TRANSLATION AND MEANING: A CULTURAL- COGNITIVE ...

verbs, which are usually expected to take the initial position in the sentence,
in particular when their subject is morphologically rendered by a very
complex noun phrase.
However, not all the cases when the Romanian translators thematize
Predicates are justified by the norms of the target-language usage. Consider,
for exemplification, the following fragment:
ST: (In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article,
this Decision does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve those
objectives.)
The measures necessary for the implementation of this Decision should be adopted
in accordance with Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down
the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the
Commission.
TT: (În conformitate cu principiul proporţionalităţii consacrat în articolul
menţionat anterior, prezenta decizie nu depăşeşte ceea ce este necesar pentru atingerea
acestor obiective.)
Ar trebui adoptate măsurile necesare punerii în aplicare a prezentei decizii în
conformitate cu Decizia Consiliului 1999/468/CE din 28 iunie 1999 de stabilire a
modalităţilor de exercitare a competenţelor de aplicare conferite de Comisie.
(32003D0291)
The problematic issue in the fragment illustrated above is
represented by the theme of the second sentence. Thus, in the case of the
English text, we are faced with a smooth transition from the rheme of the
first sentence to the theme of the second one, both being focused on aspects
related to the application of the legal document in which they are used. In
the Romanian translation of this excerpt, on the other hand, the second
sentence thematizes the verb phrase, thus disrupting the information flow of
the target text. Unfortunately, the problems created by this modification of
thematic structure are not restricted to the risk of leading to difficulties of
comprehension. By placing the verb phrase in initial sentence position, the
translator also affects, to a certain extent, the intended meaning of the
original utterance. More specifically, according to the word order of the
Romanian sentence, it is the implementation of the Decision in question that
should be in accordance with the Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June
1999, and not the adoption of the measures necessary for this
implementation, as the English sentence clearly states. Therefore, I consider
that the rendering of the above English fragment as “Măsurile necesare