2. TRANSLATION TECHNIQUES:
Indirect Translation Techniques
• Addition (completare, дополнение) – the translator adds up a word or a word-
combination in order to specify the meaning.
• Antonymic translation (traducere antonimică, антонимичный перевод) – involves
translating a phrase or clause that does not contain a negation or vice versa.
• Attachments (extinderea, расширение) – happen when ideas expressed in English
by a single word need word combinations or complex structures with a similar
meaning in Romanian.
• Change of the grammatical form (schimbarea/transformarea formei gramaticale
ale propoziţiei/изменение грамматической структуры).
3. • Addition (completare, дополнение) : Ex. The policeman waved me on. – Poliţistul
rutier mi-a făcut semnul să merg mai departe. Полицейский сделал мне знак
продолжать движение.
• Antonymic translation (traducere antonimică, антонимичный перевод) : Ex. I do
not think you are right. – Cred că greşiţi. Думаю, вы ошибаетесь. You cannot be
serious. – Glumiţi, nu-i aşa. Вы шутитe.
• Attachments (extinderea, расширение) : Business terminology: industries – ramuri
de producţie, отрасли производства; costs – cheltuieli de producţie,
производственные расходы;
• Change of the grammatical form (schimbarea/transformarea formei gramaticale ale
propoziţiei/изменение грамматической структуры): English – Passive Voice‚
Romanian – Active Voice. Ex. Prime Minister Tony Blair was hit by a tomato. Cineva a
aruncat o roşie in Prim Ministru Tony Blair. В премьер-министра Тони Блэра
бросили помидорой.
4. • Compensation (compensare, компенсация) – allows the translator to
convey the idea of the original text precisely, in every detail, especially when
the Romanian language standards do not permit the translator to place a
word in the same position or use it in the same function as in the original text.
• Compression (reducere, сокращение) – an idea formulated by a complex
structure or idiom is paraphrased by a simpler form or a single word with a
similar meaning.
• Commentary (comentariu, комментарий) – a commentary explains the
meaning of a text. Translators often use commentaries to help the target
reader understand the meaning of various parts of the original.
• Concordance (concordanţa, соответствие) – is when a translator seeks to
translate a word of the original by the same word in the target language
wherever it occurs. Sometimes concordance reduces accuracy in translation,
because it does not take into account the differing senses of meaning that a
5. • Compensation (compensare, компенсация) : Ex. No avenues in this matter were left unexplored. –
Totul a fost făcut pentru a soluţiona problema in cauză. – Были рассмотрены все возможные пути
решения.
• Compression (reducere, сокращение) : Ex. The new mechanism provides appropriate incentives for
efficient resource use. – Noul mecanism stimulează folosirea eficientă a resurselor. – Новый
механизм обеспечивает эффективное использование ресурсов.
• Commentary (comentariu, комментарий): Ex. But the viva is judgement day. (from R.Gordon “Doctor
in the House”) . – Выпускной устный экзамен для студента медика был Судным Днём.
• – Examen oral de specialitate pentru un student medic era drept sentinţa cerească.
The viva (voce examination) – an oral examination at medical schools in London.
• Concordance (concordanţa, соответствие) –Ex. He had a poetic nature. У него была поэтическая
(романтическая) натура. El avea o fire poietică (melancolică).
6. • Cultural substitute (substitutul cultural, культурологические соответсвия) – this is the use of a
different translation term for an item from the source language text which is unknown to the target
language hearers. Translators must be prudent in the use of cultural substitutes. They should not
introduce anachronisms. A cultural substitute should have the same function in context as the original
item, be as similar in form as possible, and be compatible with the culture of the original text.
• Ex. Pre-school students are invited. – Приглашаются дошкольники. – Sunt invitaţi copii de varsta
preşcolară
• Generalization (generalizare, обобщение) - is used when something in the TL is usually expressed
using concepts with broader meanings or when preserving the original concepts with narrower
meanings would result in an awkward translation. Ex. She ordered a daiquiri . – Ea a făcut comandă
de un cocktail. - Она заказала алкогольный напиток.
• Loss-of-meaning compensation (procedee de compensare a pierderii a unor sensuri, компенсация
смысловых потерь) – involves adding to or reinforcing a TT in one place to compensate for something
that has not been translated in a different place in the ST. Ex. I ain’t got no time for that kind of thing. –
N-am eu timp pentru tampeniile tale, măi. – Мне не до этой фигни.
• Omission (omisiune, намеренно пропускать) – some important detail may be skipped in favour of a
rather important fact. Ex. Summer rains in Florida may be violent while they last. – Vara in Florida cad
ploi torenţiale. – Летом во Флориде идут ливни.
7. • Sentence fragmentation ( segmentarea/dezbinarea propoziţiilor, разбивка предложений) – involves
splitting up one complex or compound sentence into two or more simple sentences.
• Ex. People everywhere are confronted with the need to make decisions in the face of ignorance and
this dilemma is growing.
• – Din cauza nesiguranţei şi a ignoranţei, oamenii din toată lumea se confruntă cu necesitatea de a lua
decizii. Ceea ce devine tot mai necesar.
• – В случае отсутствия информации каждый вынужден принимать нелёгкие решения
самостоятельно. Данная ситуация постоянно ухудшается.
• Sentence integration (contopirea/unirea propoziţiilor, объединение, слияние) – involves merging two
or several sentences into one.
• Ex. Your presence is not required. Nor it is desirable.
– Prezenţa dumnevoastră nu este nici necesară, nici dorită.
– Ваше присутствие не только необязательно, но и крайне нежелательно.
8. • Transposition (modificare a topicii, изменение порядка слов) – it involves changing the order of
words in the target text (TT) as compared to the source text (ST). Typically, an English sentence has a
“subject +predicate+object+adverbial modifier+ place +time” word order.
• In limba romană complimentul circumstanţial de timp poate fi plasat la inceputul propoziţiei, iar
predicatul se poate afla in prepoziţie faţă de subiect.
• Example: "She likes swimming" translates
• Romanian: Ii place a innota.
• Русский: Ей нравится плавать.
• Gerunds and infinitives work in different ways in English, Romanian and Russian
• Reformulation (sometimes known as equivalence) Here you have to express something in a
completely different way, for example when translating idioms or, even harder, advertising slogans. The
process is creative, but not always easy. (movie title)
9. Direct Translation Techniques
• Borrowing (imprumut, заимствование) Borrowing is where words or expressions are taken directly from the source text
and carried over into the target language. This technique is often used when there is no target language equivalent, such
as food or clothing, and can help to preserve the cultural context of the source text.
• Café (French), hamburger (German), kimono (Japanese)
• Calque -(From the French verb "calquer") Calques are special kind of borrowing where a language borrows
a word or an expression from another language and translates literally each of its elements. (4*4) Example: The English
term ‘skyscraper’ is translated as ‘zgirie nori”, “honeymoon”-luna de miere
• A literal translation -when using literal translation, each word is translated directly. The target text must be idiomatic
and retain the same word order, meaning and style as the source text.
• This technique can miss the nuances of the original text, and is only possible with languages and cultures that are
extremely close.
• Example: The English ‘I want a glass of water’ would be translated literally as ………
The right technique will vary on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the text type, target reader and end purpose of your
translation.
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