Translation of Bird Literature

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School of language and literature G4, Master’s Level

English Course Code: 4EN31E

Supervisor: Helena Frännhag Credits: 15

Examiner: Magnus Levin Date: June 9, 2010

Translation of Bird Literature

A Translation Study Focusing on the Translation of Attributive Adjectives and Bird Terminology

Johannes Rydström

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Abstract

This study investigates how best to solve difficulties that may arise when translating bird literature from English into Swedish. The focus of the study lies on the translation of attributive adjectives and bird terminology. The text chosen for the translation, which serves as the basis for the analysis, is the section on general habits of the Turdidae-family in the comprehensive work Handbook of the Birds of the World. Translation theory that proved helpful in the translation process and in the subsequent analysis was primarily that of Vinay and Darbelnet (1995, 2004), Nida (1964a) and Newmark (1981). In most cases a literal translation could be performed, both in regard to attributive adjectives and bird terminology, however, in some cases other translation procedures, such as transposition and equivalence, proved useful. Attributive adjectives that could not be translated literally, or that were preferred not to be translated literally, were translated through the use of transposition, into for instance: compound nouns, prepositional phrases, relative clauses and that-clauses. Bird terminology for which no suitable corresponding terminology could be found in the target language, was translated non-literally through the use of equivalence, into structures maintaining the equivalent semantic meaning in a natural way.

Key words: attributive adjectives, bird terminology, translation, transposition, equivalence

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1 Introduction

English is omnipresent in the world today; one estimate according to South African linguist Vivian De Klerk (2006:3) is that “approximately one-quarter of the world‟s population now uses English either as first, second or foreign language”. Considering this it may seem to some that translators working with translation from English to their target language (henceforth TL) are likely to become redundant. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Even if English is established as the number one international language there is, and most likely will continue to be, a vast demand for professionally translated texts of all kinds.

There is a significant difference between, on the one hand, having basic knowledge of English, and, on the other hand, understanding and – probably even more so – writing specialized texts.

A group of bird and wildlife enthusiasts have made it their mission to produce a handbook series comprehensively covering all the bird species in the world – Handbook of the Birds of the World (henceforth HBW). Josep del Hoyo, one of the chief editors, and initiator of the book series, said the following in an interview with BBC Wildlife Magazine:

We have a saying in Spain: you cannot love what you do not know. If a bird goes extinct before anyone has ever photographed it, or written about it, you do not really care. But once you have seen how beautiful and fascinating it is, you do care. We hope that now people have the facts, they will do something to save the species before it is too late. (Lynx homepage 2010-02-25)

After having read this I felt it would be fascinating and educational to translate a section of one of the handbooks. Furthermore, birds have been a great interest of mine since kindergarten. Most people who have a fascination with birds in Sweden are middle-aged, and middle-aged people are, as far as my experience goes, generally not as efficient in English as are younger generations. Bearing this in mind it is not surprising that I have noticed, through the years, that there is a demand for bird literature in Swedish.

This study will examine how best to solve difficulties encountered when translating a specialized bird text – focus will be on the translation of attributive adjectives and bird terminology. What difficulties are there and what translation procedures are best used in order to solve them? It is likely that, in order to choose the most suiting terminology and adjectives for the target text (henceforth TT) one has to have a deeper knowledge about birds in general.

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Preferably also about the particular species being described – or at least some deeper knowledge about other species belonging to the same genus. Considering this I think it helpful to have a genuine interest in birds when translating this sort of text.

1.1 Aim

As I have already touched upon, the aim of this study is to analyze how best to deal with difficulties encountered when translating a specialized bird text from English into Swedish.

The following aspects will be in focus:

 The translation of attributive adjectives

 The translation of specific bird terminology

1.2 Method

In order to assemble the material needed to perform the analysis, the first step was to translate the source text (henceforth ST). During the translation process, difficulties regarding the use of attributive adjectives and bird terminology, were marked and commented on. Extra care was taken in the translation process to make sure that the adjectives used in the TT really described the birds and their behavior in the same way as in the ST; this is not necessarily the case if a literal translation is performed. A great deal of the terminology used in the ST, and some of the attributive adjectives, are predominantly, or perhaps even exclusively, used when describing birds, which poses a further problem since corresponding words in the TL may not be listed in dictionaries. As a result, in order to get all the terminology right when translating the text for this study, frequent use had to be made of a variety of parallel texts dealing with birds. Furthermore, effort was put on maintaining the appealing mix of contagious enthusiasm and thorough knowledge which is so evident in the ST.

The Swedish names of birds not recorded in Europe were collected from the name list that the Swedish Ornithological Society (Sveriges Ornitologiska Förening – SOF) has provided electronically for all bird enthusiasts to use.

In addition to this, information was gathered from translation theorists, such as: Nida, Newmark, Munday and Vinay and Darbelnet, in order to establish a theoretical background on translation theory, which could then be used as a basis for the analysis.

1.3 Material

As mentioned previously, the primary material used was Handbook of the Birds of the World.

Vol. 10. Cuckoo-shrikes to Thrushes (2005), and the translation carried out for this study. The book is part of a vast project launched by the initiator Josep del Hoyo and Lynx, a publishing house in Barcelona. On Lynx‟s homepage the following can be read: “The Handbook of the

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Birds of the World is the first work ever to illustrate and deal in detail with all the living species of birds. When Volume 16 is published in 2011, it will be the first work to verbally and visually portray each member of an entire Class of the Animal Kingdom” (Lynx homepage 2010-02-25).

Since volume 10 in the HBW-series covers almost 900 pages this study naturally could not deal with the entire book. Several different bird families are described in the book.

However, only one is included in this study, namely Turdidae. The very extensive introduction to the Turdidae-family covers around 100 pages in the book so a limitation was made here to only translate the text under the subtitle general habits. This subsection covers about 15 pages of which the first 8 were included in this study.

The text in the HBW-series is written in a formal and scholarly but quite joyful manner, which makes the books a pleasant read at the same time as it makes them extremely highly appreciated among bird enthusiasts. Therefore, I have considered it crucial to try to maintain this style by using what Newmark calls a communicative translation, which “attempts to produce on its readers an effect as close as possible to that obtained on the readers of the original” (Newmark 1981:39). The expected readership of the TT is the Swedish equivalent to the global English-speaking readership of the ST, namely bird enthusiasts; therefore, additions have not been made to explain terminology that is common knowledge to those with an interest in birds.

2 Theoretical Background

This section includes a discussion on translation theory relevant to this study. Definitions of the terms adjective and terminology, which constitute an essential part of this essay, are also provided in some detail.

2.1 Translation Theory

In order to carry out a satisfactory translation one has to fully understand the ST and also have a thorough, fluent and, quite often, innovative command of the TL. However, innovativeness is not a goal to strive for in all situations; far from it. If, in any given situation, it is possible to perform a fully satisfactory literal translation, there is really no reason for the translator to be innovative in that particular case. Newmark argues that, as long as equivalent effect is preserved literal translation is “the only valid method of translation” (cited in Munday 2008:45).

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However, in most texts, the translator will come across instances where it is not possible to maintain all aspects of meaning in the ST through a literal translation. In addition to this, it is not unusual that a literal translation renders an ungrammatical TT text, or one with a different meaning. Furthermore, even if a translation to the TL is grammatically correct, and all aspects of semantic meaning are maintained, the TT may still look awkward, or unidiomatic, to the intended reader. If this is the case the pragmatic meaning is not fully maintained. Therefore, as Nida states, it is important to strive for dynamic equivalence; which basically means “achieving equivalent response” (cited in Munday 2008:42). In order to do this the translator constantly has to try to come up with “the closest natural equivalent to the source-language message” (Nida 1964a:166). There are four basic requirements, listed by Nida, which are essential to always keep in mind when translating, and which served as guidelines during the translation of the ST, these are: (i) “making sense”, (ii) “conveying the spirit and manner of the original”, (iii) “having a natural and easy way of expression”, and (iiii) “producing a similar response” (Nida 1964:164).

The analysis in this study is primarily based on Vinay and Darbelnet‟s model. Their model consists of two general translation strategies: direct translation and oblique translation (Munday 2008:56). These two general strategies in turn consist of a number of different translation procedures of which a number proved useful to this study.

The direct translation strategy is made up of borrowing, calque and literal translation (cited in Munday 2008:56). An example from the translation of a borrowing into Swedish from English is the bird name grandala, which is the same in both languages, and an example of a calque is the bird name green cochoa–grön cochoa, where one part – green – has been translated literally into Swedish. Literal translation, also called “word-for-word translation”

by Vinay and Darbelnet (cited in Munday 2008:57), can be used for single words, as diversity–mångfald, as well as for whole structures, as in: All birds suffer to some degree from disease–Alla fåglar lider till en viss mån av sjukdomar. This procedure is commonly used when translating adjectives as well, as in the following examples from the translation: larger–

större, colourful–färgglada, upright–upprätt.

Vinay and Darbelnet‟s oblique translation strategy is made up of four different translation procedures, which can be very helpful in instances where a literal translation is not possible, or would not render a satisfactory TT (Munday 2008:57f). Of the four translation procedures included in the oblique translation strategy, transposition and equivalence are the only ones dealt with in this study. Transposition is defined by Vinay and Darbelnet as “a change of one part of speech for another without changing the sense” (cited in Munday

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2008:57). However, even if Vinay and Darbelnet state that a transposition takes place when a word changes word class in a translation, it is not entirely explicit what changes more specifically between ST and TT should be referred to as transposition. However, in this study, the term transposition will cover all changes where a word in the ST has been translated into a word belonging to another word class, or into a different structure, in the TT, while still maintaining the semantic meaning of the ST.

An example of transposition from this study is the translation of metabolic rates into ämnesomsättningen. In this transposition an attributive adjective and a noun have been translated into a compound noun. An example of a different type is the translation of high- latitude into som finns på höga breddgrader. In this transposition an attributive adjective has been translated into a relative clause. Transposition can be used in several other ways as well, for instance, as in the way illustrated by the translation of dry-country into i torra områden. In this transposition an adjective has been translated into a prepositional phrase.

Furthermore, Vinay and Darbelnet divide transposition into obligatory and non- obligatory transposition (Munday 2008:59). They state that obligatory transposition is due to

“a difference between the two language systems”, while non-obligatory transposition is due to

“the translator‟s own style and preferences” (cited in Munday 2008:59). A common case of obligatory transposition is when an adjective and a noun in an English text are translated into a compound noun in a Swedish text, as in the following examples from the translation for this study: metabolic rates–ämnesomsättningen, passerine fashion–tättingvis, and tail movements–stjärtrörelser. An example of a non-obligatory transposition from the translation is: dew-laiden or rain-laiden–med dagg eller regndroppar. This is non-obligatory since it could also have been translated literally as daggtunga eller regntunga, but the translator considered the latter less idiomatic than the alternative with a transposition.

Equivalence is another translation procedure included in Vinay and Darbelnet‟s oblique translation strategy, and they define it as “cases where languages describe the same situation by different stylistic or structural means” (cited in Munday 2008:58). An example of this translation procedure from the translation for this study is: Some of the rock-thrushes–En del av arterna inom släktet Monticola. The TT expresses the same meaning as the ST, but by different stylistic and structural means, since there is no collective name in Swedish for the species belonging to the Latin genus Monticola. The use of a Latin term in the TT instead of a TL term makes the TT slightly more formal in style than the ST, but still this was considered the best possible translation. For further discussion of this, see example (21) in the analysis.

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2.2 Definitions

In this section definitions of the terms terminology and adjective are provided. Examples are also given for each of the two terms.

2.2.1 Definition of Adjective

In order to clarify what separates an attributive adjective from a predicative adjective, and what defines an adjective per se, a definition of adjectives in general is provided in this section.

Adjectives belong to the open word classes and these are constantly under change (Greenbaum & Quirk 1990:16). New words can enter a language, either through coinage or adoption, when needed, and words that have been part of a language can drop out of use when the cultural phenomena they represent become scarcer, or no longer exist (Greenbaum &

Quirk 1990:16). Keeping this in mind, it should come as no surprise that the vocabulary of adjectives differs between languages. In cases where the vocabulary differ, the translator will, from time to time, be forced to come up with another solution than the one in the ST, in order to transfer the meaning into the TT.

Adjectives are defined by Ljung & Ohlander (1992:148) as providing information about nouns or pronouns, e.g. about people, things and events. They also give the definition that adjectives answer the question what someone or something is like. Furthermore, they state that adjectives can describe any of the following: qualities, conditions, kind and origin (1992:148). Attributive adjectives stand in front of the noun or pronoun head, while predicative adjectives are positioned after the noun or pronoun head. Ljung & Ohlander give a wide definition of adjectives and this is the definition used in this study, which means that, for instance, population in population density is considered an attributive adjective since it has a classifying function – it describes what kind of density is referred to (1992:149).

Greenbaum & Quirk (1990:129) mention four features that are normally used to describe adjectives and their properties:

(a) They can have an attributive function, as in:

The beautiful swan, a white bird, giant birds (b) They can have a predicative function, as in:

That bird is weird

She thought the parrot funny

(c) They can be premodified by the intensifier very, as in:

That is a very noisy magpie

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(d) They can have comparative and superlative forms, as in:

That magpie is noisier

That magpie is the noisiest one

One has to keep in mind though, as Greenbaum and Quirk points out, that it is important to remember that “not all words that are traditionally regarded as adjectives possess all these four features” (1990:129).

2.2.2 Definition of Terminology

The definition of terminology in Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary is “the set of technical words or expressions used in a particular subject”. Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary gives a very similar definition, stating that terminology is “the technical or special terms used in business, art, science or special subject”, therefore, the specific words in the ST that deal with birds can be referred to as bird terminology. Many words that are close to everyday words for a bird enthusiast may be entirely perplexing to a person who is not initiated. This is true, of course, for all domain-specific terminology. However, this also means that it is absolutely essential to get the translation of this terminology right; otherwise not even enthusiasts will understand. Examples from the ST of specific bird terminology are:

anting, hooklets and turdids. The translation of these will be discussed in section 3.2.

3 Analysis

In this section a survey of some of the difficulties encountered in the process of translation, regarding attributive adjectives and bird terminology, is presented. An analysis of how these difficulties were solved is provided for each case mentioned. When an attributive adjective in the ST is not translated into the TT as an adjective, the change that has taken place between ST and TT is described by means of translation theory. Furthermore, bird terminology considered to be challenging during the translation process is discussed and the preferred translations are motivated. Alternative solutions are presented, where considered possible, for the translation of both attributive adjectives and bird terminology. Page number in the ST for the examples provided is given within brackets after each example.

3.1 Attributive Adjectives

In this section an overview and an analysis are presented of the different solutions used when transferring attributive adjectives from the ST into the TT. Most attributive adjectives could be translated literally into the TT, e.g. great–stora, unaerodynamic–oaerodynamiska, and

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physiological–fysiologiska. These translations will not be commented further since they did not pose a problem. Attributive adjectives can take on many forms when translated, sometimes the change is optional, but at other times the change is obligatory. The attributive adjectives of interest to this analysis are the ones that have changed structure when translated into the TT, in other words, cases where a transposition of some sort has taken place.

3.1.1 Attributive adjective and noun translated into compound noun

A transposition that was frequently used when translating was attributive adjective and noun translated into compound noun. A presentation of some cases where this solution was considered the optimal follows below, together with an analysis.

(1) …be explained in terms of their physiological attributes, including metabolic rates, air-sack capacity, water retention and so on… (545)

…kunna förklaras utifrån deras fysiologiska egenskaper – såsom ämnesomsättningen, luftsäckens kapacitet, förmågan att lagra vatten i kroppen, och så vidare…

(2) Feather maintenance is undertaken in typical passerine fashion…(546)

Skötsel av fjädrar sker på typiskt tättingvis…

(3) Non-territorial, thus mainly first year, European Robins roost communally in the period July–February, possibly chiefly as a mechanism enabling the individuals involved to assess the local population density…(548)

Rödhakar som inte hävdar revir, alltså framförallt de i sitt första levnadsår, övernattar gemensamt under perioden juli–februari. Möjligen är anledningen till detta framförallt att dessa individer ska kunna bilda sig en uppfattning om den lokala populationstätheten.

In examples (1), (2) and (3) above, the attributive adjectives metabolic, passerine, and population, together with the nouns that they classify, have been translated into compound nouns in the TT. These are examples of transpositions since in all examples there have been

“a change of one part of speech for another without changing the sense”, as defined by Vinay and Darbelnet (cited in Munday 2008:57). This type of change in grammatical structure is often the case when „classifying adjective + noun‟ in English is translated into Swedish, since the English „classifying adjective + noun‟ often correspond to compound nouns in Swedish, as stated by (Ljung & Ohlander 1992:149). Transpositions of the kind displayed in examples (2) and (3) above, are described as obligatory by Vinay and Darbelnet, since they are due to

“a difference between the two language systems” (cited in Munday 2008:59).

The transposition used for metabolic in (1) was not obligatory since metabolisk exists as an adjective in the TL (Norstedts Ord). However, when a Google search was run metabolisk

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omsättning and metabolisk förbränning together received only ten hits, while ämnesomsättning received more than ninety thousand hits. Since ämnesomsättning clearly is the only commonly used equivalent in the TL for metabolic rate this was the translation settled on.

In (2) it is not possible to keep passerine as an adjective since no such word exists in the TL. However, an alternative solution could have been to translate it as a noun in the genitive into på tättingars typiska vis. This would have worked as well since the meaning is maintained. However, it would have differed slightly more in structure from the ST than the translation settled on does, and the translator should have as aim “to render, as closely as the semantic and syntactic structures of the second language allow, the exact contextual meaning of the original” (Newmark 1981:39).

In (3) population cannot be translated as an adjective since there is no adjective in the TL that corresponds to the use in the ST. An alternative solution could have been to use a noun in the genitive, as in: den lokala populationens täthet. However, the genitive construction would be further from the original and not sound as natural as the compound noun translation. A Google search rendered one hundred hits for populationens täthet, while populationstäthet rendered more than two thousand hits. A frequently occurring topic among the hits for both alternatives was ecology.

3.1.2 Attributive adjective translated into prepositional phrase

Another transposition that was used on a number of occasions when translating was attributive adjective into prepositional phrase. A presentation of a few examples where this solution was considered the optimal follows, together with an analysis of each example presented.

(4) Some other members of the family form collective roosts or loose foraging groups…(545)

En del andra arter inom familjen samlas för att övernatta gemensamt eller för att söka föda i löst

sammansatta flockar…

In example (4) above the attributive adjective loose has been translated into a prepositional phrase in the TT. Loose in the ST could have been translated as one word into the TT, and without the use of a transposition; as in glesa födosöksflockar. Therefore, this transposition is a non-obligatory one as defined by Vinay and Darbelnet (Munday 2008:59). However, staying that close to the structure of the ST would have sounded a bit strained since then the compound noun födosöksflockar would have had to be used. This is by all means a possible construction in the TL, but a search for the word on Google received zero hits, and it does not

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come across as “the closest natural equivalent” (Nida 1964a:166). Therefore, it was decided that foraging and groups should not be translated into a compound noun, but instead foraging was translated into a verb phrase, söka föda – which then necessitated the use of a prepositional phrase in order to transfer the meaning of loose into the TT. Both i glesa or i löst sammansatta would work as parts of prepositional phrases in the translation, but the latter was decided on since it was considered to correspond more exactly to the semantic meaning of the ST. The reason for this is that flocks of the type described usually gather and disperse over and over again, and they consist of different individuals at different times of the day.

(5) The Northern Wheatear, despite its strangely short-tailed and hence rather unaerodynamic appearance, undertakes the longest habitual over-water flight known for any passerine… (545)

Trots sin egendomligt kortstjärtade, och därför oaerodynamiska, uppenbarelse så ger den vanliga stenskvättan sig ut på den längsta flyttningen över öppet vatten som någon tätting gör…

In example (5) above the attributive adjective over-water has been translated into a prepositional phrase in the TT. This transposition is obligatory since there is no adjective in the TL that corresponds to the use in the ST. Furthermore, it would not be possible to use a compound noun as a solution here since övervattensflygning, or the like, would not sound natural at all. However, in order to use the prepositional phrase över öppet vatten, other structural changes were necessary as well. In order for the prepositional phrase to fit into the structure in a natural way, the attributive adjective habitual had to be omitted as such and the noun it describes, flight, had to be translated into flyttningen – which is in fact a habitual flight for the birds that undertake it. No aspect of the semantic meaning is lost when using flyttningen to represent both habitual and flight when dealing with birds. The use of a prepositional phrase in this case was settled on since all semantic components could be maintained in a natural way.

(6) … cases are relatively few and mild, but may be linked with a higher incidence of leg loss in this species compared with others, as recorded in ringing programmes. (546)

… fallen är relativt få och oftast inte så allvarliga, men de kan hänga samman med det faktum att denna art, i jämförelse med andra, uppvisar en högre förekomst av skador på benen, något man noterat vid ringmärkning.

In (6) above the attributive adjective leg and the noun loss have been translated into a prepositional phrase in the TT. This transposition is obligatory since the attributive adjective leg cannot be translated as such into the TL. The first translation considered for leg loss, when

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dealing with this passage, was benavfall. This would have been a transposition as well, but into a compound noun instead of into a prepositional phrase. However, it was deemed that the semantic meaning of the ST was „the loss of a functioning leg‟, rather than „the loss of a leg as such‟. Therefore, this transposition was settled on since it was considered to maintain all the semantic components as well as “having a natural and easy form of expression” (Nida 1964a:166).

3.1.3 Attributive adjective translated into relative clause

Yet another transposition used on a number of occasions when translating was attributive adjective into relative clause. A presentation of a few examples where this solution was considered the optimal follows, together with an analysis of each example presented.

(7) Rock-haunting turdids such as the Blue Rock Thrush and the Variable

Wheatear withdraw to sheltered sites in cliffs…(547)

Trastar och småtrastar som håller till i steniga miljöer, till exempel blåtrast och orientstenskvätta, drar sig tillbaka till skyddade platser bland klippor

In example (7) above the attributive adjective rock-haunting has been translated into a relative clause in the TT. The transposition that has taken place is obligatory since rock-haunting cannot be kept as an attributive adjective in the TL, because no such word exists. A considered alternative without the use of a transposition was stenälskande, but that would sound profoundly odd and not carry the same semantic meaning. Furthermore, to use stenälskande in the TT would make the style more informal than that of the ST. One translation of haunt is “hålla till i” (Norstedts Ord), and that translation, incorporated into a relative clause, was considered to render the most natural and easy form of expression in a clear and explicit way, while still maintaining “the spirit and manner of the original” (Nida 1964a:164).

(8) Non-territorial, thus mainly first year, European Robins…(548)

Rödhakar som inte hävdar revir, alltså framförallt de i sitt första levnadsår…

In example (8) above the attributive adjective non-territorial has been translated into a relative clause in the TT. The transposition that has taken place is non-obligatory since territoriell exists as an adjective in the TL. However, to use icketerritoriella in the TT would probably sound unidiomatic to most native speakers. A non-territorial bird is a bird that does not keep a territory of its own; therefore, all semantic components are maintained through the transposition used in (8), and the use of a relative clause here was also considered to render

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the most natural translation of the ST. An alternative relative clause could have been som inte är territoriella, however, inte är territoriella received less hits on Google than did inte hävdar revir. Furthermore, there were hits referring to birds for inte hävdar revir, while there were no hits referring to birds for inte är territoriella.

(9) These are as much signatures as they are signals, and are fundamental components of the all-year display repertoires of the family, and, indeed, of all three of its subfamilies. (549)

Dessa fungerar lika mycket som signaturer som signaler och utgör oerhört viktiga delar av

uppvisningsrepertoaren – som sträcker sig över hela året – hos alla de tre underfamiljerna.

In example (9) above the attributive adjective all-year has been translated into a relative clause in the TT. The transposition that has taken place is obligatory since it is not possible to render the same meaning in the TL through the use of an adjective. At first, the Swedish attributive adjective årslånga was considered for the translation. However, that does not carry the same meaning, since it implies that whatever is going on will end after a year has passed, while all-year in the ST is interpreted to signify that the birds‟ display repertoires go on constantly, throughout their lives.

3.1.4 Attributive adjective and noun translated into that-clause

Another transposition used on a few occasions when translating was attributive adjective and noun into that-clause. A presentation of two examples where this solution was considered the optimal follows, together with an analysis of each example presented.

(10) The shorter the day, the longer the birds need to forage, and early arrival indicates high foraging success. (549)

Ju kortare dag, desto längre tid behöver fåglarna födosöka, och ett tidigt anländande tyder på att födosökandet har varit framgångsrikt.

In example (10) above the attributive adjectives high and foraging and the noun success have been translated into a that-clause in the TT. It is obligatory to use some kind of transposition here since it is not possible in the TL to maintain the meaning of foraging using an adjective.

High, in this instance, is possible to translate as an adjective into the TL using either stor or hög. However, then the attributive adjective foraging and the noun success would have had to be translated into a compound noun; as in födosöksframgång. So, even if the use of stor, to represent the adjective high, would have worked well, a transposition was obligatory in order to translate the attributive adjective foraging. The solution with a compound noun was considered to be somewhat strained and not the most idiomatic form.

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14 (11) …and, at the approach of a potential

rival, loosen and slightly lower their wings so as to reveal the white underwing-coverts as a warning of impending attack. (552)

…och när en potentiell rival närmar sig fäller de ut vingarna och hänger lätt med dem för att visa upp sina vita undre vingtäckare – ett tecken på att en attack är nära förestående.

In example (11) above the attributive adjective impending and the noun attack have been translated into a that-clause in the TT. The transposition in (11) is non-obligatory since it is possible to transfer the meaning of the attributive adjective impending into the TL using an adjective; as in ett tecken på en stundande attack or ett tecken på en nära förestående attack.

This would have worked also, however, the use of a that-clause was considered to be the most idiomatic alternative. More than twice as many hits were received for attack är nära förestående, as for stundande attack or nära förestående attack, when a Google search was run. The contexts of the hits for both alternatives were similar; namely, news reporting and politics. The transposition in (11) is thus optional and “due to the translator‟s own style and preferences”, as defined by Vinay and Darbelnet (Munday 2008:59).

3.1.5 Attributive adjective translated into Swedish with-construction

A further transposition used when translating was attributive adjective into Swedish with- construction. A presentation of two examples where this solution was considered the optimal follows, together with an analysis of each example.

(12) Many African robin-chats have been recorded as “bathing” in dew-laiden or rain-laiden foliage…(546)

Många av de afrikanska snårtrastarna har noterats ”bada” i lövverk med dagg eller regndroppar…

In example (12) above the attributive adjectives dew-laiden and rain-laiden have been translated into a Swedish with-construction in the TT. The transposition in (12) is non- obligatory since it would be possible to use the same construction in the TL as well, as in daggtyngda eller regntyngda, or daggstänkta eller regnstänkta. However, these alternative solutions were considered to be less natural ways of expression than the translation settled on.

The reason for this is that dagg is usually not so heavy that it can weigh down foliage, as daggtyngda would give the impression of, nor does it splash, as daggstänkta would give the impression of. These arguments do not exclude regntyngda and regnstänkta as translations though, since regn can in fact weigh down foliage, and it can also splash. However, in order

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for the text to be coordinated and have a good flow, the with-construction was used to transfer the meaning of both dew-laiden and rain-laiden.

(13) … they are not known ever to huddle together as smaller-bodied birds sometimes do…(549)

…det är inte känt att de någonsin skulle tränga ihop sig som en del arter med mindre kroppshydda ibland gör…

In example (13) above the attributive adjective smaller-bodied has been translated into a Swedish with-construction in the TT. The transposition is non-obligatory since it would be possible to render the same semantic meaning in the TL using an adjective for the translation of smaller-bodied. However, in order to maintain the full semantic meaning of the ST, an adjective such as småkroppade would have had to be used. This would not sound natural at all. Furthermore, to use an adjective such as simply små would not maintain the full semantic meaning of the ST. Therefore, in order to maintain all aspects of the semantic meaning while also producing on the readers “an effect as close as possible to that obtained on the readers of the original” (Newmark 1981:39) a transposition was considered the best alternative for the translation.

3.1.6 Attributive adjective translated into infinitive phrase

Another transposition used on a few occasions when translating was attributive adjective into infinitive phrase. An example from the translation is discussed below.

(14) The secrets of their survival in such adverse circumstances will one day be explained in terms of their

physiological attributes, including metabolic rates, air-sack capacity, water retention and so on…(545)

Hemligheten bakom deras överlevnad under så ogynnsamma förhållanden kommer i framtiden att kunna förklaras utifrån deras fysiologiska egenskaper – såsom ämnesomsättningen, luftsäckens kapacitet, förmågan att lagra vatten i kroppen, och så vidare…

In example (14) above ability was identified as an implicit head in the ST and translated as an explicit head into the TT. The noun phrase in the ST, with the attributive adjective water and the noun retention, has been translated into a noun postmodified by an infinitive phrase in the TT. It is obligatory to use a transposition here since the attributive adjective water cannot be translated as an adjective into the TL. An alternative transposition could have been to translate water retention into a compound noun, as in vattenretention or vattenkvarhållningsförmåga.

However, the former is a medical term and would not fit in with the style of the TT, and the latter would not sound like the “natural and easy form of expression” (Nida 1964a:164) which is strived for, even if the semantic meaning would be maintained in both.

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3.2 Bird terminology

In this section an overview and an analysis are presented of different solutions used when translating specific bird terminology from the ST into the TT. Most of the bird terminology in the ST exists in the TL as well. However, the terminology is usually not included in general dictionaries and in several cases it proved challenging to find the TL equivalents in parallel texts. The terminology found in parallel texts was translated accordingly by the use of a literal translation. Yet, in some instances TL terms equivalent in meaning to those in the ST, do not seem to exist. In cases where no equivalent TL terminology could be found, alternative solutions were constructed through the use of Vinay and Darbelnet‟s equivalence procedure.

Below, in (15), (16), (17) and (18) examples of terminology translated through the use of literal translation are presented.

(15) The diversity of thrushes and chats, as observed in their sizes, shapes and coloration, is repeated in their characters. (545)

Den mångfald som återfinns hos trastar och småtrastar vad gäller storlek, form och färgsättning är även påfallande vad gäller beteende.

When consulted, Norstedts (Ord.se) rendered an incorrect translation for chat, namely stenskvätta. The English name for stenskvätta is not chat, it is wheatear, which is evident in the ST, for instance. In the TL each genus of the Turdidae-family is normally referred to separately through the use of the name of the genus. However, since chats in the ST refers to several genera within the Turdidae-family that was not possible in this case. The TL term settled on for the translation of chats was found on SOF‟s (Swedish Ornithological Society) official website. The term småtrastar refers to the smaller members of the Turdidae-family, as does chats in the ST.

(16) … and the wing and tail feathers being pulled through the bill in the direction of the feather barbs in order to re- engage loose hooklets. (545)

…och ving- och stjärtfjädrar dras igenom näbben i fanstrålarnas riktning för att sammankoppla lösa hakar.

There was no translation for hooklet on Norstedts (Ord.se). Therefore, parallel texts were consulted and the proper term was found in Att Överleva Dagen. The author of the book, Susanne Håkansson, is a professor in zoological ecology and her use of hakar motivates the translation in (16).

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the back and rump to expose a large a feather surface as possible. (546)

… och burrar upp konturfjädrarna på ryggen och övergumpen, för att exponera så stor fjäderyta som möjligt.

A suitable translation for erect, one carrying the correct semantic meaning, could not be found on Norstedts (Ord.se). A Swedish equivalent term was found in Fågelguiden. This book is a widely used field guide among birdwatchers across Europe, and it is written by Swedes.

Furthermore, a Google search for burra upp received almost four thousand hits, commonly referring to animals and birds.

(18) Anting, thought to be a habit of inhibiting ectoparasites, is also common to all turdid

subfamilies…(546)

Ett annat vanligt beteende hos de olika underfamiljerna inom Turdidae är myrbadande, vilket tros vara en metod för att stävja ektoparasiter.

No translation for anting was available on Norstedts (Ord.se). Therefore, parallel texts were consulted and an equivalent term in the TL – myrbadande – was found in Kaxiga Fåglar. The author of the book, Staffan Ulfstrand, is a professor emeritus in zoological ecology and his use of the term motivates the translation in (18) above.

Vinay and Darblenet‟s translation procedure equivalence has been used when translating the examples below in (19), (20) and (21). The target text describes “the same situation by different stylistic or structural means” (cited in Munday 2008:58).

(19) On the ground, the smaller turdids mostly hop, but they sometimes walk, too. (545)

Mindre arter inom familjen Turdidae tar sig oftast fram på marken genom att hoppa, även om de ibland kan gå.

No term that could be used as a literal translation for turdids seems to exist in the TL. The construction used in (19) above was found in Alla Europas Fåglar i Färg – a widely used field guide among birdwatchers across Europe, written by Swedes. The semantic meaning of the ST is exactly maintained, despite the structural changes, and a natural translation has been rendered. Since, when using a wide definition of transposition, there is an overlap between the two translation procedures equivalence and transposition, the translation in (19) above can also be seen as a transposition – a noun has been translated into a noun and a prepositional phrase.

(20) The Northern Wheatear, despite its strangely short-tailed and hence rather unaerodynamic appearance, undertakes the longest habitual over-water flight

Trots sin egendomligt kortstjärtade, och därför oaerodynamiska, uppenbarelse så ger den vanliga stenskvättan sig ut på den längsta

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known for any passerine…(545) flyttningen över öppet vatten som någon tätting gör…

To translate the bird name Northern Wheatear in (20) above seemed straightforward at a first glance, since there is a well-established name in the TL for it. However, since the passage where the SL sentence occurs deals with wheatears in general – stenskvättor in Swedish – and since the Swedish name for Northern Wheatear is simply stenskvätta, it would be utterly confusing to use only this term. Using simply stenskvätta in the translation could very well be interpreted as though all members of the genus stenskvättor undertakes the long habitual flight mentioned. This is not true since several species of wheatear are resident, and never leave their home region (Svensson et. al 2009:286-289). The addition of vanlig as an attribute to stenskvätta can be considered an example of equivalence since the TT is aimed at Swedish bird enthusiasts, and the only species of wheatear that occur in Sweden is the Northern Wheatear. Therefore, there should be no room for misinterpretation when using vanlig stenskvätta in (20).

(21) Some of the rock-thrushes, including the Chestnut-bellied (Monticola rufiventris) and Blue-capped Rock- thrushes…(550)

En del av arterna inom släktet Monticola, till exempel rostbukad stentrast (Monticola rufiventris) och blåstrupig stenrast…

There are two species of thrush in Europe that belong to the genus Monticola; blåtrast and stentrast (Svensson et. al 2009:296). If rock-thruses had been translated into stentrastar, as in referring to all members of the genus, there would be room for confusion and misinterpretation, since not all members of the genus are called stentrastar in Swedish.

Furthermore, there seems to be no such use of stentrastar in the consulted parallel texts. In Swedish bird literature the Latin name is regularly used when referring to a genus. This use can be found in, for instance, Fågelguiden. The translation in (21) can be referred to as an example of Vinay and Darbelnet‟s equivalence procedure, since the same semantic meaning is expressed by different “stylistic and structural means” (cited in Munday 2008:58). When using a wide definition of transposition, there is an overlap between the two translation procedures equivalence and transposition, the translation in (21) above can, therefore, also be seen as a transposition – a noun has been translated into a noun and a prepositional phrase.

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4. Conclusion

The aim of this study was to analyze how best to deal with challenges encountered when translating a specialized bird text from English into Swedish. The ST selected for this study was the section on general habits of the Turdidae-family in the comprehensive work HBW.

The aspects focused on were the translation of attributive adjectives and bird terminology.

The above-mentioned aspects were analyzed in separate sections, and the analysis of the translation of attributive adjectives was further subdivided according to what structural and grammatical changes had taken place in the translation process from ST to TT. In most cases a literal translation was possible when translating, both in regard to attributive adjectives and bird terminology. However, there were a number of instances where attributive adjectives were translated through the use of Vinay and Darbelnet‟s transposition procedure, and there were also a few instances where bird terminology was translated through the use of the equivalence procedure described by these two theorists. Nida‟s and Newmark‟s general thoughts on dynamic equivalence and communicative translation respectively were also very helpful as guidelines when translating the ST.

As stated above, Vinay and Darbelnet‟s transposition procedure was used on a number of occasions when translating attributive adjectives, in cases where a literal translation was either not possible or not considered to be “the closest natural equivalent” (Nida 1964a:166).

The transpositions used were of several different types. Attributive adjectives translated into one of the following: compound noun, prepositional phrase, or relative clause, were transpositions used on a number of occasions. Other, less frequent, transpositions were attributive adjectives translated into a that-clause, a Swedish with-construction, or into an infinitive phrase. Several of the transpositions in the translation were obligatory given the language structure of the TL, while others were non-obligatory and, as Vinay and Darbelnet put it, due to “the translator‟s own style and preferences” (cited in Munday 2008:59). In a few cases an omission of an attributive adjective was considered the best solution in the translation process.

As for bird terminology, Vinay and Darbelnet‟s translation procedure equivalence was used on a few occasions. This was the case when a literal translation could not be found in the TL neither by checking dictionaries nor through parallel texts, or, as in (20), a literal translation existed but was deemed to open up for a misinterpretation of the TT.

This study can be seen as a contribution, although of course one of modest importance, to the area of translation studies. It would be interesting to examine how the translation performed for this study would be perceived by bird enthusiasts – the intended target

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readership. Since the study is limited it would also be interesting to investigate whether or not the general translation procedures used when translating the section on general habits of the Turdidae-family can be applied also when translating, for instance, the section on their taxonomy.

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List of References

Primary Source: del Hoyo, J., Elliot, A. & Christie, D.A. eds. 2005. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 10. Cuckoo-shrikes to Thrushes. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions

Secondary Sources:

De Klerk, Vivian. 2006. Corpus Linguistics and World Englishes, An Analysis of Xhosa English. King‟s Lynn, Norfolk: Biddles Ltd

Greenbaum, S., Quirk, R. 1990. A Student’s Grammar of the English Language. Essex, England: Pearson Education Limited

Ljung, M., Ohlander, S. 1992. Gleerups Engelska Grammatik (andra upplagan). Gleerups Utbildning AB

Lynx homepage. 2010. “About HBW” Available [online] at:

http://www.lynxeds.com/hbw/about-handbook-birds-world (Accessed on 2010-02-25)

Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2010. Available [online] at:

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/

Munday, J. 2008. Introducing Translation Studies: Theories and applications (second edition). Madison Ave, New York, NY: Routledge Newmark, P. 1981. Approaches to Translation. Oxford: Pergamon Press

Nida, E. 1964a. Toward a Science of Translating. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill Academic Publishers

Norstedts Ord. 2010. Available [online] at: http://www.ord.se/

Norstedts Svenska Ordbok. 1990. Norstedts Förlag AB

Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (7th edition). 2005. Oxford University Press SOF‟s (Sveriges Ornitologiska Förening) list of Swedish names for the birds of the world Svensson, L., Mullarney, K., Zetterström, D. 2009. Fågelguiden: Europas och

Medelhavsområdets fåglar i fält (andra upplagan). Stockholm: Bonnier Fakta Parallel Texts:

Bruun et. al. 1994. Alla Europas fåglar i färg (nionde upplagan). Bonniers Alba Bokförlag AB, Stockholm

Svensson, L., Mullarney, K., Zetterström, D. 2009. Fågelguiden: Europas och Medelhavsområdets fåglar i fält (andra upplagan). Stockholm: Bonnier Fakta

Sveriges Ornitologiska Förenings hemsida. 2010. Available [online] at: www.sofnet.org Östling, B., Ulfstrand, S. 2008. Kaxiga fåglar. Östlings Bokförlag Symposium AB Östling, B., Åkesson, S. 2009. Att överleva dagen. Östlings Bokförlag Symposium AB

Translation of Bird Literature

Translation of Bird Literature

A Translation Study Focusing on the Translation of Attributive Adjectives and Bird Terminology

Johannes Rydström

Abstract

Table of Contents

1 Introduction

2 Theoretical Background

3 Analysis

4. Conclusion

List of References