Transcript Translation(3) lecture[4] style of ambiguity & complex vs

Eman Baghlaf

 Complexity of style can be dominant in a text to achieve a
function of some kind, which has an impact on meaning.
The same kind of style can render the same function and
effect in Arabic translation. Otherwise, meaning will be
incomplete.
Example of grammatical complexity
 1-(Knowing how popular Robin Hood was among the
common people and how he could always slip quietly
away into Sherwood forest where his pursuers would be
hampered by their ignorance of the terrain and their
inability to adapt to the conditions of guerrilla warfare,
the sheriff decided to take no immediate action).

 The complexity of the style is because the whole text
is one single sentence which is composed of several
interconnected fronted subordinate clauses followed
by the main clause in a final position, as the
following analysis shows:
 Knowing how popular…people and
 how he could always slip….forest
 where his pursuers would be…warfare
 the sheriff decided to take no immediate action
Sub. Cl.
Sub. Cl.
Sub. Cl.
Main Cl.

 Such complexity aims at accumulating information
and reasons that justify the action taken by the
sheriff in the backgrounded main clause. Thus, an
Arabic translation has kept the complexity of the
original:
‫ وكيف استطاع دائما أن‬،‫ (مدركا كم كان روبين هود شعبيا بين عامة الناس‬
‫ينسل بهدوء إلى داخل غابة شيروود حيث سيتعثر مطاردوه بجهلهم بالمنطقة‬
‫ قرر العمدة أال يتخذ أي‬،‫وعجزهم عن التأقلم مع ظروف حرب العصابات‬
.)‫إجراء فوري‬

 Apart from lexical problems like the translation of
(hampered),(terrain),(guerrilla warfare), the
difficulty for the students is in how to follow up and
understand the complexity of the sentence in Arabic.
 considering the delayed main verb and subject ‫قرر‬
‫الشريف‬to the last position in the sentence.

 The solution is to analyze the sentence into its
constituent clauses in English as done above and
then start translating a clause by clause with
concentration on the right start of the sentence ) i.e.
(‫بما أنه كان يدرك‬/‫عالما‬/‫عارفا‬/‫مدركا‬And the proper
grammatical connection among them.
 Each clause should be in Arabic in the same position
ordered in the English original producing an
identical complexity. Such complexity is syntactic
(or grammatical).

 2- (A still new patient, a thin quiet person, who
found a place his fiancée at the good Russian table,
proved, just when the meal was in full swing , to be
epileptic, as he suffered an extreme attack of that
type, with a cry whose demonic and inhuman
character has often been described, fell heavily on
the floor and struck around with his arms and legs
next to his chair with most ghastly contortions).

 This text is one single sentence with one subject, a
main verb and an object.
 In order to translate it into Arabic, it is a must to
locate the three grammatical categories of the
sentence.
‫‪‬‬
‫‪( ‬مريض صامت جديد‪ ،‬شخص هادئ هزيل‪ ،‬وجد مكانا مع خطيبته التي‬
‫كانت بالمثل هادئة هزيلة ‪ ،‬على الطاولة الروسية المحترمة‪ ،‬أثبتت حين‬
‫كانت الوجبة في اوجها‪ ،‬أنه مصاب بالصرع ‪ ،‬حيث عانى من نوبة حادة من‬
‫ذاك النوع ‪،‬مع صرخة غالبا ما وصفت أنها شيطانية وغير إنسانية‪ ،‬سقط‬
‫بقوة على األرض وتحيط يديه ورجليه بمحاذاة كرسيه مع تشنجات مروعة‪).‬‬

 The complexity is retained in Arabic because it is
important to reflect the message. That is, the whole
sentence is about an abnormal, epileptic, complicated
person. This message is put in a complicated style of
grammar. Therefore, changing the complex
grammatical structure of the original into an easy
one in Arabic is unsuitable, and mismatches the
message.

 3-(It may have been these constant showers of snuff
which gave his ancient priestly garments their green
faded look for the red handkerchief, blackened, as it
always was, with the snuff-stains of a week, with
which he tried to brush away the fallen grains, was
quite inefficacious).

 The Sisters is a story about paralysis and paralyzed
people. The grammatical structure is not smooth; on
the contrary, it is quite complex to follow. A
paralyzed structure is parallel with the condition of
the paralyzed priest.
‫‪‬‬
‫‪ These are good reasons for us to reflect the same‬‬
‫‪style of complexity of the sentence in Arabic as‬‬
‫‪follows:‬‬
‫‪( ‬ربما كانت هذه الرزازات المستمرة جراء السعط هي التي صبغت ثيابه‬
‫الكهنوتية بلون أخضر داكن ألن المنديل األحمر المسود‪ ،‬كما كانت حالته‬
‫دائما‪ ،‬يبقع لسعط لمدة أسبوع ‪ ،‬والدي حاول أن يزيل به الحبيبات الساقطة‪،‬‬
‫كان عديم الفائدة على اإلطالق)‪.‬‬

 The complication is in the second half of the
sentence(i.e. for the red,,, inefficacious) ‫ألن المنديل‬
‫على اإلطالق‬،،،as follows:
• For the handkerchief
• Blackened
• As it always was
• with the snuff-stains of a week
• with which he tried to brush away
the fallen grains
• was quite inefficacious
‫ألن المنديل‬
‫المسود‬
‫كما كان حاله دائما‬
‫يبقع السعط لمدة أسبوع‬
‫والذي حاول أن يزيل به الحبيبات الساقطة‬
‫كان عديم الفائدة على اإلطالق‬

 (for the red handkerchief was quite inefficacious as it
was blackened with the snuff-stains of a week and
used by him trying to brush away the fallen grains).
‫ (ألن المنديل كان عديم الفائدة على اإلطالق ألنه أسود يبقع السعط لمدة‬
.)‫ وألنه كان يستعمله محاوال إزالة الحبيبات الساقطة‬،‫أسبوع‬
 The version is easier to follow and understand than
the complicated Joycean origin.

 Examples of both grammatical and lexical
complexity:
 4-( It is the very first really reliable do-it—yourself
fiberglass sailing dinghy with oars and a full suit of
sails).
 The complexity of the sentence is in the difficulty of
finding the head word of the very long complement.
It also lies in the complicated modification.
‫‪‬‬
‫‪( ‬إنه حقا قارب اإلبحار الزجاجي الليفي األول المصنوع يدويا المتين‬
‫بمجاديف وطاقم كامل األشرعة )‪.‬‬
‫‪( ‬إنه حقا قارب اإلبحار الزجاجي الليفي األول والمصنوع يدويا‪ ،‬والميتن‬
‫بمجاديف وطاقم كامل من األشرعة)‪.‬‬
‫‪( ‬إنه حقا قارب اإلبحار الزجاجي الليفي األول‪ .‬فهو مصنوع يدويا ومتين‪،‬‬
‫وهو بمجاديف وطاقم كامل من األشرعة)‪.‬‬

 5-( Why do you think we make Nutall’s Mintoes
such a devilishly smooth cool creamy minty chewy
round slow velvety fresh clean solid buttery taste).

‫ (لماذا نظن أننا نجعل مينتوز ناتال ذات مذاق شيطاني سلس بارد قشدي‬
.)‫نعناعي مضغي دائري بطيء مخملي طازج نظيف متين زبدي؟‬
 The Arabic version has exactly the same style of
complexity of the original, including the absence of
commas among adjectives. Complexity is the result
of thirteen successive adjectives for one and the same
noun (i.e. taste ‫)مذاق‬.
Style of short sentences

 The marked styles:
1. Style of short sentences
2. Style of long sentences
 Style of short sentences
 It is dominant in the English text. Thus, the Arabic
translation needs to be so.

 Example:
 1-(The police heard a little noise inside the bank. The
robber noticed that. He wanted to escape. The police
chased him. Pedestrians noticed the scene. One of
them shouted at the robber. Another blocked his
way. Then, the police arrived and arrested him).
‫ أراد أن‬.‫ الحظ اللص ذلك‬.‫ (سمعت الشرطة جلبة خفيفة داخل المصرف‬
‫ حينئذ وصلت الشرطة‬. ‫ قام آخر بسد طريقه‬. ‫ طاردته الشرطة‬.‫يهرب‬
).‫واعتقلته‬

 The style of short sentences has an important
function. It heightens the tempo of an action in this
text which is written in the form of a story. It
accelerates events and arouses suspense. Thus, the
style has to be reproduced in the Arabic translation
to keep this function.

 2-( Middle age is a time of despair. Few men like
themselves when they are fifty. The young are engaged
with their own images. The old are rapt in selfhood. Only
a middle-aged man dislikes what he sees in the mirror.
He sees failure. And he knows he has to live with it.
Young men hope, because they dare. Old men forgive
themselves, because they must. But a middle-aged man
knows neither hope nor reconciliation. He knows only a
burden of responsibility. He is responsible for the life he
has made. He cannot plead excuses or look for
sympathy).
‫‪‬‬
‫‪( ‬سن الكهولة مرحلة يأس‪ .‬قلة من الناس يحبون أنفسهم حينما يبلغون‬
‫الخمسين‪ .‬فالشباب منشغلون بصورهم الخاصة بهم‪ .‬و الكبار غارقون في‬
‫حب الذات‪ .‬الكهل هو وحده الذي ال يحب ما يرى في المرآة‪ .‬إنه يرى الفشل‪.‬‬
‫ويعلم ان عليه أن يتعايش معه‪ .‬الشباب يحذوهم األمل ألنهم يجرؤون على‬
‫ذلك‪ .‬والكبار يسامحون أنفسهم ألن عليهم أن يفعلوا ذلك‪ .‬أما الكهل فال يعرف‬
‫األمل وال المهادنة‪ .‬يعرف عبء المسؤولية وحسب ‪ .‬فهو مسؤول عن الحياة‬
‫التي عاشها‪ .‬وال يستطيع أن يلتمس األعذار ويتطلع إلى الشفقة)‪.‬‬
Style of long sentences

 Style of long sentences
 Long sentences are frequent in language, but they
are not the norm.

 Example:
 1-( In an attempt to help his ill mother, who needed
an operation in a specialist hospital in London,
which was quite expensive and demanded money to
be paid in advance, the boy, was still very young and
inexperienced, worked in a mechanical workshop
day and night to earn as much money as he could
and as quickly as possible ).
‫‪‬‬
‫‪ ( ‬في محاولة لمساعدة أمه المريضة التي كانت بحاجة إلى عملية في مستشفى‬
‫متخصص في لندن ‪ ،‬والذي كان باهظا جدا وطلب دفع نقود مقدما‪ ،‬عمل‬
‫الصبي الذي كان ما يزال صغيرا وعديم الخبرة‪ ،‬في ورشة تصليح سيارات‬
‫ليل نهار ليكسب قدر ما يستطيع من النقود وبأسرع ما يمكن)‪.‬‬