ترجمة مقدمة اللورد جيم للكاتب جوسيف كونراد

1. 6002-2007
1

2. Contents
Acknowledgment
1. Introduction: Linguistic Background
2. Source Text
3. Target Text
4- Equivalence at Word Level
4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4
4.5
5
7
10
12
Translation by Illustration/ Explanation
Translation by a more General Word
Culture-Specific Concepts
Translation by Omission
Translation by Paraphrase Using Unrelated Words
4.6 Translation Using a Loan Word
5- Equivalence above Word Level
17
5.1 Collocations
5.2 Idioms
6- Grammatical Equivalence
6.1
6.2
6.3
6.4
20
Number
Gender
Tense & Aspect
Voice
7– Textual Equivalence
25
7.1 Cohesion through Conjunction
7.2 Cohesion through Reference
7.2.1 Co-Reference
8- Micellaneous Items
Conclusion
References
2
31
32
33

3. I would like to express my deep gratitude and appreciation to the World Arab
Translators’ Association (WATA) in general and Professor Baker Al Musawi in particular
for his guidance and for giving me this chance to go through this rich experience. I have
received a lot of help and support during the period of the course from Professor Baker whose
instructions were enormously valuable.
3

4. It is true that a gifted translator may do well without the theoretical knowledge of the
different fields of translation study, but it is equally true that without such knowledge it is
almost impossible to deal with the study of translation on systematic and academic bases.
It is worth mentioning in this respect that studying theories of translation helped me a lot
through my translation project.
Several scholars have recognized the essence of translation and defined it thoroughly. The
definitions suggested by some scholars are mentioned below in order to be aware of what is
exactly meant by the word “translation”.
Catford holds that translation is “the replacement of textual material in one language
(SL) by equivalent textual material in another language (TL)” (Catford, 1965:20). By the term
“textual” Catford means that not every individual item in the original text is substituted by an
equivalent item in the translated text. Halliday describes translation as the establishment of
textual rather than lexical or grammatical equivalence. He maintains that “translation is the
relation between two or more texts playing an identical role in an identical
situation”.Widdowson, however, holds that translation should neither operate on the word
level nor even on the sentence level, but on the level of the text. According to him, a
translator has to discover equivalents on the communicative level of language, rather than on
the lexical or grammatical levels.
Having introduced the above attempts at establishing an appropriate definition of
translation, we notice that despite the differences in phraseology, their outcome is similar to
a great extent since they reach the same destination through different routes. The previous
views stress the same point; that is - the translated version should have the same effect of
the original.
The problems that I encountered while translating the text in question are analyzed on
different levels as follows:
1. Word Level 2- Above the Word Level 3-Grammatical Level 4-Textual Level
4

5. 5

6. 6

7. 7

8. ‫مقــدمــة‬
‫جوزيف كـونـراد‬
‫إن حياة كونراد في حد ذاتها بمثابة قصة من القصص الالفتة للنظر فهي حافلة باألحداث والرومانسية وبها ما‬
‫يكفى الستحضار مادة لكتابة رواية مليودرامية أوقع بكثير من الروايات التي كتبها. ولد بمدينة برديشف‬
‫بأوكرانيا عام 1857 و تم تعميده باسم جوزيف تيودور كونراد كورزنيوفسكى ‪(Jozef Teodor‬‬
‫) ‪ .Konrad Korzeniowski‬و كان طفال ألسرة من األسر البولندية ذوى األمالك. حصل على الجنسية‬
‫البريطانية عام 1557 ووافته المنية بالقرب من مدينة كانتربرى عام 1927 حيث عُرف باسم جوزيف كونراد‬
‫)‪. (Joseph Conrad‬‬
‫ماا بين ذاذه الباداياة والنهاية حياة محفوفة بالم اطر وحافلة بالماامرات والقرارات المصااااااايرية والتايرات غير‬
‫المتوقعة لمساار حياته. كان في أوقات عديدة الطفل الوحيد الموجود بالمنفى السياسي بروسيا. كان طالبا متمردا‬
‫في بولندا وكان بحارا مبتدئا في مرساايليا وكان مهربا لألساالحة والذ يرة . قام بمحاولة انتحار في فرنسااا بعد أن‬
‫كان قد أغرقته الديون. كان بحارا بسااايطا يرسااا و على الساااواحل بارا التجارة مع مدن ساااواحل بحر الشااامال‬
‫اإلنجليزي . ثم أصاب ضابطا بحريا قديرا وفي عام 1557 صار رُبانا ألعالي البحار. عمل ضابطا بحريا على‬
‫متن العديد من الساافن التجارية التي كانت تتوجه إلى الشاارق األقصااى وأسااتراليا. كان رُبانا للبا رة أوتا جو في‬
‫رحالتها من بانكوك إلى استراليا ثم إلى موريشيوس. كان قبطانا لبا رة نيلية متهالكة تبحر في مياه نهر الكوناو‬
‫في أفريقيا. وفى نهاية المطاف كان كاتبا روائيا محترفا بإنجلترا في الثالثين عاما األ يرة من حياته تقريبا.‬
‫إنها حياة غريبة وعجيبة تتسااااام بالعديد من األفعال العفوية وبالطبع التايرات الفجائية. فأكثر قرار مصااااايري من‬
‫بين م تلف القرارات التي ات ذذا كونراد كان قرارا في وقت مبكر من حياته: أال وذو أنه كان في السااااااادسااااااة‬
‫عشر فقط من عمره عندما ترك بولندا لألبد بحثا عن الرزق في البالد حيث عمل بحارا تجاريا. ال يستطيع أحد‬
‫أن يعلل بشاكل تام الدوافع ورا ما قام به أو الدوافع التي جعلت أقاربه أو األوصايا عليه يسمحون له بالقيام بما‬
‫قام به. ريما كان قرار ماادرة بولندا قرارا حكيما شجعته العائلة. و بالرغم من أنه ينتمي ألسرة ذات حسب‬
‫و نساابإ إال أن الكبريا الشااديد الذي كان ساامة يتساامون بها يم بظالله على طفولته . و من الجدير بالذكر أن‬
‫أبوللو كورزنيوفسكى والد كونراد كان مواطنا و مناديا بالقومية بتفان و جلد في وقت كانت تقع فيه بولندا ككثير‬
‫من األوقات تحت الحكم الروسي و تعانى من االضطهاد الروسي لها. إال أن أنشطته السياسية أسفرت عن إلقا‬
‫القبا عليه و إيداعه بالساجن عام 7157 ثم نفيه إلى شامالي روسايا عام 9157. ومن ثم فإن السنوات األولى‬
‫من طفولة كونراد شااااهدت ساااانوات نفى األساااارة والكوارث التي مرت بها. لقد توفت والدته في روساااايا عام‬
‫8157 أما والده الذي وذنت صاااااااحته و يم عليه الحزن لم يساااااااتطع البقا كثيرا بعد عودته من المنفى ومات‬
‫8‬

9. ‫بمرا الادرن عاام 2157 . و بعاد ذلاك قاامات العاائلاة وباأل ص عمه بتقديم يد العون لكونراد ورعايته حيث‬
‫اعتنى به عمه ثاديوس بوبرفسكى والذي كان يأ ذ على عاتقه مسئوليه تعليم كونراد فقد اعتنى به ماديا. وكان‬
‫بشاكل عام وصاى عطوف و كثيرا ما تحمل العنا الل سانوات عديدة من مرحلة الشباب التي مر بها كونراد‬
‫والتي اتسمت بالتهور والطيش والمحن .‬
‫من المؤكد أن قرار ذذاب كونراد لل ارج قد ساااااانده بوبروفساااااكى الذي كان يحاول أن يحصااااال على الجنساااااية‬
‫النمساااوية لهذا الصاابي الذي كان يُنظ ر له على أنه ابن سااجين سااياسااي قضااى أكثر من مسااة و عشاارين عاما‬
‫يؤدى دمة عساااكرية إجبارية بروسااايا إال أن المحاولة با ت بالفشااال. ولتجنب م اطر ذذا األمر مكث كونراد‬
‫بال ارج حيث كان بمأمن أكثر حتى أنه بعد بضااااع ساااانوات كان بوبروفسااااكى يحثه على عدم زيارة بولندا مرة‬
‫أ رى ح تى يتم التأكد من حصاااوله على الجنساااية البريطانية. لكن قرار ذذاب كونراد للعمل بالبحر و التدريب‬
‫على التجارة البحرية كان قراره وحده. ذذا القرار قد أصاب العائلة بالدذشة حيث لم يكن من عرف العائلة أن‬
‫يلتحق أحد أفرادذا بمثل ذذه األعمال أو أن يكون له عالقة بالبحر. ربما كان ذذا القرار نتاج قرا ات كثيرة في‬
‫فترة طفولته عن أدب الرحالت وقصص الماامرات مع ولعه بالجارافيا تلك المادة التي لفتت انتباذه التفاتا شديدا‬
‫.‬
‫على أية حال فقد ساالك طريقة و منذ أولى رحالته التدريبية على جذر اإلنديز الاربية عام 8157 وحتى إلاا‬
‫رحلته األ يرة التي كان م طط لها أن يكون كونراد الضابط األول لها كان يكتسب رزقه من الل مهنته بحارا‬
‫تجاارياا. إن بعا الوقاائع التي حادثات في فترة مبكرة بفرنساااااااا ( والتي تضااااااامنات عمليات تهريب األسااااااالحة‬
‫و الذ يرة) لم تنم عن سااااااامعة حسااااااانة على اإلطالق لكن بعد قراره الذي ات ذه لاللتحاق باألساااااااطول التجاري‬
‫البريطاني اكتسااااب مؤذالته كضااااابط على فترات منتظمة فيما يبدو بشااااكل مؤكد أنه كان انتصااااارا للعمل الجاد‬
‫والهدف المحدد.‬
‫بشاكل عام كان عمله بالبحر عمال غريب األطوار. ففي ذات مرة أصادر األوامر بإبحار السفينة أوتا جو وكان‬
‫لديه عادة دائمة أال و ذي التشااااجر مع ضاااباط السااافينة و تايرذم لمراكزذم على السااافينة دون إبدا أي سااابب‬
‫واضاااا في الوقت الذي يبدون فيه على حالة من االسااااتقرار التام و إدارة األمور بنجال. من الناحية االحترافية‬
‫كان ضااابطا كفئا أما على المسااتوى الش ا صااي فكان دائما ما يبدو عليه القلق واالندفاع و التردد. ذلك الساالوك‬
‫ربما يكون السااابب فى التحاقه بعمل غير مساااتقر مما تسااابب في حدوث قلق و إصاااابة ب يبة أمل في الكثير من‬
‫األوقات لعمه و ألصحاب العمل الذي كان يلتحق به لكن ذذا العمل منحه أيضا َ برة كبيرة عن طبيعة الناس‬
‫و األماكن و األحداث في أجزا شتى من العالم. لقد كانت سنوات التدريب طويلة و مثيرة للعجب للش ص الذي‬
‫قُدر له أن يكون روائيا فيما بعد... لشاااااا ص روائي بالفطرة ذي برة وذكا ثاقبين ومتواصاااااالين تجاه ما يُدره‬
‫عليه العالم من مرارة األيام منذ نعومة أظافره.‬
‫في الواقع قام كونراد باعتباره كاتبا باساتاالل براته مرارا و تكرارا وبشاكل منتظم وبتوظيف الش صيات التي‬
‫قد كان يقابلها في أسفاره. فكثيرا ما كانت تظهر ذذه الش صيات مع تاير طفيف في األحداث وبأسما قريبة جدا‬
‫ألسمائها الحقيقية لدرجة تمكنا بيقين شديد من تتبع لفية أعماله المستوحاة من واقع الحياة إال أن كونراد لم يكن‬
‫9‬

10. ‫ببساطة راويا لقصص عن سيرته الذاتية ف ياله ال صب يشمل كل الناس واألماكن واألحداث الموجودة بذاكرته‬
‫ٍ‬
‫والتي كانت نتاج ل برته.إن معرفة شاااا ما عن حياته ال اصاااة ككل وعن األحداث التفصااايلية التي ترتكز عليها‬
‫رواية ما يعد بالنساااابة لحالته من العوامل المساااااعدة اصااااة على فهم طبيعة عمله حيث يتي لنا ذلك أن نرى ما‬
‫الذي اساااترعى انتباذه ودفع ب ياله للعمل لكن ليس من الحكمة أيضاااا عقد مقارنات دقيقة بين واقع و يال إال إن‬
‫تذكرنا أن يال كونراد يال غير عادى لدرجة أنه في الوقت الذي يكتب فيه قصاة إلشاباع رغباته تكون القصة‬
‫بمنأى عن مصاادرذا الحقيقية وتعتبر فقط عمل روائي كما لو كانت من وحي ال يال تماما. (ذذا الشاي يوضع‬
‫في االعتبار عندما ننظر إلى األناس الحقيقيين واألحداث الواقعية التي جعلها كونراد الركيزة لروايتها اللورد جيم ) .‬
‫11‬

11. Some problems arise from the lack of equivalence at word level. The question is: what does
a translator do when there is no word in the target language which expresses the same
meaning as the source language word? (Mona Baker 1992: 10)
The answer of the above question is proposed by Mona baker herself. She suggests some
strategies that may guide the translator.
4.1 Translation by Illustration / Explanation
Example 1:
The meaning of (which included the smuggling), (L.58) is understood only by illustration
since it is not mentioned what the word (smuggling) is referring to in that context. A
reference was made at the very beginning of the SLT to explain what kind of explanation is
necessary here. It reads:
‫و التي تضمنت عمليات تهريب األسلحة و الذخيرة‬
Example 2:
ST: The real –life background to his work (line 81)
TT: ‫خلفية أعماله المستوحاة من واقع الحياة‬
Example 3:
I encountered a problem with the verbs of the following sentence: his imagination enriches
and transforms all the people (line82, 83).
11

12. I exerted my effort to explain the general meaning of the sentence by sticking to the
meaning of the verbs. The suggested explanation was:
.‫فخياله الخصب يشمل كل الناس و األماكن و األحداث الموجودة بذاكرته‬
Example 4:
The English sentence in line 8 does not clarify what kind of direction. Therefore, some
modification was made to clarify the meaning of the word (direction).
ST: (and unexpected changes of direction) (L8).
TT: ‫و التغيرات غير المتوقعة لمسار حياته‬
Example 5:
ST: he died near Canterbury in 1924 as Joseph Conrad.
TT: ‫وافته المنية بالقرب من مدينة كانتربرى عام 1924 حيث عرف باسم جوزيف كونراد‬
Example 6
ST: during several years of youthful extravagances, escapades and misfortunes.
TT:
‫خالل مرحلة الشباب التي مر بها كونراد و التي اتسمت بالتهور و الطيش والمحن‬
Example 7:
ST: and from his first. Apprentice voyage to the West Indies.
TT:
.........‫منذ أولى رحالته التدريبية إلى جزر اإلنديز الغربية‬
Example 8:
ST: But the decision that Conrad should go to sea…………..
TT:
.........‫لكن قرار ذهاب كونراد للعمل بالبحر‬
Example 9:
ST: of giving up posts
12

13. TT: ‫تغيرهم مراكزهم على السفينة‬
Example 10
ST: They seemed perfect settled.
TT: ‫يبدون على حالة من االستقرار التام‬
Example 11
ST: Trading along the North Sea coast of England (L.12).
TT: . ‫بغرض التجارة مع مدن سواحل بحر الشمال اإلنجليزي‬
4.2 Translation by a more General Word
The verb supply in line 2 was not translated literally. A more general word was used to suit
the target context.
‫الستحضار مادة لكتابة رواية ميلودرامية‬
4.3 Culture – Specific Concepts
The source language text expresses a concept which sounds unfamiliar to the target
culture. This is due to the fact that it is related to a religious belief. The concept is
underlined in the following sentence:
Example 1
ST: He was born at Berdichev in the Ukraine in 1857 and christened Jozef Teodor
Konrad……
TT:
......‫ولد بمدينة برديف بأوكرانيا عام 1854و تم تعميده باسم جوزيف تيودور كونراد‬
ٌ
13

14. I assume if I wrote it as follows, it would give the reader a quite passive impression about
the quality of the TLT.
! ‫و تم تنصيره باسم جوزيف تيودور كونراد‬
Example 2:
A similar problem was found in line 5 – 6 :
ST: Having been naturalised as a British citizen in ……………
TT:
.............. ‫حصل على الجنسية البريطانية عام‬
A word – for – word translation is extremely doomed to failure:
TT:
‫بعد أن تم تجنيسه كأحد الرعايا البريطانيين‬
Such a kind of translation leaves a negative effect since it lacks any kind of creative
structure. Besides, the concepts (‫ )تجنيس‬and (‫ )رعايا‬may sound strange to the target culture.
4.4 Translation by Omission
This strategy may sound drastic, but in fact it does no harm to omit translating a word or
expression in some contexts. Baker (1996:40)
Example (1):
ST: Having been naturalized as a British citizen in 1886, he died near Canterbury in 1924 as
Joseph Conrad.
TT: ‫حصل على الجنسية البريطانية عام 1554 ووافته المنية بالقرب من مدينة كانترى عام 1924 حيث عرف باسم جوزيف‬
. ‫كونراد‬
14

15. Example (2):
ST: But the decision that Conrad should go to sea and train for the merchant marine was the boy’s
alone.
.‫لكن قرار ذهاب كونراد للعمل بالبحر و التدريب على التجارة البحرية كان قراره وحده‬
4.5 Translation by Paraphrase Using Unrelated Words.
Paraphrase may be based on unpacking the meaning of the source language.
Example (1):
ST: Although he came of distinguished and properous ancestry
TT:
‫و بالرغم من أنه ينتمي ألسرة ذات حسب و نسب‬
Example (2):
ST: who was liable as the son of a political prisoner?
TT:
‫الذي كان يُنظر له على أنه ابن سجين سياسي‬
Some modification was made to the above mentioned examples but my excuse is that translation is
the transfer of meaning rather than words.
4.6 Translation Using a Loan Word
This strategy is particularly common in dealing with culture – specific items. (Baker 1996:34)
Example:
ST: Lord Jim
TT: ‫اللورد جيم‬
15

16. 5.1 Collocations
As Mona Baker (1994: 47) puts it, a collocation is defined as semantically arbitrary
restrictions which do not follow logically from the propositional meaning of a word. It
is also considered in terms of the tendency of certain words to co-occur regularly in
a given language.
Besides, “we can, perhaps, see three kinds of collocational restriction First, some
are based wholly on the meaning of the item. Secondly, some are based on range - a
word may be used with a whole set of words that have semantic features in common.
Thirdly, some restrictions are collocational in the strictest sense, involving neither
meaning nor range.” Frank Palmer (1996: 79).
Frank Palmer’s third kind of collocation can be described in terms of
“arbitrariness”. What he sheds light on is the illogical relation between two words that
may collocate together. These points have been a helpful guideline to me throughout
the research.
Read the following collocations:
1- Prudent decision. (L .25 (
‫قرار حكيم‬
2- Distinguished and prosperous ancestory. ( L. 26)
3- Cast deep shadows. (L.28)
‫خيم بظالله على‬
4- Eventful life. (L. 1)
‫حياة حافلة باألحداث‬
5- Major decisions. (L. 8)
‫قرارات مصيرية‬
6- Broken in health. (L. 34)
‫وهنت صحته‬
7- Crushed by grief (L. 35)
‫خيم عليه الحزن‬
8- Hard work. (L. 61)
‫العمل الجاد‬
16
‫أسرة ذات حسب و نسب‬

17. 9- Fallen into debt. (L. 12)
‫أغرقته الديون‬
10Aroused his attention.( L. 87 )
‫استرعى انتباهه‬
11Life full of dangers. (L. 7)
‫حياة محفوفة بالمخاط ر‬
12Life full of adventures. (L. 8)
‫حياة حافلة بالمغامرات‬
13His early childhood. ( L. 75)
‫منذ نعومة أظافره‬
The translator should render the above collocations into the target language text (TLT)
bearing in mind producing collocations which are typical in the target language. S/he
should do his / her best to preserve the meaning associated with the source
collocations.
Example: (Cast deep shadows) imparts to the reader a negative connotation. An equal
accurate effect is felt with the word ()‫ .خيم‬However, the strategy of omission has been
used with the adjective (deep) since the effect is rendered without it.
Example: A tension between accuracy and naturalness is noticed while translating
(broken in health) and (crushed by grief). Their real impact is felt in the SLT. However
the nearest acceptable collocation in the target language text (TLT) is (‫ )وهنت صحته‬and
()‫.خيم عليه الحزن‬
Example: Similarly, the nearest acceptable collocation which can replace (distinguished
and prosperous ancestory) is (‫ .)أسرة ذات حسب و نسب‬This collocation is an example of
preserving only the meaning. No typical words can be used here. No accurate choice
of equivalent words!
17

18. Example: The Arabic language is highly expressive. Therefore, many equivalents of
single words in the SLT were rendered as collocations in the TLT.
- Who arranged his education
‫و الذي كان يأخذ على عاتقه مسئولية تعليم كونراد‬
- Unsuccessfully
‫إال أن المحاولة باءت بالفشل‬
ً
- His sea career was erratic
‫كان عمله بالبحر عمال غريب األطوار‬
- Real–life background
‫خلفية أعماله المستوحاة من واقع الحياة‬
5.2 Idioms
The source text is written in an expository form. Such a kind of writing is
aimed at providing the reader with information about a certain point, paying no
attention to a figurative language or metaphorical expressions. This may clarify why
this text lacks any idiomatic expressions.
18

19. According to Mona Baker (1994:82) every language makes a different selection
from a large set of possible distinctions in terms of notions such as time, number,
gender, shape, visibility, and so on.
In his book Grammar, Palmer focuses on the notional categories which wrere imposed
upon English by the traditional grammarians. Those categories differ from one
language to another as Mona baker calrifies in chapter four. As far as we are
concerened with a camparison between English and Arabic, the discussion will be
mainly focusel on them.
6.1 Number
With reference to the category of number, the main problem that arises when
translating from English to Arabic and vice versa is that Arabic has singular, dual and plural
forms. The number of forms of , for example, any Arabic verb and its paradigms varies. This
does not exist in English. English has no “dual” forms. “English recognises a distinction
between one and more than one”.Mona Baker says.
What is logical in a language may seem illogical in another language. We notice that English
has plural forms after all the ‘plural’ numerals. But Arabic doesn not . In the following
example. we find “ً‫ – ”عاما‬which is singular – referring to the plural form “years”.
Example: twenty – five years ً‫خمسة و عشرون عاما‬
19

20. -
Light should be shed on how a translator can deal with the structure of (a restless,
searching intelligence and experience). A suggested translation is ( ‫خبرة و ذكاء ثاقبين و‬
‫ .)متواصلين‬The translator puts the adjectives in dual forms since they refer to two things.
-
As a matter of fact, the problem of dealing with the traditional category of number lies in
the translation from English to Arabic since the translator has to be cautions towards the
right choices of equivalents. For eample, “they often appear” in line 12 has many
possibilities:
ً
‫كثيرا ما يظهرون / يظهرون / يظهران / تظهران / تظهر‬
The suitable form in the TLT is (‫.)تظهر‬
The above problems arise from the fact that Arabic distinguishes between one, two and more
than two.
6.2 Gender
One of the noticeable problems that may arise when translating from English to
Arabic is as a result of how each language deals with (gender). It is said that English has no
gender since gender can be referred to via articles, adjectives or forms of verbs that show
whether one refers to a masculine or feminine.
On the contrary, gender can be noticed in Arabic through the agreement between a noun and
the adjective that follows it. Even the form of the verb in Arabic is affected according to
whether it refers to a feminie or masculine.
For Example:
‫القصص الالفتة للنظر‬
‫رواية مليودرامية‬
‫األسر البولندية‬
‫حياة محفوفة بالمخاطر‬
21

21. ‫القرارات المصيرية‬
‫الطفل الوحيد‬
‫الجنسية النمساوية‬
‫خبرة و ذكاء ثاقبين و متواصلين‬
ً
‫كان بحارا بسيطاً يرسو‬
‫ثم أصبح‬
‫قام بالعمل‬
‫باخرة متهالكة تبحر‬
‫توفت والدته‬
‫وهنت صحته‬
‫خيم عليه الحزن‬
‫تغيرهم لمراكزهم‬
‫يبدون فيه على حالة من االستقرار‬
6.3 Tense and Aspect
There are many distinctions among languages concerning tense and aspect. Tense
shows when an event happens: before now (happened), right now ( is happening) after now (
will happen) or even all the time (happens) . Hoffman, Th.R. (1993), Realms of meaning.
We notice that English and Arabic use the present tense either to describe a fact or express
an action or a state happening or existing at the time of speaking.
The present tense is rarely found in the SLT since the text presents a complete account to the
life of Joseph Conrand from his childhood to his death.
However, the following examples were found :
1- Conrad’s own life is……….
2- It is a strange…..
3- No one can completely explain.
4- To avoid the risk………
5- They often appear………
6- This is something to bear in mind.
21

22. 7- When we look at…….
Translating the above present- tense sentences constitutes no problem:
........... ‫4- إن حياة كونراد بمثابة‬
...................‫9- إنها حياه غريبة‬
...................‫3- ال يستطيع أحد أن‬
............... ‫1- و لتجنب مخاطر‬
ً
.............‫8- كثيرا ما تظهر‬
..........‫1- هذا شئ يوضع في االعتبار‬
..................‫1- عندما ننظر‬
Both languages use the past simple tense to refer to an action that
occurred and finished in the past. The whole SLT is almost written in
the past. The following are just some of the translated verbs in the
past tense.
‫ولد – وافته المنية – كان – قام – أغرقته – اعتنى – تحمل – سانده‬
ُ
6.4. Voice
According to Baker the main function of the passive in English and in a number of other
languages is to avoid specifying the agent and to give an impression of objectivity. The
Passive allows you to mention an action without saying it.
For Example:
He was born at………………..‫ولد بمدينة‬
ُ
22

23. It is noticeable that English tends to use passive more than Arabic which has some
constraints on passivisation. Therefore, it is possible to translate the English passive
structure into an Arabic active structure as Larson (1984:19) says:
It is not uncommon that passive constructions will need to be translated with active
constructions or vice versa, depending on the natural form of receptor language.
Accordingly, the following passive structures were translated into Arabic as follows:
1- having been naturalised as……….
‫و بعد أن حصل على الجنسية البريطانية‬
2- marked by………………
‫تتسم بــ‬
3- Poland was ruled and oppressed by Russia
.‫كانت تقع بولندا تحت الحكم الروسي و تعانى من االضطهاد الروسي لها‬
4- Conrad was supportrd and cared for by his family.
‫قامت العائلة بتقديم يد العون لكونراد و برعايته‬
5- until his British citizinship was confirmed.
.‫حتى يتم التأكيد من حصوله على الجنسية البريطانية‬
6- He was inclined always to be restless.
.‫فكان دائماً ما يبدو عليه القلق‬
7- on which a novel is based.
23
‫التي ترتكز عليها رواية‬

24. Cohesion
Cohesion is a surface relation; it connects together the actual words and expressions that we
can see or hear. (Mona Baker, 1992:180)
The efficient translator has to pay attention to the cohesive devices and their appropriate
transfer into a target text in order to have an appropriate ‘texture’.
The cohesive devices of the SLT are various. The second paragraph, for example, is
connected mainly though the continuous use of punctuation, i.e.semi-colons. One has to be
aware that the Arabic cohesive devices are different from those of English. Even the unwary
translator notices that semi-colons will not be effective in the TLT. A suggested translation is
to be based on the fact that relations between sentences in Arabic are explicit rather than
implicit. Therefore, the TL sentences are connected by repeating (‫.)كان‬
.....‫كان في أوقات فراغه‬
ً
......ً‫كان بحارا بسيطا‬
.......‫كان رباناً للباخرة أوتاجو‬
ُ
........‫كان قبطاناً لباخرة نهرية‬
..............ً‫كان كاتباً محترفا‬
Repetition ( which is another cohesive device ) is employed here to keep the thread of the
text upheld.
24

25. 7.1 Cohesion through Conjunction
According to Halliday and Hasan (1976), this device can be separated into four
categories: additive, signalling additional information (e.g. and, also , etc); adversative,
indicating contrast with a previous item (e.g. but, however, etc.) ; casual, signalling cause,
consequence, result and purpose (e.g. so, consequently, etc); and temporal, indicating time
sequence (e.g. then, next, etc).
Some of the examples in the SLT fall in the (adversative) category: but (L 48, 59, 72 and 88);
however (L 81). They are translated in a straight forward manner.
Besides, the additive category is realised through the noticeable use of the conjunction (and)
(L.4,7,20,33,34,37,39,46,49,52,64,67,69,78,79,83,86,87,89,91 and 93 )
The Cohesive device (and) has been mostly transferred in a direct way. However, the use of
and (L. 4, 34 and 46) has been transferred differently. In line 4, it is not translated at all to
give the effect that the coming structure is a new sentence stating a fact in the life the writer.
In line 34, (and) is translated into (‫ )أما‬as it is more appropriate in the Arabic context. Finally,
in line 46, (and even) is transferred to (‫ )حتى‬without ( ‫ ) و‬because ( ‫ ) و حتى‬is grammatically illformed.
Another noticeable difference between English and Arabic with regards to the use of cohesive
devices lies in the fact that Arabic – contrary to English – is highly inflected. Standard Arabic
denotes most syntactic relations through inflectional affixes or even a change of the vowel
affixs.
25

26. So, almost all Arabic verbs, nouns adjectives, pronouns and adverbs are highly inflected.
Nouns, for example, are inflected for number, gender and case. Nouns have singular, dual
and plural forms. Each has two different forms (masculine and feminine). Adjectives follow
nouns and agree with them .‫ . الصفة تتبع الموصوف في اللغة العربية‬The English language lacks such a
property.
For Example,
1- Adjectives agree with nouns
‫رواية ميلودرامية‬
‫القرارات المصيرية‬
‫التغيرات غير المتوقعة‬
ً‫كاتباً روائياً محترفا‬
‫حياة غريبة وعجيبة‬
‫أسرة ذات حسب‬
‫أنشطته السياسية‬
‫الجنسية النمساوية‬
‫التجارة البحرية‬
‫االستقرار التام‬
‫الناحية االحترافية‬
‫بشكل منتظم‬
‫األحداث الواقعية‬
2- Nouns have singular, dual or plural forms.
The following is a case of a dual form:
‫خبرة و ذكاء ثاقبين و متواصلين‬
3- Verbs are inflected to agree with the syntactic structure:
(Singular, feminine) ‫توفت والدته‬
(Singular, feminine) ‫قامت العائلة‬
(Singular, masculine) ‫يأخذ على عاتقه‬
26

27. (Plural, masculine) ‫يبدون فيه على حالة االستقرار‬
A special pattern of cohesion is suggested in the target text in order to reflect the accurate
message that the source text conveys. In an attempt to connect sentences together, the
translator uses ( ‫ ) أال و هو‬in line 16 , ) ‫ ) أال و هي‬in line 43, (‫ )و من الجدير بالذكر‬in line 20 and ( ‫) إال أن‬
in line 22 .
The above examples illustrate how conjunctions which are typically used in Arabic discourse
are added to a translation to make it smoother, even when no conjunctions are used in the
source text. (Baker: 1992: 194)
7.2 Cohesion through Reference
One of the most common patterns of establishing chains of reference in English and a
number of other languages is to mention a participant explicitly in the first instance, for
example, by name or title, and then use a pronoun to refer back to the same participant in
the immediate context. (Baker: 1992:181)
Halliday and Hasan (1976:37) suggest three types of reference: personal, demonstrative and
comparative.
In Arabic “a different pattern seems to be in operation”. For example, in the first two
paragraphs of the source text a partipant is mentioned (i.e.Conrad) and its anaphora (i.e.
he) is repeated four times (L 3, 6, 8 and 11). This anaphora is not transferred in the target
text; it is omitted since omission of the pronoun is a common grammatical feature in
Arabic.
27

28. The following structure a structure is not accepted. Note that the asterisc (*) means the
structure is incorrect.
..............‫* (هو( ولد بمدينة‬
ُ
.............‫* (هو( وافتة المنية‬
.............‫* كان (هو( فى أوقات عديدة‬
......‫* (هو( أغرقته الديون‬
Therefore, (the pronoun) is omitted. The same technique is used with the other five
paragraphs.
The following point is a conception:
The pronoun (he) in L46 is rendered as the name (‫ ) كونراد‬because in the target text if the
name is not mentioned in this context, the reader will be confused since the preceding
sentence (L.43) of the source text mentions three persons (Conrad, his father and his
uncle).
7.2.1 Another type of reference relation is that of co-reference. A chain of
co-referential items is:
28

29. Conrad → the child → a British subject → a reluctant student → apprentice seaman → a
gun-runner → smuggler→ a qualified ship’s officer → a Master Mariner → a serving officer
→ commander → a professional novelist.
The above co-referential chain is translated directly in the target text to keep the same
effect of the SLT.
ً‫كونراد ← طفال ← طالباً ← متمردا← بحارا ← مبتدئا ← مهرباً لألسلحة ← بحارا بسيطاً ← ضابط بحرياً ← رباناً ← قبطاناً ← كاتبا‬
ً
ً
ً
ُ
.‫روائيا‬
Only one item of the chain is dropped (i.e. a British citizen) because it has been translated
into:
‫حصل على الجنسية البريطانية‬
Therefore, since it is not translated literally, it is not included in the chain.
1- I encountered a polysemous word which has more than one meaning in Arabic. Polysemy
is defined as: one form having multiple meanings which are related by extension. George
Yule (1996: 121). The word (uncle) covers two related meanings: either (‫ )العم‬or (‫ .)الخال‬The
meaning is specified according to the understanding of the context. The word ( ‫ ) العم‬has
been chosen as a translation to (his uncle) L.37. This is due to the apparent similarity
between the last name of Conrad’s uncle and that of his father.
2- Finally, one of the strange problems that encountered me was the two forms of the name
of the writer: Conrad and Konrad. The same effect cannot be spelt out in translation since
Arabic makes no distinction between /c/ and /k/ when both are pronounced as a voiceless
velar plosive consonant. The appropriate solution was to write the names in English in the
TLT.
29

30. Translation is a discipline rather than an art. It is a professional training
approach based on academic studies. The main objectives of the course have been to
teach us ‘the main aspects of linguistics theory underpinning the process of
translation’ and ‘to understand the notion of equivalence at the various levels of
linguistics analyses. We also learned to be aware of the implications of translation. In
the past I used to translate without bearing in mind any of the above points. From
now on, levels of translation will direct me and, hopefully, lead me to perform more
reliable translations.
Most translators prefer to think of their work as a profession and would like to
see others treat them as professional rather than skilled or semi-skilled workers. But
to achieve this translators need to develop an ability to stand back and reflect on
what they do and how they do it. Like doctors and engineers they have to prove to
themselves as well as to others that they are in control of what they do: that they do
not just translate well because they have a “flair” for translation, but rather because,
like other professionals, they have made a conscious effort to understand various
aspects of their work. Mona Baker (1994: 4)
31

31. Conrad, J. (1982). Lord Jim. London: Macmillan Education.
Baker, M. (1994). In other words: A Cursebook for Translation. London: Routledge.
Yule, G. (1996). The Study of Language. Cambridge University Press,
Halliday, M. and Hasan, R. (1976). Cohesion in English. London: Longman.
Catford, J.C. (1965). A Linguistic Theory of Transaltion. Oxford: Oxford Press.
Newmark, P. (1981) Approaches to Transaltion. England: Pergamon Press.
Palmer, F.R. (1984). Grammar. London: Penguin Group.
Palmer, F.R. ( 1996 ). Semantics. England: Cambridge.
Hoffman, Th.R. (1993). Realms of meaning. England: Longman.
Larson, M. ( 1984 ). Meaning- Based Translation. USA: University Press of American Inc.
‫تم بحمد هللا‬
‫محمد عبد السالم أنصاري‬
mansary@indiana.edu
mansasry@email.arizona.edu
001-520-474-0111
31