constructing pathways to translation - Higher Education Commission

In translations, it is impossible to reproduce networks of Lexical Cohesion in a Target
Text which are identical to those of the Source Text. If a translator cannot make a word
mean what he/she wants to mean, he/she might have to settle for one with slightly
different meaning or different associations. The lack of ready equivalents will sometimes
require the translators to resort to strategies such as the use of super ordinate, paraphrase,
etc, which result in producing different lexical chains in the Target Text. Likewise, the
grammatical structure of the Target Language may require the translator to add or delete
information and to reword parts of the Source Text in a variety of ways.
Whatever lexical and grammatical problems are encountered in translating a text, and
whatever strategies are used to resolve them, a good translator will make sure that , at the
end of the day, the target text displays a sufficient level of lexical cohesion in its own
right. Subtle changes and sometimes major changes are unavoidable.
The overall levels of cohesion also vary from one language to another. Even with in the
same language, different texts will vary in density of their cohesive ties. Cohesion
contributes to patterns of redundancy, and these vary both across languages and across
text types. Explicit markers of cohesion raise the level of redundancy in text.
The boundary lines between these types of cohesive device are not clear cut. The
fuzziness of the boundaries and the technical difference between the three types of
cohesive device is not important for the translator, because they may even not operate in
the same way in other languages. The translator need only be aware that there are
different devices in different languages for creating ‘texture’ and that a text hangs
together by virtue of the semantic and structural relationships that hold between its
elements.
Under normal circumstances, what is required is a reworking of the methods of
establishing links, to suit the textural norms of the target language. The grammatical
aspect of each language will, itself, encourage the use of certain devices, in preference to
others. The textural norms of each genre will further suggest certain options, and rule out
others, that are grammatically acceptable, and may, in other genres be textually
acceptable as well.
82