WorksheetsTranslation Universals
Total questions: 59
Worksheet time: 51mins
What are the most important concepts for building a general translation theory?
Translation universals
Text type, style and genre
Adequacy of translation
Target text as metatext
Cultural differences
Why is it important to study translation universals?
To understand general translation theory issues
To gain general ideas about translation regularities
To be aware of translation facts as a translation master degree holder
All of the above
What question does research on translation universals attempt to answer?
Are translations different from non-translated texts?
Is translation a 'third code'?
Are translated texts influenced by the specific language pair?
All of the above
What are the two approaches to researching translation universals?
Text Approach and Translation Process Approach
Text Approach and Translator-Audience Approach
Translation Process Approach and Translator-Audience Approach
Text Approach and Translation Complexity Approach
Translation Context Approach
Who started the research into the general linguistic phenomena of translation?
Jiří Levý
Mona Baker
Chesterman
Frawley
According to Mona Baker, what are translation universals?
Linguistic phenomena that typically characterize all translations
Features that emerge in the translated text due to interference between language systems
Constraints inherent in the process of translation
All of the above
What are potential S-universals?
Lengthening or expansion
Interference
Simplification
Conventionalization
Word
Generalization
What is a T-universal?
A feature common to all target texts
A feature that appears in target texts as a result of translation
A feature that differs between translations and their source texts
A feature that differs between translations and non-translated texts in the same language
What is a potential T-universal?
Simplification
Less lexical variety
Lower lexical density
All of the above
What is the universal of discourse transfer?
Translators directly retrieve the target language from the source utterance
Translators transfer phenomena from the source text to the target text
Interference is inherent in the mental processes of translation
All of the above
What is the psycholinguistic perspective on discourse transfer?
The make-up of the source text affects the formulation of the translation
Accomplished translators are less affected by interference
Tolerance of interference increases when translating from a major language to a minor language
All of the above
What research methodologies are used for studying translation universals?
Parallel corpora and comparable corpora
Corpus design and quality
Alignment of texts
All of the above
According to Berman, what are the 'translation deformations'?
Rationalization, clarification, expansion
Ennoblement, qualitative impoverishment, quantitative impoverishment
Destruction of rhythms, linguistic patterning, vernacular networks
All of the above
What is the result of simplification in translated texts?
Reduction of language or message
Higher lexical density
More discourse markers
Typical lexical patterning
What is a characteristic of discourse transfer?
Translators retrieve the target language from their own linguistic knowledge
Interference is not affected by the professional experience of the translator
Interference is more pronounced when translating from a major language to a minor language
Discourse transfer is influenced by the sociocultural conditions of translation
What is the definition of explicitation in translation?
Introducing covert information into the translation
Introducing overt information into the translation
Removing explicit information from the translation
Removing covert information from the translation
What are the textual indicators of explicitation?
Lexical, syntactic, or semantic additions
Lexical, syntactic, or semantic deletions
Lexical, syntactic, or semantic substitutions
Lexical, syntactic, or semantic modifications
What is the definition of normalization in translation?
Rendering idiosyncratic text features to conform to the target language
Rendering idiosyncratic text features to conform to the source language
Exaggerating the features of the source language
Exaggerating the features of the target language
What are the two poles of normalization?
Normalization and conservatism
Normalization and exaggeration
Systemic constraints and translator's preferences
Systemic constraints and language patterns
What is leveling out in translation?
The tendency of translated texts to gravitate towards the center of a continuum
The tendency of translated texts to diverge from the center of a continuum
The tendency of translated texts to converge towards the extremes of a continuum
The tendency of translated texts to have no variance in textual features
What are the causes of translation universals?
Influence of source texts, untranslatable elements, and cognitive factors
Influence of target texts, untranslatable elements, and cognitive factors
Influence of source texts, translatable elements, and cognitive factors
Influence of target texts, translatable elements, and cognitive factors
What is the influence of translators' training on translation universals?
Translators are taught to avoid explicitation and normalization
Translators are taught to explicate and normalize
Translators are taught to avoid simplification and interference
Translators are taught to simplify and interfere
What is the psychological cause of translation universals?
Translators' desire to take risks
Translators' desire to avoid risk
Translators' desire to simplify
Translators' desire to complicate
What are the cognitive causes of translation universals?
Differences between translations into L and texts originally written in L
Differences between translations into L and texts originally written in SL
Differences between translations into SL and texts originally written in L
Differences between translations into SL and texts originally written in SL
What are the conditions for translation universals?
Conditions that determine the likelihood of translation universals
Conditions that determine the absence of translation universals
Conditions that determine the existence of translation universals
Conditions that determine the irrelevance of translation universals
What are S-universals in translation?
Translation universals related to the equivalence relation
Translation universals related to the relation of textual fit
Translation universals related to lengthening of TTs
Translation universals related to simplification
What are T-universals in translation?
Translation universals related to the equivalence relation
Translation universals related to the difference between L-lange texts and L-language TTs
Translation universals related to lengthening of TTs
Translation universals related to simplification
Translation universals related to Untypical lexical patterning
What are the implications of translation universals research for translation teaching?
Teaching students about potential universals to improve translation quality
Teaching students to avoid translation universals
Teaching students to ignore translation universals
Teaching students to challenge translation universals
Teaching students to stick to translation universals
What is the usefulness of translation universals research for translation practice?
To restrict translation to rigid prescriptions and definite answers
To improve the quality of translations by raising awareness of translation decisions
To discourage practising translators from using translation universals
To limit the possibilities and constraints that operate on translation
What are the methods used in translation universals research?
Corpus-based studies using ST and TT corpora
Corpus-based studies using only ST corpora
Corpus-based studies using only TT corpora
Corpus-based studies using non-translated texts
The current research into translation universals shows that translation universal may be termed best as:
translation frequantals
unique characteristics or traits of translation
translation laws
translation regularities
translation universals
Translation universals refer to:
the translation product
the translation process
the translator's actions
common linguistic features of translations
the translator's cognitive activities
Research into translation universals is important for:
Understanding the translation processes
framing up a general translation theory
university translation teaching
Currently, it is not quite correct to use the term "translation universals" because:
they are not universal indeed
they were largely found only in translations into European languages
not all language pairs were researched
there can be no universals of translation
they are translation regularities
The prospects for research into translation universals are:
they are hardly relevant and significant for a general translation theory
studying all language pairs involved in translation
Currently, the best method for researching translation universals is:
using parallel bitext concordancers
Is research into translation universals useful for translation practice?
Yes. translators will use this kind of research in doing their translations
Yes. they will know how to avoid mistakes in translation
Practicing ranslators hardly read scholarly articles
Conditioned translation universals are based on the concept(s) of:
probability
Differences between translations into L and texts originally written in L are determined by:
features of the language of the original
L’s unique features
The following are the causes of translation universals:
translators' training
the influence of STs on TTs
untranslatable elements in STs
cognitive operations during translation
The following are S-universals according to Chesterman:
normalization
interference
standardization
explicitation
simplification
The following are T-universals according to Chesterman:
conventionalization
reduction of repetition
dialect normalization
under-representation of TL specific linguistic elements
lengthening of TTs
"Leveling out" as a kind of translation universal is:
downgrading speech formality
convergence of speech level registers
upgrading speech formality
using a different speech level
Explicitation as a kind of translation universal is:
"Discourse transfer" as a feature of S-universals is:
SL interference in a TT
the transfer of the ST linguistic patterns into the TT
the transfer of emotive elements from the ST to TT.
he transfer of meaning from the ST to the TT
the transfer of pinctuation and abbreviations from the ST to the TT
What is a universal shift that involves a change in grammatical structure?
Compensation
Modulation
Transposition
Equivalence
Which translation shift changes the perspective or point of view?
Transposition
Modulation
Lexical shift
Literal translation
What is the term for finding equivalent phrases for idiomatic expressions in translation?
Syntactic flexibility
Transposition
Equivalence
Compensation
Which shift involves introducing stylistic elements elsewhere in the text?
Lexical shift
Transposition
Modulation
Compensation
What type of shift occurs when structural differences make literal translation impossible?
Equivalence
Cultural adaptation
Lexical shift
Structural shift
Which feature emphasizes the need for clarity and coherence in translation?
Lexical expansion
Syntactic flexibility
Cultural adaptation
Semantic accuracy
What is necessary for bridging cultural gaps in translation?
Compensation
Transposition
Cultural adaptation
Lexical expansion
Which feature focuses on conveying the original meaning as precisely as possible?
Modulation
Lexical contraction
Syntactic flexibility
Semantic accuracy
What must translators replicate to maintain the effectiveness of communication?
Structural shifts
Lexical shifts
Cultural symbols
Tone and style
Which phenomenon involves differences in how languages express ideas concisely?
Lexical expansion or contraction
Transposition
Syntactic flexibility
Cultural adaptation
What is a common translation feature that requires flexibility in restructuring sentences?
Syntactic flexibility
Lexical shift
Equivalence
Compensation
Which shift is likely to occur when certain nuances cannot be preserved in the same place?
Transposition
Compensation
Modulation
Lexical shift
What is the primary goal of translation according to the text?
Syntactic flexibility
Lexical expansion
Semantic accuracy
Cultural adaptation
Which shift may involve changing a negative structure into a positive one?
Lexical shift
Modulation
Transposition
Compensation
