A study on the translation of technical texts in shipbuilding

PART I: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale Shipbuilding is one of the key industries of our country. The next following years may see the development in building many kinds of vessels: bulk carriers, oil tankers, container vessel, car carriers, floating storage and offloading units …. Each kind of vessel has it own technical specification. And in order to understand the structure, technical characteristic as well as the operation, the translation of these technical documents has become more importantly than ever before. As a translator in a shipbuilding company, the author of this minor thesis days by days work with technical documents. She is fully aware that the translation of technical document is a difficult job, it requires the translator to continuously improve basic knowledge on shipbuilding as well as skill in dealing with situations relating to technical terms, special expressions, and ambiguous structures… That is the reason why the author chooses the study on translation of technical texts in shipbuilding for her MA minor thesis with the hope that the study can provide the translator a general view on translation of technical texts in shipbuilding industry and the author herself can improve her job. 2. Aims of the study The study is implemented with the following aims: To clarify some aspects in translation of technical texts in shipbuilding To delve into some problems relating to translation of technical texts in shipbuilding To put forward some suggestions for solution of difficulty in translation 3. Scope of the study Technical translation is a huge field, each technical field has it owns characteristic, therefore, the translator working on any field of technical translation has to try her/ his best to fulfill her/ his job. The translation of technical texts in shipbuilding is not an exception. Within the scope of this study, a study on the translation of technical texts in shipbuilding is very exclusive to talk about. However, due to the limitation of time and lack of experience, my minor thesis is only limited to dealing with some aspects, problems in translating technical text in shipbuilding. 4. Method of the study To set up the framework for this study, the author refers to some in-house and foreign publications. In order to achieve the goal of the study, the main method is quantitative data analysis. All the considerations, conclusions in this minor thesis are largely based on: Reference to relevant publications Analysis of collected data Personal observations 5. Design of the study The study consists of three parts: Part 1, introduction, includes: rationale, aims, scope, method and design of the study. Part 2 is the development, the focus of the study with three chapters: Chapter 1 is general theoretical background, it introduces general information about translation theory. Chapter 2 deals with an investigation into translation of technical text in shipbuilding. In this chapter, some kinds of technical shipbuilding texts, aspects and problems related to translation these documents are analyzed. Chapter 3 is the implication. This chapter points out some mistakes the translator often meets in translating and some suggested solutions. Part 3 is the conclusion. PART II: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: Theoretical background 1. What is translation? Translation has been the subject of interest not only to linguists, professional and amateur translators, language teachers but also to other engineers of other technical fields. A great number of publications have been written about this matter. However, “What is translation?” is still a question in need of research.. Barkhudarov (1975) defined translation as “the transformation of a speech product in one language into that of other language keeping the content (or meaning) unchanged”, by speech product he meant translation as an act of communication. Catford (1965) considers translation is an cognitive behavior by saying that “Translation is the replacement if textual material in one language (source language) by equivalent textual material in other language (target language)”. For Nida & Taber (1974), translation “consists in reproducing in the receptor language the closet natural equivalent of the source language message, first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style”. Hatim & Mason (1990) termed it briefly “Translating is a communicative process which takes place within a social context”. Different scholars defines translation in different way, seemingly, they have not come up with a “single valid comprehensive theory of translation”, that is because they seem to look at translation from different views. 2. Text, discourse and translation 2.1. About text, discourse and translation Text and discourse sometimes are confused in linguistic. For Windowson, a text is “sentences in combination”, and discourse is the “use of utterances in combination”. To put it more clearly, text is a “structured sequence of linguistic expressions forming a unitary whole” and discourse is a “structured event manifest in linguistic (and other) behavior”. Yet, these definitions do not satisfy because text and discourse sometimes are used interchangeably, and text is referred to as “written documents” while discourse as “speech”. Thus, Roger (1991) proposed the following: text is “the formal product of selections of options from the THEME systems of the grammar; a unit which carries the semantic sense of the proposition (the propositional content and locutionary force of the speech act) through sentences which are linked by means of cohesion” and discourse is “ a communicative event which draws on the meaning potential of the language (and other systems of communication) to carry communicative value (the illocution force) of speech acts through utterances which are linked by means of coherence”. A text is a string of sentences, a unit of language in use. A discourse is a communicative process by means of interaction and its linguistic product is text. And discourse refers to the connected speech or writing at supra – sentential levels while text – both written and spoken – is seen as the representation of discourse. Discourse analysis is the analysis of language in use and includes in itself the analysis of the text beyond and above the sentence. Thus, text is one of the core terms in translation. 2.2. Types of text Type of text is an important factor in translation. It affects on all stages of translation and translation product. That is the reason why that this matter is always discussed in translation. According to Newmark (1988), one of the most important function of language is to help the users to express their feelings, thus equivalent to expressive function of language, we have expressive text. Imaginative, authoritative statements and autobiography, essays, personal correspondence are some sub-types of this kind of text. The very important function of language is informative function. For Newmark (1988), “the core of the informative function of language is external situation, the facts of a topic, reality outside language, including reported ideas or theories”. The informative text –type includes scientific papers, textbooks, popular science or art books, popular journalism. The third function of language, as Newmark (1988) proposes is to call upon the readership to act, think or feel in order to react in the way intended by the text, say, vocative text. This text – type is also called instrumental, operative text aiming at producing a certain effect on the readership. This text type includes: instructions, publicity, propaganda, persuasive writing. Besides, Newmark also bases on 3 other functions of language which were proposed by Jakobson to classify some other text – types: The aesthetic function – aesthetic text, the phatic function – phatic text, the metalingual function – metalingual text. 2.3. Text analysis in translation Text analysis plays an important role in translation process, thus, it is always paid attention by both the translator and the translation researcher. According to Newmark (1988), analysis of a text is a procedure in which the translator must read the text, find out the intention of the text, text styles, readership, as well as stylistic scales, attitude, setting. Besides, the translator has to take into account the quality of the writing, and before translating, he/ she has to read the text the last time. 2.3.1. Reading the text The translator, at first, is the reader, but not the normal reader. At least, he is both reader and reader – translator. As Newmark (1988) claimed, the translator begins the job by reading for two purposes: “to understand what it is a bout; to analyze it from the translator’s point of view”. The translator has to define its intention and the way it is written for the purpose of selecting suitable translation method and identifying particular problems. Also, Newmark (1988) suggested in order to understand the text, general reading and close reading are required. General reading is “to get the gist”. The translator can gather general information about subject of the text through textbooks, specialist papers. Close reading is to read “words both out of and in the context”. 2.3.2. The intention of the text and the intention of the translator In reading, the translator, as Newmark (1988) stated, searches for the intention of the text, he/ she can not isolate this from understanding it. Intention of the text is shown through the selecting means like grammatical structures, vocabulary of the writer, for example: two texts describe the same subject as a battle for instance, the positive text uses positive expressions, vocabulary such as hopefully, luckily…. However, the negative text, conversely, uses negative expressions, vocabulary like unfortunately, it is a pity that…. “The intention of the text represents the SL writer’s attitude to the subject matter” (Newmark (1988)). Thus, the first and very important task is to search the intention of the text. And, also according to Newmark (1988) “usually, the translator’s intention is identical with the intention of the source text author”. But sometimes, it is adapted by the translator to make it suitable to new readership. 2.3.3. Text styles Understanding text styles is an important step in analyzing text. According to Nida (1979), four types of text are divided as per the text styles. The first is narrative text , it is a “dynamic sequence of events”, and because it is a sequence of event, it is expressed by a string a verbal actions. The second type is descriptive. This kind of text is, on the contrary, is “static with emphasis on linking verbs, adjective, adjectival nouns”. The third type is discussion, it is “a treatment of ideas, with emphasis on abstract nouns (concepts), verbs of thought, mental activity, logical argument and connectives”. And the last type as Nida (1979) suggested is dialogue with “emphasis on colloquialism and phaticisms”. 2.3.4. Readership The readership is a group of readers that the text is aimed at and this group is marked with level of education, the class, age and sex. In translation, as Newmark (1988) claimed, the readership of SL text should be characterized, then the readership of the translation to decide how much attention to pay to the TL readers. And, Newmark (1988) states that there is a tendency to make the translation for “educated, middle – class readership in an informal, colloquial style”.. There are three types of readership: expert, educated layman, and the uniformed. 2.3.5. Stylistic scales To understand and form as suitable text, the translator has to identify the stylistic scales of the text. For example, basing on the formality, texts can be divided: officialese, official, formal, neutral, informal, colloquial, slang and taboo; basing on the generality and difficulty, texts can be divided into: simple, popular, neutral, educated, technical and opaquely technical; and basing on emotional tone: intense, warm, factual and understatement. 2.3.6. Setting of the text To learn about the setting of the text, Newmark (1988) suggests is to find out the place where the text will be published in TL, the TL equivalent of the SL periodical, newspaper, textbook, .., the clients and their requirements, also take into account the “briefer title, absence of sub-titles and sub-headings, shorter paragraphs, and other features of the TL house-style”. The translator has to “make several assumptions” about the readership, that is to say, who they are, their education…. 2.3.7. The quality of the writing Another important thing the translator has to pay attention is the quality of the writing in order to choose the translation method. The quality of the writing, as Newmark (1988) claimed, depends upon the author’s writing skill, author’s intention and the requirement of the subject matter. A text is considered to be a well – written one when is uses the right words in right places, it has a minimum of redundancy, it is logical, …. The authority of a text is subject to the status of writer in his field. If the text is written by an experts, of course, the accuracy is better. If the text is written with “stereotyped phrased, poorly written”, the translator at that time, has to deal with the badly written text. 2.3.8. The last reading At last, the translator should read the text, he/ she should underline “all neologism, metaphors, cultural words and institutional terms, technical terms, proper names, and “untranslatable” words” to identify the “semantic range, the frontiers”. This can be considered to be the last analyzing step in translating process. 3. Translation method For a good translator, which could be considered the utmost importance and the guideline in translation job is translation methodology. It has been a central problems whether to translate “literally or freely” at least since the first century BC. Many years have gone, some methods have been identified and Newmark (1988) has put the argument in the form of a flattened V diagram as the following: Diagram 1: V diagram of translation method by Newmark (1988) 3.1. Word – for – word translation Word – for – word translation is a method in which the words are translated “singly by their most common meanings, out of context”, the method in which the “SL word – order is preserved”. This method is used to understand the mechanics of source language and to attempt to analyze preliminarily draft of translation process. 3.2. Literal translation This kind of method is somehow similar to word – for – word translation in that “the lexical words are again translated singly” except for one thing, that is, it lays focus on the conversion of the SL grammatical construction into their nearest TL equivalents. 3.3. Faithful translation This method reproduces the precise contextual meaning of the original and deals with the constraints of the TL grammatical structures. Its aim is to be “completely faithful” to the intentions and the text-realization of the SL writer. 3.4. Semantic translation Semantic translation takes into account the aesthetic value – the beauty of the SL text. It is more flexible than faithful translation in that it admits creative exception to 100% fidelity and allows the translator’s intuitive empathy with the original. 3.5. Adaptations For this type of translation, the SL culture is converted to TL culture and the text is re-written by the experts in the field of the text content. It is used mainly for plays and poetry. It is the “freest” form of translation. 3.6. Free translation Free translation reproduces the manner without paying attention to the manner, it expresses the content without the form of the original. 3.7. Idiomatic translation This type of translation conveys the “message” of the original text. And with idiomatic translation, nuances of meaning are transmitted to TL text by colloquialisms and idioms which do not have in the original. 3.8. Communicative translation Communicative translation presents the exact contextual meaning of the original in such a way that both content and language are made to be acceptable and comprehensible to the readers of TL language. On analyzing the method of translation, it is experienced that communicative translation is appreciated. However, depending on the text type, the translation method is chosen because with this kind of text, this method is the best but it is not good for the others. 4. Equivalence in translation Equivalence can be considered as a fundamental conception in translation and it is mentioned in most of the definitions of translation, however, it is difficult to agree on a uniform concept of equivalence. Thus, there exist many categories of equivalence: content equivalence, stylistic equivalence, formal equivalence, functional equivalence, textual equivalence, dynamic equivalence, communicative equivalence, pragmatic equivalence and equivalence of effect by scholars like Winter (1961), Catford (1965), Nida & Taber (1969), Will (1977) and Jager (1975). And according to Newmark (1988), the utmost purpose of any translation is to reach “equivalence effect”, that is to say, to create the same effect (or one as close as possible) on the group of readers of translation and the readership of the original. Within this minor thesis, the writer only considers some equivalence types which are the most mentioned and are applied widely. 4.1. Quantity based equivalence - One to one equivalence: For this kind of equivalence, there is a single expression in TL for a single expression in SL. This equivalence is commonly seen in terminology. - One to many equivalence There are many expressions in TL for a single SL expression in this kind of equivalence. - One to part one equivalence With this equivalence, one way of expression in SL has more than one meaning but the way of expression in TL is only equivalent to one of the meanings. - Nil – equivalence There is no equivalence in TL due to difference in culture 4.2. Meaning – based equivalence This kind of equivalence is considered by Koller (1979) as follows: - Denotative equivalence The equivalence in which both SL and TL expressions show the same definition, event in real life. - Connotative equivalence This type of equivalence bases on connotation of language. It provides additional values besides denotation value. This equivalence is formed by selecting words in different aspects such as style, usage, social, usage frequency…. It can be connotation of poetry language, connotation of socially determined usage, connotation of geographical relation or origin, connotation of stylistic effect, connotation basing on evaluation, connotation basing on attitude and connotation basing on register (the case of technical language). For the author of this minor thesis, connotative equivalence basing on register is of great interest and importance because her topic deals with the translation of technical text in shipbuilding and the equivalence of technical text translation is based on connotative register. - Text – normative equivalence For this type of equivalence, the SL and TL expressions are used in the same or similar context in their respective language like correspondence and law. - Formal equivalence The equivalence formed by form expression when both the SL and TL have the same aesthetic feature which is created by formality. The equivalence is originated from rhyme, tune, style of poetry, metaphor, ….. 5. Technical translation In modern world, science and technology are applied in every aspect of life, thus, the number of scientific and technological texts appear in a great number. And the profession of translator is co-extensive with the rise of technology, and staff translators working in that field are usually called technical translators. But what is technical translation