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Linking wor(l)ds – Sara Laviosa
1. Phrases 1
1. Phrases
Languages are made up of word units that work as wholes in different levels (word level, phrase level, clause level, sentence level, discourse level). Words forming a syntactic unit are called phrases, which are named after the main element, that is to say the head (ex. “the house” is a noun phrase).
1.1. Noun phrases (NP)
A noun phrase is made up of:
- Premodification: determiners (ex. the, a, this, some), adjectives (ex. the white car), nouns with an adjectival function (ex. the sport car).
- Head noun: it is the main element of the phrase and decides on verb agreement (ex. the car is expensive).
- Postmodification: prepositional phrases (ex. the house on the hill), finite clauses (ex. the woman I spoke to), non-finite clauses (ex. the woman waiting outside), adverbs (ex. my trip back home), adjectives (ex. something unusual). One way to identify a noun phrase is to replace it with a pronoun (ex. I’m reading an interesting book => I’m reading it). If the clause still makes sense, the replaced constituents (ex. an interesting book) are part of a NP. NP patterns characterise the style of different registers, such as the technical writing one (characterised by premodifiers and lexically dense NPs) or the legal one (full of postmodifications).
1.2. Pronoun phrases (pro-NP)
This sub-class of the NP is characterised by a pronoun as head, which is often followed by a relative clause. As a consequence, the pro-NPs have a quite closed structure (ex. those who left their country / poor me).
2. Translation problems
When translating from English into Italian it may be necessary to change the structure of NPs: English uses a lot of premodifiers (ex. the exploding divorce rate), while Italian prefers postmodifiers (ex. l’impennata del tasso di divorzio), such as clauses or prepositional phrases, that make the sense of the English expression clear and explicit. Instead, when translating from Italian into English it is very common to find it difficult to respect the correct order of premodifiers: opinion (ex. pleasant), size (ex. big), other qualities (ex. modern), age (ex. new), shape (ex. squared), temperature (ex. hot), colour (ex. white), pattern (ex. striped), origin (ex. Asian), material (ex. limestone), purpose/type (ex. swimming), head noun.
3. Translation tasks: “Brompton’s Store, customer accounts”
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- Technical Support Information : it is a lexically dense phrase, which in English requires premodification, while in Italian postmodification is needed
AVVISO DI SUPPORTO TECNICO PER I
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- Informazioni sull’assistenza tecnica :
4. Digital workbook
4.1. Pronoun and noun phrases
Village Water is changing lives in Africa through safe water and sanitation Over the last ten years (1) we (Village Water) have supported more than 150,000 people in 540 villages and 20 schools in Western Province, Zambia. (2)We (Village Water) work in partnership with Village Water Zambia, an independent Zambian Non-Governmental Organisation. The team comprises a director, accountant, provincial manager and six field staff (3) who (a director, accountant, provincial manager, six field staff) lead the community training sessions. Once a community has decided that (4) they (a community) want to work with (5) us (Village Water, Village Water Zambia), a water committee is set. Villagers are encouraged to take part in project activities and to contribute a small fee for future pump repairs. During hygiene and sanitation training sessions villagers come to understand the changes (6) they (villagers) need to make and how (7) these (the changes) will improve their lives. Using locally available materials, each household then builds a latrine with hand washing point, a bath shelter and other structures to improve their own hygiene and the general cleanliness of the village.
4.2. Mood
It indicates the attitude of the speaker towards his utterance. There are four moods:
- Indicative: it is used to indicate facts, has tenses and is the most common one.
- Imperative: it is used to give commands and instructions.
- Subjunctive: it is used to express a wish, a hope or uncertainty, and has two tenses (present and past). It normally occurs in subordinates of three types: if clauses (ex. if I were in Scotland, I would like to visit Edinburgh), wishes that won’t come true (ex. I wish Stephen were here now), following verbs of asking and suggesting (ex. I asked that Peter be present today).
- Conditional: it is used to express polite wishes, requests and preferences (ex. what would you like to drink?), but also unreal hypothetical statements (ex. I would buy myself a flat if I were rich), in reported speech (ex. she said she would leave soon) and to express a future in the past (ex. they would fight for years before being free).
4.3. Voice
It refers to the relationship between the verb and its subject. It can be:
- Active: the subject performs the action (ex. the employees greeted the manager politely).
- Passive: the subject is affected by the performed action (ex. the manager was greeted politely). It is often used in official documents and scientific writing.
2. Translation problems
A good translator must focus on the discrepancies between English and Italian concerning the indicative mood: the progressive aspect doesn’t apply to perfective tenses; Italian has two different past simple tenses (imperfetto and passato remoto) and past perfect simple tenses (trapassato prossimo and trapassato remoto). So, the translator has to assess whether an action in the present perfect (or past perfect, or future perfect) has been in progress up to the present (or a certain time in the past, or a certain time in the future) or is completed. He also has to decide whether to use the passato (or trapassato) remoto or the imperfetto (or trapassato prossimo). Moreover, Italian speakers tend to use the present perfect to refer to an action that is still linked to the present for subjective reasons (rather than temporal ones), and there are some time expressions which tend to be used with just one tense (ex. stamattina sono andato al mare => this morning I was / have been to the sea; in English it depends on whether the time of the action is finished or not).
3. Translation tasks: “Oranges are not the only fruit”
Like most people I lived for a long time with my mother and father. My father liked to watch the wrestling, my mother liked to wrestle; it didn’t matter what. She was in the white corner and that was that. She hung out the largest sheet on the windiest days. She wanted the Mormons to knock on the door. At the election time in a Labour mill town she put a picture of the Conservative candidate in the window. some verbs in past simple have been translated with a “passato remoto” in Italian, while others with a “imperfetto” Come la maggior parte delle persone, ho vissuto a lungo con mia madre e mio padre. A mio padre piaceva guardare la lotta libera, a mia madre piaceva fare la lotta; non importava quale. Lei era dalla parte dei giusti e poche storie. Stendeva le lenzuola più grandi nelle giornate più ventose. Voleva che i mormoni bussassero alla porta. Durante le elezioni, in una cittadina operaia laburista metteva alla finestra la foto del candidato conservatore.
4. Digital workbook
4.1. Verb phrases
(1) Give the gift of water this Christmas £5 could support one person with hygiene education. £10 could support one person with safe water. £25 could support one person with safe water, sanitation and hygiene education. (2) Donate this Christmas and (3) change someone's life. Safe water, sanitation and hygiene are the building blocks of health. Being healthier means children can attend school more often and adults have more time to spend on providing for their families, helping them to break the cycle of poverty. Please (4) make a donation online today and then (5) download a voucher to give to your loved one.
3. Translation problems
When we translate specialized texts from English to Italian, we use transpositions (translation procedures adopted to deal with a lexical or morpho-syntactic mismatch). Some of these changes are due to systematic differences between the source and the target language, while others tend to occur in order to adhere to the stylistic preferences exhibited by Italian scientific and technical writing, which is more formal, more abstract, and more verbose than English. These procedures are used in reverse when translating from Italian to English. Transpositions from English to Italian:
- NP with premodification->NP with premodification and postmodification: Ex. The sources of this urban crisis are generally attributed to the continuing post-industrial transformations->le cui origini si attribuiscono generalmente alle continue trasformazioni di tali inner cities avvenute nel periodo post-industriale
- NP with premodification->NP with postmodification: Ex. Internet connection expenses->spese di connessione ad Internet
- VP+NP->NP: EX. Have questions? Have problems? Please try our Internet On-line Support-> Domande? Problemi? Contattate il nostro servizio di assistenza in linea su Internet
- AP->NP: Ex. Improved work/life balance for the employees->un miglioramento del rapporto tra il lavoro e la qualità della vita per I dipendenti.
- Prepositions + VP with a lexical verb->preposition + VP with an empty verb + PP: Ex- In carrying out its job, the IMF reflects the technocratic approach of the finance ministries and cultural banks that govern it-> nel portare a compimento il suo compito l’FMI riflette l’approccio tecnocratico dei ministri finanziari e delle banche centrali che lo governano.
- Prepostions + VP in the – ing form-> NP: EX. Registering your product-> registrazione del prodotto.
4. Translation tasks: “European project”
Although the textile industry is in decline, the North West’s knitwear sector has increased its gross output over the last 10 years creating additional employment. This has been due to the ability of the sector’s SMEs to keep up to date in rapid advances in electronic flat bed knitting technology. Transposition (a noun phrase with a premodification and postmodification has been diffused and reordered) Sebbene l’industria tessile sia in declino, nel Nord Ovest il settore della maglieria ha, negli ultimi 10 anni, aumentato la sua produzione lorda, creando nuovi posti di lavoro. Tale traguardo si è raggiunto grazie al fatto che le PMI che operano in questo settore sono state in grado di tenersi aggiornate sui rapidi progressi tecnologici realizzati nell’ambito della maglieria rettilinea.
5. Digital workbook
5.1. Adjective phrases in poetry
TRIONFO D’ESTATE
Esagerati campi di grano e sgargianti fiori paonazzi di caldo e di sole avvolgono in ricchi velluti dorati valli e colline pani fragranti trionfo d’estate.
5.2. Translating adjective phrases in poetry
TRIUMPH OF SUMMER
Huge fields of wheat and gaudy purple flowers scorched by the heat and the sun cover the valleys and hills with rich golden velvet fragrant loaves of bread triumph of summer.
4. Grammatical functions 1
There are 5 grammatical functions: subject, verb, object, complement and adverb. Each of them expresses a particular kind of meaning in the sentence and occupies one or more specifical positions. They can be “filled in” by phrases or subordinate clauses.
1. Subject and verb
The Subject ( S ) is the theme we are talking about. It is the doer of the action (e.g. Mark eats ), or the undergoer too (e.g. Mark is good-looking ). Most of the sentences obligatorily need the S , and put it before the lexical verb in statements ( He is here ), or after a lexical or first auxiliary verb in interrogations ( Is he here? ). The Subject determines the verb number in the present tense ( He drives ), and can be filled in by noun and pronoun phrases ( This is awesome ), or by subordinate clauses too ( What I wanted to tell you was this ). Sentences introduced by “it” + be + adjective/noun phrases OR a verb in the passive form have 2 subject slots. The 1 st^ one, filled in by it , is known as preparatory, dummy, or anticipatory subject ; the 2nd^ one, filled in by finite or non-finite subordinate clauses, is the extraposed subject ( eSu ): e.g. It (1st) was a big mistake (2nd) for me to come here. The Verb ( V ) conveys meanings of actions, events, processes, sensations, or states of being. It is obligatory in almost every sentence. The Verb grammatical function must be filled in by a verb phrase, whose lexical verb determines the occurrence of Object, Complement and Adverb; lexical verbs are in facts classified according to whether or not they’re followed by one or more complements (transitive, intransitive, ditransitive, complex-transitive)
2. Object
We have 2 types of Object (O ): direct Object ( dO ) is the person or thing directly affected by the action, and its slot can be filled in by noun phrases ( I love milk ) or pronoun phrases ( I love it ); indirect Object ( iO ) is the recipient of the action, and its slot can be filled in by noun phrases ( I gave Roger a hug ), pronoun phrases ( I gave him a hug ) and preposition phrases (introduced by for or to: I gave a hug to Roger ). Transitive verbs can be used in the passive voice (e.g. I wrote a letter - > A letter was written by me ), making the former Object (a letter) the new Subject, and the former Subject (I) the Agent. In order to do that, we need to use the verb “ to be ” with the past participle of the lexical verb, and we need to put the preposition “by” before the former Subject, in order to make it become the Agent. Very often, the Agent can be omitted because it is obvious, unknown, or unimportant. The passive voice is used more while writing than while speaking, it is more formal and technical, and allows to focus more on the action, rather than the doer. Two particular kind of lexical verbs can also be mono-transitive and still be used in the passive voice, that is the prepositional verbs (followed by a preposition, ex. Look at ) or phrasal verbs (with a two-word phrase, like turn down , or a three-word phrase, like look forward to ). Most of three-word phrasal verbs are intransitive. In active voice, mono-transitive phrasal verbs allow two sentence patterns ( I turn down the offer OR I turn the offer down ), but when the dO is a pronoun, it goes before the preposition ( I turn it down ).
3. Translation problems
When it comes to English and Italian specialised registers, an objective and impersonal style is used, through the use of passive forms in English, and through passive constructions with the auxiliaries essere or venire and the si construction ( si passivante ) in Italian.
4. Translation tasks: “AGFAnet Print Service”
AGFAnet Print Service AGFAnet Print Service Software Included with Your Scanner How to order high quality prints via the internet? AGFAnet Print Service delivers your digital images on real photo paper at your doorstep! First install the AGFAnet Print Service software. During the installation of ScanWise a dialogue appears asking whether you would like to install AGFAnet Print Service. Click ‘Yes, install the AGFAnet Print Service software now’. AGFAnet Print Service will be installed and the button will appear on your screen. To use the AGFAnet Print Service, double-click the button and follow the instructions on your screen. transposition into a construction with the “si passivante” (impersonal constructions) active voice into passive voice AGFAnet Print Service Software AGFAnet Print Service fornito con lo scanner Come ordinare stampe di alta qualità su Internet? AGFAnet Print Service: immagini digitali su carta fotografica direttamente a casa vostra! Per prima cosa si installa il software AGFAnet Print Service. Durante l’installazione di ScanWise apparirà una finestra di dialogo nella quale si chiede se si desidera installare AGFAnet Print Service. Fare clic sull’opzione “Sì, installa AGFAnet ora”. AGFAnet Print Service sarà installato ed il pulsante sarà visualizzato sullo schermo. Per usare AGFAnet Print Service, fare doppio clic sul pulsante e seguire le istruzioni riportate sullo schermo.
5. Digital workbook
5.1. Verb tense and aspect
The Tea Company with a Difference At Clipper, (1) we’ve been making magical teas in Dorset since 1984. From small beginnings in a Dorset kitchen, we are now the 6th biggest tea company in the UK. We believe that every cup of tea is important, so we strive to deliver the best tasting tea, using the highest quality ingredients, always ethically sourced. Find out more about the magic that makes Clipper taste so good.
5. Grammatical functions 2
1. Complement
We have two types of Complement (C):
- the subject Complement (sC) describing the Subject and following intensive (also called copular) verbs , like to be, become, seem. Ex. She is teacher.
- the object Complement (oC) describing the Object and following complex-transitive verbs , such as to find, consider, elect. Ex. We elected him our president. The verb to be - like other copular verbs- can be inserted between the direct Object and the oC: ex. We chose him to be our president. The Complement slot can be filled in by a noun phrase ( I’m a teacher ), pronoun phrase ( That’s me ) or adjective phrase ( This makes you rich ), or by finite or non-finite subordinate clauses ( That’s what I like ).
2. Adverbial
The Adverbial (A) adds information about the situation expressed through the Verb (V); they could specify the time (I get up at 7.00), duration, frequency, place, manner, reason… they tend to occur at the end of the sentence, but adverbials of time can occur at the beginning (sometimes preverbally), and those of manner frequently preverbally, being called adjunct Adverbials ( aA ). Those focusing on the speaker’s personal attitude (ex. Honestly ) are called disjunct Adverbials ( dA ), occurring normally at the beginning of the sentence. The conjunct Adverbials ( cA ) instead link two clauses together: ex. I was late last night, however I managed to catch the train on time. The Adverbial slot can be filled in by an adverbial phrase ( They lived happily ), a prepositional phrase ( I arrived on Sunday morning ) or a noun phrase ( I call her every night ), or by finite or non- finite subordinate clauses ( Call me as soon as you get there ).
3. Translation problems
When it comes to translating sentences with Adverbials, re-ordering may be necessary. The English word order is less flexible than the Italian one, so that Italian translators may need to re- order English Adverbials in the sentence, in order to make it more readable.
4. Translation tasks: “The Tower of London”
What to see The Crown Jewels – The Tower of London has been home to the world famous British Crown Jewels since the beginning of the 14th^ century. Still used by the Queen and her family today, the Crown Jewels are an essential part of your visit. (See also The Wall Walk – the related Crowns and Diamonds exhibition). The Medieval Palace – The Tower of London was a residence for the kings and queens of England as well as being a fortress. The rooms are shown as they may have appeared in the reign of Edward I (1272-1307). The Wall Walk – The Tower of London is surrounded by section provides an opportunity to see how the wall towers have been used since the 13th^ century. The Martin Tower This tower houses an exhibition, ‘Crowns and Diamonds’: the making of the Crown Jewels’ (in collaboration with De Beers). The White Tower – Begun in the reign of William the Conqueror (1066-1087), the White Tower marks the start of the Tower of London’s history. Tower Green – Some of the Tower’s most famous prisoners were held around Tower Green including Sir Walter Ralegh, kept in the Bloody Tower for 13 years. At the scaffold site two of Henry VIII’s wives, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, were beheaded. The Chapel Royal of St Peter and Vincula is open for public worship on Sunday mornings (except in August). Otherwise the Chapel is open to the public only as part of the main Yeoman Warder guided tour, or from approximately one hour before Tower closing time. Western Entrance & Water Lane – As you enter through the West Gate you can get an impression of how the Tower Some re-ordering has been made, according to Italian grammatical rules. Visita della Torre The Crown Jewels – I Gioielli della Corona – Sin dagli inizi del XIV secolo la Torre di Londra è sede dei celeberrimi Gioielli della Corona inglese, indossati tuttora dalla regina e dalla famiglia reale, che costituiscono una parte essenziale della visita. (Visitare anche la mostra in tema: “Corone e diamanti”, di cui al paragrafo “The Wall Walk”). The Medieval Palace – Il Quartiere Medievale
- Oltre la fortezza, la Torre di Londra era anche residenza dei sovrani d’Inghilterra. Questi ambienti sono allestiti nello stile in voga durante il regno di Edoardo I (1272- 1307). The Wall Walk – Il Cammino di Ronda – La Torre di Londra è circondata da una serie di mura difensive massicce. La visita del Cammino di Ronda interessa le torri della sezione orientale delle mura, ciascuna adibita a una funzione particolare a partire dal XIII secolo. La Torre di Martin – Questa torre ospita la mostra: “Corone e diamanti: la creazione dei Gioielli della corona” (organizzata in collaborazione con la società De Beers). The White Tower – La Torre Bianca – Nucleo iniziale della Torre di Londra, venne costruita da Guglielmo il Conquistatore (1066-1087). Tower Green – Il Giardino della Torre – Le celle che si affacciano sul Giardino della Torre ospitarono alcuni dei prigionieri più celebri, come sir Walter Ralegh, che trascorse 13 anni nella Torre Maledetta. Nel sito del patibolo furono decapitate due delle mogli di Enrico VIII: Anna Bolena e Catherine Howard. La cappella reale di San Pietro ad vincula è aperta al pubblico ogni domenica mattina, in occasione dei servizi religiosi (tranne agosto). Durante gli altri giorni la cappella può essere visitata solamente nel corso della visita guidata dalle guardie Yeoman, oppure circa un’ora prima della chiusura della Torre. Western Entrance & Water Lane – L’Entrata Occidentale e il Vicolo dell’Acqua – Questo ingresso fornisce un esempio dei sistemi
5.2. Translating promotional texts
Un giorno tutto questo sara ancora tuo. - > One day all this will still be yours. The pronoun phrase “one day” performs the function of Adverbial. The pronoun phrase “all this” performs the function of Subject. The finite verb phrase “will be” performs the function of Verb. The adverb phrase “still” performs the function of Adverbial. The pronoun phrase “yours” performs the function of Complement. The structure of this sentence is: A + S + Modal V + A + Primary V + C. The procedure of reordering of the adverb phrase “still” has been adopted for grammatical accuracy. Pensare a te stesso e un gesto d’amore. - > Taking care of yourself is an act of kindness. The non-finite verb phrase in the - ing form “taking care of yourself” performs the function of Subject. The finite verb phrase “is” performs the function of Verb. The noun phrase “an act of kindness” performs the function of Complement. The structure of this sentence is: S + Primary V + C. The verb “pensare” has been rendered with “take care” instead of the direct equivalent “think” for semantic accuracy. The infinitive form “pensare” has been rendered with the - ing form “taking care” for grammatical accuracy. The object of the prepositional phrase “d’amore” has been rendered with “kindness” instead of the direct equivalent “love” because the noun phrase “an act of love” evokes Alan Gibbons’ real-life thriller ^4/? Act of Jove, published by The Orion Publishing Group in 2011. Taking care of yourself is caring about your loved ones. In this translation the noun phrase “un gesto d’amore” has been rendered with the verb phrase “caring” followed by the prepositional phrase “about your loved ones”. This kind of amplification reveals the identity of the intended receivers of a “gesto d’amore” in the source text. Moreover, the reiteration o f “care” and “caring” creates a stronger lexical cohesive link between Subject and Complement. The structure of this sentence is: S + Primary V + C. Caring about yourself is caring about your loved ones. In this translation the repetition of the non-finite verb phrase in the - ing form creates a very strong lexical cohesive link between Subject and Complement. The structure of this sentence is: S + Primary V + C. Caring about yourself is caring about your nearest and dearest. In this translation the idiomatic expression “your nearest and dearest” clearly identifies the intended receivers of a “gesto d’amore” in the source text. These are the members of your family, especially those you live with or are very involved with. The structure of this sentence is: S + Primary V + C.
6. Clauses
1. Main clauses
A clause is a structure of language normally containing one obligatory slot, the Verb. There are two types of clause: main (or independent) clause and subordinate (or dependent) clause. A main clause can stand alone as a complete sentence such as Come in! A sentence made up of a single clause is called a simple sentence. Main clauses can be of four types: declarative, interrogative, imperative and exclamative. Declarative clauses are normally characterized by seven different types of structure as follow:
- S +V
- S + V +aC
- S + V + sC
- S + V + dO
- S + V + dO + aA
- S + V + iO + dO
- S + V + dO + oC The function of declarative clauses is to make something known to the reader or listener. Interrogative inversion consists in placing the subject after the primary auxiliaries be and have occurring as lexical verbs or after the dummy auxiliary verb do. The typical function of interrogative clauses is to ask questions in order to seek information about something. Interrogative clauses are classified as:
- Yes/ no questions
- Wh-questions
- Alternative questions
- Tag questions
- Reply questions
- Rhetorical questions
- Exclamatory questions A yes/no questions can be answered with either yes or no. Sometimes a yes/no question has the structure of a declarative clause with a question mark and it is pronounced with a questioning tone of voice: You can speak French? A wh-question can be answered in many different possible ways and begins with a wh-word whose grammatical function determines whether subject-auxiliary inversion can or cannot occur:
- Who(m) (interrogative pronouns): Who’s she?
- Which, whose, what (interrogative pronouns and determiners): which is your favourite actor?
- Where, when, why, how (interrogative adverbs): Where they parked their car? An alternative question can be answered in two or more alternative ways according to the options posed in the question. It always contains the conjunction or and has the structure of a yes/no question. Would you like tea or coffee? Tea, please/Coffee please. A tag question is a short yes/no question placed at the end of a declarative or an imperative clause. When the declarative clause is affirmative the tag question is negative and vice-versa. When the imperative clause is positive the tag question is formed with the auxiliar will/would, can/can’t/could, shall. When the imperative clause is negative the tag question is formed with will.
speaker id talking about( I wrote to the lady who owns the hotel ). A non-defining relative clause adds information about a person or thing already identified by the speaker. It never begins with that or why, and it is often set off by commas ( Sonia is studying business economics, which I know very little about ). A free relative clause begins with: who, which, where and can have the function of subject, direct object, complement, etc ( she guessed which was your favourite drinks ). An indefinite relative clause begins with the indefinite relative pronouns who or whatever and have the function of subject, direct/indirect object, etc. ( the managers may employ who(m) ever they choose ). A sential relative clause with which and refers back to the facts or ideas contains in the whole sentence before ( she offered to help me, which was very kind of her ). Indirect questions are a type of indirect speech. They begin with conjunctions, interrogative pronouns, interrogative adverbs, etc. They can have the function of direct object or subject complement ( Please ask the hostess why the train is so late ).
- Non-finite subordinate clause s do not normally contain a subject as they are built around a verb in a non-finite form. There are 3 main types of non-finite subordinate clause: bare infinitive, to infinitive, for-infinitive, wh-infinitive, - ing participle and – en participle. A bare infinite clause is usually the postmodifier in a noun phrase which has the function of direct object after let, make, see, hear, feel. A bare infinitive clause indicates that what has been seen or hears is the entire action ( We saw Mark leave the office in a hurry ) A to-infinitive clause can have the function of postmodifier in a noun or adjective phrase and the function of direct object, subject complement, adverbial, or extraposed subject within the sentence ( To be honest, I don’t get on very well with my office manager ). Moreover, they have the function of direct object after reporting verbs and in this case, they express the indirect speech. A for-infinitive clause begins with for followed by the object of the preposition. It can have the function of postmodifier in an adjective or noun phrase and the function of extraposed subject in sentences with the preparatory subject it + the primary verb be + adjective ( It was a mistake for me to come to the office today ). Wh-infinitive clauses are of two types: non-finite indirect question and non-finite free relative. The first one can have the function of direct object or subject complement within the sentence and begins with whether, which, whose ( The question is which/whose house to rent ). The last one can have the function of subject or direct object within the sentence and begins who(m), which, whose, what, when, etc ( What to do with her uncle’s money was a big problem ). An – ing participle clause can have the function of postmodifier in a noun phrase and the function of subject, object of the preposition, or adverbial within the sentence ( We look forward to hearing from you and thank you in advance for your cooperation ). An – en participle clause can have the function of postmodifier in a noun phrase and the function of subject complement or adverbial within the sentence ( our cat remained hidden under the bed for two days ).
3. Translation problems
English tends to prefer parataxis to create multiple sentences, while Italian tends to use hypotaxis to rend the text more formal. English multiple sentences are normally shorter in length and contains fewer clause. The most frequent translation strategies used by translator (when translate from English to Italian) are:
- Two complex sentence= compound-complex sentence
- Parataxis= hypotaxis
- Simple sentence= complex sentence
- Two complex sentences= compound- complex sentence
- Two sentences: complex and simple= compound-complex sentences
4. Translation tasks: “Economy, Issue no. 15”
The main attraction of the art market, apart from the pleasure of having the works around, is its low correlation with other financial assets and its diversifying effect on an investment portfolio. Despite the recent collapse of many financial markets, the fine-art market has stayed buoyant over the past three years, though market volumes have fallen. This year some top art even fetched record prices. In June the view illustrated above of Krumau, a town in Bohemia, painted by Egon Schiele in 1916 , sold at Sotheby’s for £12.6m, the highest price ever paid for a Schiele at a public auction. Last year a rediscovered Rubens, the “Massacre of the Innocents”, went for £49.5m, making it one of the most expensive paintings ever sold. Some sentences have been changed according to the Italian preference for hypotaxis. La principale attrattiva del mercato dell’arte, oltre al piacere di essere circondati da quadri e sculture, consiste nella limitata correlazione con altre attività finanziarie e nel suo effetto differenziatore su un portafoglio d’investimenti. Malgrado il recente crollo dei mercati finanziari, negli ultimi tre anni il comparto delle opere si è mantenuto ben impostato, nonostante un calo nei volumi. Quest’anno, alcune opere di altissimo valore hanno raggiunto prezzi da record. In giugno, infatti, “Il paesaggio di Krumau”, una cittadina della Boemia, dipinto da Egon Schiele nel 1916, è stato venduto da Sotheby’s per 12, milioni di sterline, il prezzo più alto mai pagato per un quadro di questo autore a un’asta pubblica. Lo scorso anno, un Rubens ritrovato, il “Massacro degli innocenti”, è stato ceduto per 49,5 milioni di sterline, diventando così uno dei quadri di maggiore valore che sia mai stato venduto.
5. Digital workbook
5.1. Simple sentences in news headlines
Pope Francis’s Reforming Zeal Captures The World. (Declarative sentence) Cameron Delivers Upbeat Christmas Message. (Declarative sentence) Television Review: In the Future Find the Fountain of Youth in Your Printer. (Imperative sentence) Astronauts Make Rare Christmas Eve Spacewalk. (Declarative sentence) Can you be too festive? (Interrogative sentence)
