Philosophy of Language, Translation Theory and a Third Way in Semantics

2007 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-28
Author(s):  
Shyam Ranganathan ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Language ◽  
Language Translation ◽  
Translation Studies ◽  
Translation Theory ◽  
Contemporary Philosophy ◽  
Third Way ◽  
Common Assumption ◽  
Text Type ◽  
Semantic Minimalism ◽  
The Way

In this paper I address anew the problem of determinacy in translation by examining the Western philosophical and translation theoretic traditions of the last century. Translation theory and the philosophy of language have largely gone their separate ways (the former opting to rebrand itself as “translation studies” to emphasize its empirical and anti-theoretical underpinnings). Yet translation theory and the philosophy of language predominantly share a common assumption that stands in the way of determinate translation. It is that languages, not texts, are the objects of translation and the subjects of semantics. The way to overcome the theoretical problems surrounding the possibility and determinacy of translation is to marry the philosopher of language’s concern for determinacy and semantic accuracy in translation with the notion of a “text-type” from the translation theory literature. The resulting theory capable of explaining determinacy in translation is what I call the text-type conception of semantics (TTS). It is a novel alternative to the salient positions of Contextualism and Semantic Minimalism in the contemporary philosophy of language.

scholarly journals Philosophische Übersetzung zwischen "sprachlicher Gewaltanwendung" und translativer Hermeneutik. Translatorische Überlegungen aus der Sicht der Übersetzung(en) von Jean-Paul Sartres 'L'être et le néant'

Labyrinth ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 9
Author(s):  
Yvanka B. Raynova
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Language ◽  
Scientific Discipline ◽  
Translation Theory ◽  
Contemporary Philosophy ◽  
Philosophical Literature ◽  
Jean Paul ◽  
Translation Practice ◽  
Philosophical Texts ◽  
Translation Methods ◽  
Further Development

Philosophical translation between "linguistic violence" and translative hermeneutics. Translational considerations from the perspective of the translation(s) of Jean-Paul Sartre's L'être et le néant The establishment of translatology as a scientific discipline is a late phenomenon to which not only linguistics but also the philosophy of language has contributed significantly. Although the considerations of Schleiermacher, Ricoeur, Derrida, Balibar, Cassin and other philosophers are very stimulating for the examination of the translation problematics, they do not offer a particular translation theory of philosophical texts. Most of their works are of little help in practice when it comes to translating a complicated philosophical text. That is why I will take in this paper the opposite path and start from my own experience as a translator of philosophical literature into Bulgarian and, more concretely, from my translation of Jean-Paul Sartre's L'être et le néant. On the base of this key work of contemporary philosophy and its translations into different languages, I will address the difficulties and the specifics of philosophical translation, discuss various translation methods, and argue several theses, which could serve as impulses for a further development of translation theory and translation practice in the field of philosophy. 

Theory of Translation

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael N. Forster
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Language ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Translation Theory ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Traditional Conception ◽  
Source Language ◽  
Translation Practice ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Way

Herder’s theory of translation not only ultimately inspired but is also superior to the most important current theories of translation, those of Berman and Venuti. It is superior to them largely because it continues a traditional conception that faithfully re-expressing the meaning of the source text is a central criterion of success in translation. Like his hermeneutics, Herder’s translation theory rests on his philosophy of language and his principle of radical mental difference. He develops a number of important principles here, including a principle that the way to achieve semantic faithfulness in the face of conceptual differences is to “bend” word-usages in the target language in order to reproduce those in the source language, and a principle that translation must also strive for musical faithfulness. His translation theory not only inspired Schleiermacher’s but also made possible the extraordinary improvements in translation practice that occurred in the generation after him.

Semiotics East and West: an aesthetic-semiotic approach to translating the iconicity of classical Chinese poetry

Semiotica ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Guangxu Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Translation Studies ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Translation Theory ◽  
Chinese Poetry ◽  
Semiotic Approach ◽  
Classical Chinese ◽  
Classical Chinese Poetry ◽  
Set Up ◽  
The Sacrifice

Abstract For some Western translators before the twentieth century, domestication was their strategy to translate the classical Chinese poetry into English. But the consequence of this strategy was the sacrifice of the ideogrammic nature of these poems. The translators in the twentieth century, especially the Imagist poets and translators in the 1930s, overcame the problems of their predecessors and their translation theory and practice was close to that of the contemporary semiotic translators. But both Imagist translators and contemporary semiotic translators have the problem of indifference to the feeling of the original in their translations. For the problem of translating the classical Chinese poetry by the Westerners before the twentieth century and the Imagist poets and translators of the twentieth century, see Zhao and Flotow 2018. This paper attempts to set up an aesthetic-semiotic approach to the translation of the iconicity of classical Chinese poetry on the basis of the examination of both Eastern and Western translation studies.

scholarly journals Language Acquisition in the Light of Rationalist Philosophy of Mind and Philosophy of Language

2016 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 303-315
Author(s):  
Halina Święczkowska ◽  
Beata Piecychna
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Philosophy Of Mind ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Philosophy Of Language ◽  
17Th Century ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Speech Acquisition ◽  
The Way

Abstract The present study deals with the problem of the acquisition of language in children in the light of rationalist philosophy of mind and philosophy of language. The main objective of the paper is to present the way Gerauld de Cordemoy’s views on the nature of language, including its socio-linguistic aspects, and on the process of speech acquisition in children are reflected in contemporary writings on how people communicate with each other. Reflections on 17th-century rationalist philosophy of mind and the latest research conducted within the field of cognitive abilities of human beings indicate that between those two spheres many similarities could be discerned in terms of particular stages of the development of speech and its physical aspects.

Borges on Replication and Concept Formation

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yemima Ben-Menahem
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Mind ◽  
Philosophy Of Language ◽  
Concept Formation ◽  
Jorge Luis Borges ◽  
Ancient Greece ◽  
Broad Sense ◽  
Common Theme ◽  
Contemporary Philosophy ◽  
Complex Picture ◽  
The Common

This chapter examines three stories by Jorge Luis Borges: “Funes: His Memory,” “Averroës's Search,” and “Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote.” Each of these highlights the intricate nature of concepts and replication in the broad sense. The common theme running through these three stories is the word–world relation and the problems this relation generates. In each story, Borges explores one aspect of the process of conceptualization, an endeavor that has engaged philosophers ever since ancient Greece and is still at the center of contemporary philosophy of language and philosophy of mind. Together, Borges's stories present a complex picture of concepts and processes of conceptualization.

scholarly journals Current trends in the Russian translation theory: towards a new methodological standard of translation (book review: Mishkurov, E. N. Hermeneutics of Translation (towards theoretical and methodological standard of translation): monograph

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 108-118
Author(s):  
Anna L. Solomonovskaya
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Language ◽  
Geographic Origin ◽  
Translation Theory ◽  
Controversial Issues ◽  
Rhetorical Device ◽  
Current Trends ◽  
Dionysius The Areopagite ◽  
The Status ◽  
Methodological Standard ◽  
Semantic Differentiation

The article reviews different perspectives concerning the status, origin and functions of double translations in European cultural space throughout the period. The term double translation here refers to the translation of one word with two (rarely more) lexemes connected with a conjunction or another linking word. This technique was universal across medieval translation schools, whatever their geographic origin. However, only particular schools or individual translators have been studied in terms of this technique so far, so the author aims to summarize the findings, delineate some controversial issues in the domain under consideration and place the findings in a common perspective. The controversial issues comprise (but are not limited by) the causes of their emergence in translated texts (from almost accidental fixation of the translator’s hesitation to the conscious decision to apply two different methods of translation based on specific philosophy of language). Another widely discussed question is the status of the words in such a pair – whether they were regarded as synonyms or had another status. One more question that causes discussion is their functions in the text, namely whether they were a rhetorical device or a certain means of semantic differentiation. The author of the article supposes that double translation should be considered dynamically and such chronological consideration makes it possible to argue that double translations first appeared to convey the whole range of meanings of a certain word enabling the reader to make their own choice concerning the exact meaning of the word in each particular context. As for the philosophical or theological background of the technique (be it language philosophy of St. Augustine or the theory of images developed by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite) sometimes assumed to have been intentionally realized by medieval translators, it is hard to verify such claims as the utterances (Prefaces) of the medieval translators themselves hardly mention (with the possible exception of Praefatio Brixiana) either the technique or its presumed theological grounds. Moreover, word pairs (hendyadis) had been used as a rhetorical device both in the literary tradition and the national epic poetry of many European countries. This rhetorical device was widely used for emphasis, so when double translation actually lost its semantic function, it was retained by languages as set phrases or a purely stylistic device.

scholarly journals Lexical Strategies in Intralingual Translation between Registers

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (54) ◽  
pp. 85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aage Hill-Madsen
Keyword(s):  
Patient Information ◽  
Translation Studies ◽  
Pharmaceutical Product ◽  
Medical Terminology ◽  
Text Type ◽  
Package Inserts ◽  
Patient Information Leaflets ◽  
Information Leaflets ◽  
Product Specifications

<p>Being concerned with (what has hitherto been) a marginal and under-researched area of Translation Studies, viz. intralingual translation, this paper focuses on the particular type of monolingual rewriting which consists in the transformation of specialized LSP texts into a new text type aimed at lay readership. As a specific example of this type of transformation, the paper investigates the rewriting of pharmaceutical product specifications into medicinal package inserts (so-called patient information leaflets). In Translation Studies terms, in other words, the pharmaceutical texts are treated as source texts and the patient information leaflets as target texts. The paper examines certain core intralingual translation <em>strategies </em>employed to make the specialized information accessible to the non-expert audience. The focus is primarily on strategies employed to convert medical terminology into more lay-friendly wordings. The exact linguistic nature of these strategies is examined, and the ways in which they contribute to target-text lay-friendliness are charted.</p>

scholarly journals Possible Worlds in Translation: Coleman Barks’s Rendition of a Story from Rumi’s Masnavi

2021 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vahid Medhat ◽  
Hossein Pirnajmuddin ◽  
Pyeaam Abbasi
Keyword(s):  
Internal Structure ◽  
English Translation ◽  
Possible Worlds ◽  
Translation Studies ◽  
Original Text ◽  
Main Character ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Narrative Worlds ◽  
The Way

This article applies the theory of possible worlds to the field of translation studies by examining the narrative worlds of original and translated texts. Specifically, Marie-Laure Ryan’s characterization of possible worlds provides an account of the internal structure of the textual universe and the progression of the plot. Based on this account, one of the stories from Rumi’s Masnavi is compared to Coleman Barks’s English translation. The possible worlds of the characters and the unfolding of the plots in both texts are examined to assess the degree of compatibility between the textual universes of the original and the translated texts and how significant this might be. It also examines how readers reconstruct the narrative worlds projected by the two texts. The analysis reveals some inconsistencies in the way the textual universes of the original and translated texts are furnished and in the way readers reconstruct the narrative worlds of the two texts. The inability of translation to fully render the main character results in some loss in terms of the pungency and pithiness of the original text. It is also shown that the source text presents a richer domain of the virtual in comparison, suggesting a higher degree of tellability in the textual universe of the Masnavi’s narrative.

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