Bede

Before reading

The translator must know the source language not only well (here English) but also, and especially, the target language (here French). It is absolutely necessary of reading much in French. To translate is to imitate styles, and thus to know them (styles technique, journalistic, administrative, literary, etc).

The translator must not only have one good knowledge of the two languages, but also know and include/understand the essential features of the companies of English language. He is unfortunately almost impossible to know all the anglophone countries well…

The translator is not an author strictly speaking, and must be erased behind the original author. The perfect translation does not exist, and an Italian expression expresses it perfectly: traduttore - traditore (=> “translator - traitor”).

One should not hesitate to use a simple French unilingual dictionary, as well as the orthographical correctors of the word processing which is unbeatable in pure orthography. The data-processing grammatical correctors are sometimes very useful but remain not very reliable in many cases.

The dictionaries are a beautiful invention: learn how with you to be useful about it.

  • the principal bilingual ones: Robert & Hakes , Hatchet-Oxford , Larousse , Harrap' S (often exist in several formats).
  • bilingual dictionaries intended for the translators, such as the English-French Guide of the translation, Rene Meertens, and words to translate it, of Luc Labelle.
  • principal unilingual English: Oxford , Hakes , Cobuild , Merriam-Webster , etc
  • Some dictionaries on line: the Large terminological dictionary (bilingual French English/).

Each one has its advantages and its disadvantages, each one uses its own page layout, its own symbols, etc It is necessary to be accustomed to a dictionary (or several) for good to make use of it.

The analytical French dictionaries (i.e dictionaries of the synonyms, the ideas, etc) are sometimes useful when one blocks on a word, an expression. Their data-processing equivalents (dictionaries of the synonyms present in all the word processing) are simple but invaluable. Guides of style ( the good use, also called Grevisse , Andre Goose to dir., ED. Duculot, or Traps and difficulties of the French language , Jean Girodet, ED. Bordered reference), as well as the guides of conjugation can sometimes mitigate our insuffisances.
Technical dictionaries (very expensive!) will have of course to be consulted for the specific texts. A translator cannot know all the vocabulary in all the fields.

The automatic translations (i.e. “computer-assisted”) are, in the actual position of knowledge, often funnier than effective. But certain software makes it possible to trim work in certain technical translations, provided that one is ready to invest much time to his training and his personalization.

Test for example http://world.altavista.com or http://translate.google.com/translate_t and enter the address of the newspaper Die Zeit (http://www.diezeit.de) the suitable box (Website). Choose the languages (German => French) then click on “Relocates”. You will have a vague idea of what the articles say if you do not include/understand anything with German. For Italian, to test http://www.lastampa.it (languages Italian English =>)

Techniques

The techniques quoted below are not to learn by heart. It is simply about a classification of the principal methods making it possible to solve the problems of translation. Some are essential naturally, often because the word-with-word translation is impossible; others require more drive and know-how.

The Calque is not really a technique since it is about a word-with-word translation. Certain students prefer sometimes to forget it to produce texts more complicated than the original.

The loan consists in using in French the English term (e.g. City, British Museum)

The transposition consists in changing the grammatical category of a word or a word group.

  • SUBSTANTIVE VERB =>

what economists C => the control of the economists

  • SUBSTANTIVE => VERB

the assumption is that => one supposes that

  • VERB => PREPOSITION

the British First thinks that => according to British the Prime Minister

  • LAST PARTICIPLE => SUBSTANTIVE

improved tax collection => improvement of the tax collection

  • ADJECTIVAL => SUBSTANTIVE

the speculative property boom => the blaze of real estate speculation

  • ADJECTIVAL => ADVERB

cuts generated sufficient interest => caused sufficient interest

  • PREPOSITION => LAST PARTICIPLE

patient over the old off 40 => patients having exceeded the 40 years age

  • VERB => ADVERBIAL EXPRESSION

He strode into the house => it entered to great steps the house

  • ADVERB => VERB

He nearly got arrested => It failed to be made stop

The étoffement consists in adding implied elements. They can be a verb or certain link-words, more frequent in French than in English:

  • according to has carryforward in European Policy Analyst => according to a report/ratio published in European Policy Analyst
  • the big overseas economies => the economic great powers foreign .

The clarification consists in specifying what was implicit:

  • workers stay in jobs they haste for fear that has preexisting medical ineligible condition will make them for coverage elsewhere. => the employees keep an employment which they hate for fear their medical past prevents them from being covered in another company .

The lightening consists, contrary, to withdraw one or more useless terms:

  • whatever He does next, Neil Kinnock will C it in the best interest off his people => no matter what it makes , Neil Kinnock will do it in the superior interest of its fellow-citizens (future is enough “to translate” the “next”).

The Collocation consists in using a succession of terms often employed together in French to translate a similar expression into English:

  • He knew He would win has reputation => it knew that it would be made a name.

The coloring , subcategory of collocation, consists in translating an English term which appears too simple in French by a more usual or precise term:

  • The director said => the director indicated

The adaptation takes account of the difference between realities of each company to express the same effect.

  • Blend 1 tsp (=> “teaspoon X” or “teaspoonful”) white truffle paste and 15 DC (=> “cubic centimeter H”) off brandy => to mix a spoonful with coffee of white butter to truffles and 15 millilitres of brandy.

The modulation consists in changing the point of view to circumvent a problem:

  • war' S wrenching effects one ordinary lives => the devastators effects of the war on the common run of people.
  • John Major has promised there will Be “No hiding place from the challenge off competition” => John Major ensured that “the challenge of competition will strike everywhere”.
  • trade buyers cuts been rare ace ace hen' S teeth => the customers of the merchants was done as rare as the white blackbird.

The modification of Syntaxe consists in changing the word order to make the sentence more fluid:

  • By 2003, according to the latest EITO carryforward, dirty 17% off all will Be transacted over the Internet. => According to a report/ratio of the EITO, the Internet will see passing 17% of the world sales from here 2003.
  • Midland is likely to opposes the bid => it is probable that Midland will be opposed to the offer.

The recutting , which should not be systematic, consists in cutting a sentence which would be too long in French, for example to specify the verb as soon as possible.

The equivalence generally consists in finding the proverb corresponding in French.

The compensation aims at giving up a connotation, a Allusion, a register or a feature of humor on part of the text to defer it on another, in order to preserve the total tonality of origin.

Additional remarks

  • the principal error consists, in examination, to read too quickly. This generally led to:
    • to forget elements of the text
    • to leave in a completely erroneous direction on a sentence (even on all the text)

  • never not to leave a side a sentence which one does not manage to translate (to check that you did not forget a sentence). Never not to propose a translation which does not have any direction.

  • To check the logic of times of the verbs, like your orthography.

  • Capital S-tiny: in French, one does not put capital letters

    • at the names of the days of the week and the name of the months,
    • with the words of a title, except the first.
    • with the names of languages

See too

External bonds

  • Memorandum of English typography to the use of French-speaking writers

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