Translation Universals.pdf - ymerleksi - home

212 Riitta Jääskeläinen
Table 4a. Translation variants of pronoun repetition
Back-translations without with
instructions (N = 45) instructions (N = 37)
They buy, they kill, they die. 13 = 29% 17 = 46%
They buy, they kill and they die. 4 = 9% 5 = 13.5%
They buy, kill, die. 8 = 18% 5 = 13.5%
They buy, kill and die. 9 = 20% 8 = 22%
Other 11 = 24% 2 = 5%
Table 4b. Percentages of translations retaining vs. changing pronoun repetition
ST:Theybuy,theykill,theydie. without with
instructions (N = 45) instructions (N = 37)
Pronoun repetition retained 17 = 38% 22 = 59%
Pronoun repetition changed 28 = 62% 15 = 41%
without instructions have tampered with pronoun repetition, while most of
those translating with instructions have tended to retain it (59%). In this case
sensitivity training seems to have reversed the students’ tendency to avoid
repetition.
My last example deals with the metaphoric extensions of family/home,
which were mentioned in relation to example (3): “a valley where the color
green must have been born, and where rainbows made their home.” The figures
in Table 5 show the student solutions which (1) retain both metaphors, (2)
retain one of the metaphors, or (3) which have changed or omitted both
metaphors. First I will give back-translated examples of each of the three
types of solutions. (In Table 5 the number of translations produced with
instructions is 35 instead of 37, as in two translations this page was missing
due to a photocopying mishap; these two translations will be left out of the final
analysis, but I have kept them in the material in the early stages of the project.)
a. both metaphors retained:
where greenness must have be born and where rainbows had their home
b. one metaphor retained:
where the green colour seems to have been born and where rainbows
ended
c. both metaphors changed or omitted:
in an evergreen valley where the sky was decorated by rainbows