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Laviosa-Braithwaite, S. (2001) Universals of Transiation. In M . Baker (ed.

), Routfedge
Encyclopedia of Translation Studies. London & New York: Routledge, pp 288-291.

Blum-Kulka and Levenston define lexical


simplification as 'the process and/or result of
making do with less words' (1983: 119).
Drawing on evidence from studies of transla-
tions from Hebrew into English and
investigations of other types of language
mediation involving these languages (Dagut
1971; Rabin 1958; Wonderly 1968), they
suggest that lexical simplification operates
•according to six principles or strategies which
derive from the individuai's semantic com-
petence in his/her mother tongue. These
principles are: use of superordinate terms when
there are no equivalent hyponyms in the target
language, approximation of the concepts
expressed in the source language text, use of
'common-level' or 'familiar' synonyms,
transfer of ali the functions of a source-langu-
age word to its target-language equivalent, use
of circumlocutions instead of conceptually
matching high-level words or expressions
(especially with theological, culture-specific
or technical terms), and use of paraphrase
where cultural gaps exist between the source
and the target languages.
Other scholars, too, have observed such
strategies in operation. Baker (1992), in dis-
cussing the different strategies used by
Universals of professional translators for dealing with non-
equivalence at word level, notes the use of
translation superordinates when there are no correspond-
ing hyponyms in the target language. In her
Universals of translation are linguistic features survey of 50 English translations of Dutch
which typically occur in translated rather than novels, Vanderauwera (1985: 102—3)
originai texts and are thought to be indepen- similarly mentions the use of modem, collo-
dent of the influence of the specific language quiai, simple and confidential synonyms vis-à-
vis old, formai, affected and high-level words
pairs involved in the process of translation
in the source texts. Toury provides an example
(Baker 1993:243).
of the type of transfer noted by Blum-Kulka
A number of features considered common to
and Levenston when he discusses the case of
ali types of translated texts have been identified,
the word na'ara which in Hebrew refers
mainly on the basis of contrastive analyses of
mainly to a teenager, but which, in Hebrew
translations and their source texts. These fea-
translations from English, has acquired some
tures concern simplification, avoidance of repe-
of the functions of the word girl (Toury 1995:
titions present in the source text, EXPOCTT-
209-10).
ATION, normalization, discourse transfer, and
distinctive distribution of lexical items. With regard to syntactic simplification,
Vanderauwera (1985) finds severa! instances
where complex syntax is simplified by replac-
Simplification and avoidance of ing non-finite clauses with finite ones and by
repetitions present in the source text suppressing suspended periods. She also pro-
Three types of simplification have been identified vides substantial evidence for various forms of
in translated text: lexical, syntactic and stylistic. stylistic simplification, the most common
Universals of translation 289

being the tendency to break up long sequences in different processes of language mediation or
and sentences, replacing elaborate phraseology in the same type of mediated linguistic behav-
with shorter collocations, reducing or omitting iour performed under different conditions.
repetitions and redundant information, shor- Consistently with Blum-Kulka's observa-
tening overlong circumlocutions and leaving tions, Vanderauwera (1985) points to
out modifying phrases and words. numerous instances where the translator
The translational procedures of reducing applìes explicitation techniques. The main
and omitting the repetitions which occur in the procedures she records are the use of interjec-
source text have been recorded by various tions to express more clearly the progression
scholars (e.g. Blum-Kulka and Levenston of the characters' thoughts or to accentuate a
1986) and can be regarded as an aspect of given interpretation, expansion of condensed
stylistic simplification. Shlesinger (1991), in passages, addition of modifiers, qualifiers and
the context of courtroom interpreting, and conjunctions to achieve greater transparency,
Toury (199la), in the area of literary transla- addition of extra information, insertion of
tion, also find several examples where the explanations, repetition of previously men-
repetitions present in the source text are tioned details for the purpose of clarity, precise
omitted in the target text. Toury (199la: 188) renderings of implicit or vague data, the provi-
claims that the tendency to avoid repetitions sion of more accurate descriptions, the explicit
which occur in. the source text is 'one of the naming of geographical locations and the
most persistent, unbending norms in transla- disambiguation of pronouns with precise forms
tion in ali languages studied so far'. of identification. Baker (1992) also reports
several examples where the translator inserts
additional background information in the
Explicitation target text in order to fili in a cultural gap.
In her study of professional and non-profes- Shifts in cohesion which take the form of
sional translations from English into French replacing substitution and ellipsis with either
and vice versa, Blum-Kulka (1986) notes that repetition or the use of a synonym have been
shifts occur in the types of cohesion markers found in simultaneous interpreting, both from
used in the target texts and records instances Hebrew into English (Shlesinger 1989b:
where the translator expands the target text by 171-2) and from English into Hebrew
inserting additional words. She notes that both (Shlesinger 1995: 201). According to Shlesin-
phenomena have the effect of raising the target ger, these findings suggest that 'the medium -
text's level of explicitness compared to the simultaneous interpreting - may exert a stron-
corresponding source text. Blum-Kulka sug- ger effect than the stylistic preferences typical
gests that these translational features may not of the languages concerned' and that the expli-
be language-pair specific but may rather result citation hypothesis may apply to orai as well as
from the process of interpretation of the source written translations, so that 'regardless of the
text. On the basis of her own study and languages concerned, the interpreter tends to
research into the interlanguage of learners of render implicit forms more explicitly'
English (Berman 1978; Stemmer 1981) Blum- (Shlesinger 1995: 210).
Kulka (1986: 19; 21) puts forward 'the explici-
tation hypothesis', which posits that the rise in
the level of explicitness observed in translated Normalization
texts and in the written work of second langu- In her corpus of novels translated into English
age learners may be a universal strategy from Dutch, Vanderauwera (1985) finds
inherent in any process of language mediation. extensive evidence of shifts in punctuation,
Toury claims that there is an obvious corre- lexical choice, style, sentence structure and
lation between explicitness and readability textual organization, ali of which she con-
(1995: 227) and proposes to exploit this rela- siders as manifestations of a-general 'ten-
tionship in experimental studies with a view to dency towards textual conventionality',
assessing the varying extent to which the apparently approved of by the target audience
strategy of explicitation may be applied either (1985: 93).
290 Universals of translation

Some of the adjustments found at word Finally, on the basis of his extensive studies
level include adaptations of Dutch names and of literary translations produced in different
culture-specific references, and the minimiz- cultures, Toury posits what he calls a law of
ation of the transfer of foreign language growing standardization, which he believes
expressions found in the source text. Unusual govems translational behaviour. The most
punctuation is standardized by restoring miss- general formulation of the law is that ' i n trans-
ing quotation marks or by replacing commas lation, source-text textemes tend to be
with semi-colons and full-stops to separate converted into target-language (or target-
independent clauses. Sentences left unfinished culture) repertoremes' (Toury 1995: 267-8).
in the source text are completed, and clumsy A repertoreme is a sign which belongs to an
or idiosyncratic sentence structures are institutionalized repertoire, that is, a group of
replaced by simpler syntax. The present tense items which are codifications of phenomena
and the historic present are substituted with the that have semiotic value for a given commu-
past tense, which is more frequently used in nity. A repertoreme becomes a texteme when,
written English narrative. Sentences, para- as a result of being used in a particular text, it
graphs, narrative sequences and chapters are assumes specific functions which derive from
ordered more logicaliy. The representation of the special relationships it acquires within that
spoken language in the source text is adjusted text.
towards the norms of written prose; on the According to the law of growing standard-
other hand, formai dialogues are rendered asi ization, the special >textual relations created in
intimate and colloquiai conversations. Old- the source text are often replaced by conven-
fashioned expressions are replaced by modem tional relations in the target text, and
ones and experimental narrative is rewritten in sometimes they are ignored altogether. In the
a more familiar mode. Fìnally, untypical and process of translation, Toury argues, the dis-
affected imagery, which is realized by creative solution of the originai set of textual relations
collocations, is translated with more norma! is inevitable and can never be fully recreated.
expressions. Moreover, Toury suggests that factors such as
According to Vanderauwera, ali these age, extent of bilingualism, the knowledge and
manipulations have the effect of creating a text experience of the translator, as well as the
which is more readable, more idiomatic, more status of translation within the target culture
familiar and more coherently organized than may influence the operation of the law. He
the originai. She observes that these adjust- proposes to incorporate these elements as
ments occur not only in those translations conditions in a more elaborate formulation of
which are explicitly target-oriented, but also in the same law; for example, the condition
those whose declared aim is to make Dutch regarding the position of translation in the
literature known to foreign cultures and which target system may be expressed as follows:
might therefore be expected to adhere more 'the more peripheral [the status of the transla-
closely to the source text. Vanderauwera tion in a particular culture], the more
explains textual conventionality in terms of the translation will accommodate itself to estab-
translator's assumptions about the stylistic lished models and repertoires' (Toury 1995:
norms that operate i n the target literary system 271). The numerous instances of normalization
with regard to translated prose fiction in gen- found by Vanderauwera (1985) in the English
eral, and to translations of lesser-known translations of Dutch literary works exemplify
literatures in particular. and substantiate the operation of ibis mie.
Shlesinger (1991), who analysed orai
translations from Hebrew into English by
courtroom interpreters, also found evidence of Discourse transfer and the law of
various forms of normalization, such as a ìnterference
tendency to complete unfinished sentences, Toury (1986a; 1995) identifies a further uni-
replace ungrammatical source utterances with versa! of translation: translators, he suggests,
grammatical renderings, and delete false starts tend to produce a translated utterance not by
and self-corrections. retrieving the target language via their own
Universals of translation 291

linguistic knowledge, bui directly from the 'minor', or 'weak' in any other sense' (ibid.:
source utterance itself. The universality of 278).
discourse transfer is expressed through another
translational law, the law of interference: ' i n
translation, phenomena pertaining to the make- Distinctive distribution of target-
up of the source text tend to be transferred to language items
the target text' (Toury 1995: 275). Shama'a (1978: 168-71) found that in English
According to Toury, discourse transfer, translations from Arabie, the frequency of the
both negative and positive, is inherent in the words say and day can be more than twice as
mental processes involved in translation. From high as their frequency in originai English texts
a psycholinguistic perspective, the operation of and considerably lower than the occurrence of
this law depends on the particular manner in their equivalents in the Arabie source texts.
which the source text is processed, so that 'the Baker (1993: 245) suggests that the unusual
more the make-up of a text is taken as a factor distribution pattems of certain lexical items in
in the formulation of its translation, the more translated texts, compared to both their source
the target text can be expected to show traces texts and originai texts in the target language,
of interference' (Toury 1995: 276). The extent may be the result of the process of language
to which interference is actually realized mediation per se; such unusual distribution
depends also on the professional experience of indicates that translation represents a specific
the translator and on the sociocultural con- variety of linguistic behaviour which merits
ditions in which a translation is produced and attention in its own right.
consumed. These two factors are built into the
law of interference as conditions, suggesting 5ee a/50:
that 'even when taking the source text as a CORPORA IN TRANSLATION STUDIES; EXPLICI-
cruciai factor in the formulation of its transla- TATION; NORMS.
tion, accomplished translators would be less
affected by its actual make-up' (ibid.: 277), Further reading
and 'tolerance of interference - and hence the Baker 1993, 1995; Blum-Kulka 1986; Blum-
endurance of its manifestations - tend to Kulka and Levenston 1983; Shlesinger 1991,
increase when translation is carried out from a 1995; Toury 1986a, 1995; Vanderauwera 1985.
'major' or highly prestigious language/culture,
especially i f the target language/culture is SARA LAVIOSA-BRAITHWAITE

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