English
(pg 175)

Acceptability The degree of usability of a term in a given text, both in the SL and the TL.

Acrolectal Related to the highest prestige form of unaffected speech of a given region, in this case the Caribbean.

Adaptation The modification of a ST so that it suits a different purpose, readership or region when translated into the TT. It is one of the four types of oblique translation established by Vinay and Darbelnet, according to whom it also involves accounting for a cultural reference that does not exist in the target culture. Many book and film titles are archetypal examples of this procedure.

Adequacy In translation this term is used to refer to the relevance of a choice of word, structure, form, meaning or purpose. It is determined by the text type, its communicative goal and its context. For instance, a word like “adequacy” would be translated in different ways into Spanish: in finance “capital adequacy” would correspond to suficiencia monetaria whereas “payment adequacy” in a legal text can correspond to monto de integración adecuado.

Amplification The addition of elements in the TT that were not present in the ST. The reasons for such an addition may include: the need to adjust to the function of the TT (for example, to add “colour” to a text); the lack of an exact word to translate a culture-bound element (an explanation of aguadepanela, for instance) or the urge to clarify ambiguities.

Argot The characteristic use of language (especially regarding vocabulary) of a group. It is sometimes used so that people outside the group cannot understand what is being said. (See Technolect)

Borrowing One of Vinay and Darbelnet’s procedures entailing taking an expression from a SL and reproducing it without modification in the TT.

Calque Reproducing the form of the expression in the ST but replacing the elements with equivalents in the TL. basketball > baloncesto.

Communicative A communicative translation prioritises the effects produced by a TT, which should as far as possible be equivalent to those of the ST. Thus, surface meaning and grammar are relegated to a lower priority. In extreme cases a communicative translation may result from a change of purpose from the ST to the TT (a report>an advertisement). It is sometimes contrasted with “semantic translation.” Some of the characteristics of communicative translation are: it is reader-centred, pursues authorial intention, adapts and renders the thought and cultural content of the ST more accessible to the reader. It is also effect-oriented, the translator has to sacrifice the formal features of the ST. This is a very common procedure in the translation of jokes or puns, for instance.

Communicative paraphrase see Communicative and Paraphrase.

Compensation Accounting for a loss in one place in the ST at another place in the TT. The loss can be semantic or functional, as in the case of a metaphor, pun or sound effect.

Concision The ability to express as much as possible with few words. (see Information density)

Connotation The connotation of a word relates to the meanings it has other than the basic dictionary meaning.

Culture-bound A culture-bound term, word, or text is one that carries specific meaning relevant to the source culture with no direct equivalent in the target culture. When a word refers to a process or item that is used exclusively by the source culture, the most common ways to treat it are: (1) to transfer it directly as a loan word (especially in the case of foreignizing or exoticising translation); (2) to find a functional/communicative equivalent (a type of Adaptation); (3) to amplify (see Amplification) the meaning and connotations of the element, using brackets or a footnote depending of the text type.

Denotation The basic meaning of a word, as appears in a dictionary.

Dialect A regional variety of a language used by a specific group of people.

Domestication (domesticating translation) Adapting a text so that it is relevant and close to the target culture.

Equivalence the use of an expression that has a similar effect in the TT, without necessarily having any word-for-word correspondence

Explicitation Interpretation or clarification in the TT of the implicit (not overtly expressed) meaning of a word or phrase in the ST.

Foreignizing Translation The translation that keeps foreign elements as they appear in the ST so that the reader feels the text is a translation and comes from another culture or linguistic background.

Generalization A procedure used to make a TT element less specific than its ST counterpart, a common procedure for achieving greater economy of information.

Information density The ratio of information given to number of words used. Technical texts tend to have more Information Density than, for example, pedagogical ones.

Intertextuality The interrelationship between a text and other texts.

Literal Translation Translating word for word.

Mesolectal Pertaining to intermediate-prestige speech patterns and norms (as against low-prestige or “basilectal” and high-prestige or “Acrolectal” forms).

Modulation A change made in the TT that alters the semantics and point of view of the message. It covers a range of procedures such as changing active to passive or vice versa, reversing cause and effect, or turning a negative expression into a positive one.

Omission A part of the ST is not reflected in the TT. This may be for various reasons, amongst them: including the part would lead to confusion; the meaning of the text being translated is not altered if a part is omitted; the part not rendered in translation is easily deductible or creates repetition and redundancy.

Paraphrase A change in the way an idea is expressed, finding other words and structures to convey the same or similar meanings.

Register The way language is used as determined by factors such as the geographical provenance, social status, age and gender of the speaker, the degree of formality of the situation, etc.

Skopos In translation theory the skopos of a translation is equivalent to its purpose.

Social register See Register and Sociolect

Sociolect The way people tend to use language in a different way (choice of vocabulary, grammatical structures, etc.) depending on their social status.

Sociolectal Pertaining or belonging to Sociolect.

Tautology The repetition in a sentence of the same sense using different words.

Technolect The language particular to a field used by a specialized group of people. For instance, doctors talk to each other in the specific technolect of medicine, lawyers in that of the law, etc. (see Argot).

Textual immersion A step taken prior to translation proper in which the translator examines and analyses texts (particularly in the TT) that have the same structure or purpose as the one they are going to translate.

Translation loss This occurs when a term or concept cannot be translated with all its connotations into the TT, thus eliminating some of the meaning or intention of the ST. This happens most commonly with Culture-bound terms and expressions, as well as with puns and jokes.

Transposition A change of grammatical category or word class from the ST to the TT, as in “after lunch” > después de almorzar. Such a change may be optional or “fixed” (obligatory)