىلع ريبك زيكرت ُلصح او تار زواجت يللا تاتسلا / ميرحلا نم ةئملاب 40 ىلإ 35 يلاوح نلآا يناعيبو اذه .

ماظعلا ةشاشه قفلا وأ ذخفلا مظع وأ عارذلا يف روسك نم ةدحتملا ةكلمملا يف رمعلا نم نيتسلاو ةسماخلا ) ضرملا اذه ببسب ( Here are the underlined informal features with their formal equivalents: لصح == زيكرت ُلصح يذلا == يللا يناعي == يناعيب ءاسنلا نم == ميرحلا نم يتلالا == يللا نزواجت == اوزواجت ةجيتن == ببسب .1

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