UNIT OF TRANSLATION

Singling out and defining a unit of translation is a problem widely discussed in Translation Studies.

According to R. Bell, a unit of translation is the smallest segment of a source language text which can be translated, as a whole, in isolation from other segments (as small as possible and as large as is necessary).15 Should we consider a word as a translation unit? Though there exists the notion of a word-for-word translation, the word can hardly be taken for a translation unit. First of all, this is because word borders are not always clear, especially in English. Sometimes a compound word is written in one element, sometimes it is hyphenated, or the two stems are written separately as a phrase: e.g., moonlight, fire-light, candle light. On the other hand, in oral speech it is difficult to single out separate words because they tend to fuse with each other into inseparable complexes: [‘wud3э 'ko:lim?] – according to the stress, there should be two words, while in written speech we can see four words: Would you call him?Furthermore, it is impossible to consider a phrase (word combination) as a translation unit, because its bounderies are also vague.Thus, it is not a language unit that should be considered in translation, but a discourse (speech) unit. A translation unit is a group of words united in speech by their meaning, rhythm and melody, i.e. it is a syntagm, or rhythmic and notional segment of speech. This definition of the unit of translation is process-oriented. If considered from a product-oriented point of view, it can be defined as the target-text unit that can be mapped onto a source-text unit.

The unit of translation is the smallest unit of the SL text, functioning in the process of translation more or less independently. The units of translation may be different for different languages and different kinds of translation. There are 2 kinds of translation: written and oral.

In written translation the unit of translation is usually represented by a sentence or sometimes 2 consecutive sentences – if one of them is structurally or semantically incomplete. These sentences usually contain all the information necessary to recreate the structure of a corresponding sentence in the TL. The sentence – is a speech unit which contains a more or less complete thought and that is why it may function more or less independently in the process of translation.

ex. After all they all have day jobs. Not so Seed. – Зрештою, у них у всіх є робота, окрім Сіда. (the 2nd sentence is incomplete)

Your presence at the meeting is not necessary. Nor is it desirable. – Ваша присутність на зустрічі є необов’язковою і навіть небажаною.

In oral translation, especially synchronized translation, the unit of translation is usually represented by a sense group (a group of words, which expresses the main idea) or a sentence, especially if elements important for understanding are located at the end of the sentence.

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