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Into systemic-functional theory of grammar
Grammar is:
- one of the subsystems of a language
- the central processing unit of language
- the powerhouse where meanings are created
- the system of wordings of a language
- a phenomenon called grammatics
- part of language
- a set of rules for specifying grammatical structures
- a resource for creating meaning in the form of wordings
- divided into three areas: interpersonal, ideational, textual
PART I – On Translation
The activity of translation has a long - standing tradition. In the new millennium, this phenomenon has become fundamental because, today, human communication depends heavily on translation and interest in the field is also growing.
Translation presupposes much knowledge and know-how, together with the flexibility, and capacity to draw on a wide range of other disciplines. Translation is not only a matter of vocabulary: grammar also plays a large and important role.
- What is Translation?
- a text which is a representation or reproduction of an original one produced in another language ( in everyday language)
- the written or spoken rendering in the meaning of a word, speech, book or other text, in another language (a definition in a general dictionary)
- a ‘ process ’ which refers to the activity of turning a Source Text into a Target Text in another language
- a ‘ product ’ (i.e. the translated text)
- the transformation of a text originally in one language into an equivalent text in a different language
- the total process and relationship of equivalence between languages (Halliday)
- a linguistic phenomenon and activity
- very probably the most complex type of event yet produced in the evolution of the cosmos
Translation as a Process / or a Product:
- translating = the process
- a translation = the product
- translation = ‘the abstract concept which covers both the process of translating and the product of that process’
Concern with written texts: from literary to technical
Interlingual translation is considered by Jakobson to be the kind of ‘proper translation’. Jakobson distinguishes between three different kinds of translation:
- Intralingual or rewording : the process of translation occurs within the same language
- Interlingual or translation proper : the act of translation is carried out from one language to another
- Intersemiotic or transmutation : an interpretation of verbal signs through , for example, music or images.
- What is Translation Studies? (coined by the translator Holmes)
- the academic discipline which concerns itself with the study of translation
- the whole spectrum of language
- the discipline which concerns itself with the theory and practice of translation (Hatim) , because there are interconnections between theory and practice: the practice of translation without a theoretical backgrounds tends toward a purely subjective exercise, and a theory without a link to practice is simply an abstraction
- ‘a house of many rooms’ (Hatim): TS has gradually evolved into a interdiscipline which draws on a wide range of other disciplines
- an interdiscipline correlated with multiple disciplines such as linguistics, philosophy, literary studies, cultural studies and language engineering
- multidiscipline since it underlines both its independent nature and its plurality of perspectives
- multi-faceted activity (Hatim)
- metadiscipline able to cover several disciplines with their specific theoretical and methodological frameworks
2.2 TS and Linguistics
Without a knowledge in linguistics, the translator is like somebody who is working with an incomplete toolkit. The link between linguistics and translation can be twofold:
- the findings in linguistics can be applied to the practice of translation
- it is possible to establish a linguistic theory of translation
Thanks to the development within linguistics of new paradigms like discourse analysis, text linguistics, sociolinguistics and pragmatics, the ties between translation and linguistics got stronger.
- INTERPERSONAL meanings (TENOR) : language used for human interaction. Triggered by the variable of tenor, and are construed in grammar by the systems of MOOD, MODALITY and APPRAISAL.
- TEXTUAL meanings (MODE) : the need for a text to be a coherent and cohesive whole. Activated by the mode of discourse and are realized by structural cohesive devices, such as thematic structure, and non – structural ones, like cohesion.
System or systemic linguistics : examines what people actually do with language with reference to what they could do in terms of choices among systems.
The essential task of a translator is that of preserving and conveying ‘ideational meanings’. He needs to divide the text up into translatable units or meaningful chunks.
3.1 Equivalence
A concept constitutive of translation, fundamental criterion of translation quality. There are two kinds of equivalence:
- Formal equivalence: matching as closely as possible the elements of the SL
- Dynamic equivalence: producing a very similar effect to the one afforded the source audience
Other typologies of equivalence: denotative, connotative, text – normative, pragmatic, formal.
3.2 The Unit of Translation
Is the linguistic level used by the translators in their act of translation. Word, sentence and text have been considered the unit of translation, but in an SFL prospective, the clause is adopted and considered ‘ the primary channel of grammatical energy and the most fundamental category in the whole linguistics’.
PART II – SFL and TS, TS and SFL
4. Halliday and Translation
A ‘grammarian’ who aimed at exploiting linguistics in order to construct any analytical model of the translation process. He centred his study around grammatical hierarchies, in particular looking for rank-bound correspondences. He listed a set of equivalents: morpheme then moved upwards to the word, then the group and phrase, the clause and then to the context.
He suggested that the process of translation proceeded by three stages:
- selection of the most probable translation equivalent for each item at each rank
- reconsideration in the light of the lexicogrammatical features of the unit above
- final reconsideration in the light of the lexicogrammatical features of the TL
He focuses on the concept of translation equivalence, which is the ‘central organizing concept’ of translation. He proposes a typology of equivalence which centres on three vectors:
- STRATIFICATION: concerns the organization of language in ordered data (phonetic / phonological , lexicogrammatical, semantic and proper contextual levels of the multi – coding system of language.
- METAFUNCTION: regards the organization of the strata concerning content (lexicogrammar as realizing semantics, metafunctional components i.e. ideational, interpersonal and textual)
- RANK: deals with the organization of the formal strata (phonology and lexicogrammar in a hierarchy made up of clause complexes, clauses, phrases, groups, words and morphemes)
Principle of stratification: ‘a language is a complex semiotic system composed of multiple levels, or strata’ symbolized in a series of circles, where semantics is embedded in context, and lexicogrammar in semantics. Situation type, a configuration of field, tenor and mode that recurs frequently in our society:
i.e. talking among friends
- Field: not limited
- Tenor: among friends of generally equal status
- Mode: spoken spontaneous dialogue with occasional monologue
i.e. ‘lesson’
- Field: teacher generally specialized in a particular field
- Tenor: generally reasonably formal, power relation of teacher to students
- Mode: spoken, mostly monologue, may audio-visuals
In Halliday’s view each utterance has:
- a more ‘congruent’ realization (i.e. non or less metaphorical)
- a more ‘incongruent’ ones
Manfredi’s SFL model
Manfredi’s SFL model has different layers of meanings, their most typical grammatical realizations and the variables of context which usually determine them.
According to Halliday ‘ a language is a complex semiotic system composed of multiple levels, or strata’ that can be symbolized in a series of circle, where semantics embedded in context, and lexicogrammar in semantics (Principle of stratification).
The model identifies three main metafunctions that speakers/writers use language for:
- to represent experience ( Ideational)
- to encode interaction (Interpersonal)
