Department of Translation

Članek obravnava pomen visoke kompetence
v maternem jeziku za kakršnokoli obliko večjezičnega
komuniciranja na osnovi analize, ki kaže, da zgolj znanje
tujega jezika ni dovolj za uspešen prenos tujejezičnega
besedila v materni jezik in da je torej za uspešno
komuniciranje znotraj EU nujna visoka pismenost in
jezikovna kompetenca ne samo v uradnih jezikih EU, pač
pa tudi v slovenščini. V članku na podlagi analize prevodov
v materni jezik primerjamo jezikovno znanje in
kompetence v maternem jeziku v stiku s tujim jezikom pri
študentih ob koncu študija tujih jezikov (angleščine, nemščine
in italijanščine) ter medjezikovnega posredovanja.

The article discusses the frequency and use of co-ordinate connectors expressing cause/reason and clarification/explanation, which are particularly interesting for contrastive studies, as their role in different languages bears a significant influence on translation choices. The main goal of the study is to establish if and where the differences in the use of these linguistic elements occur in translations from English and Italian into Slovene. A corpus approach is applied, making use of SPOOK, the first Slovene translational corpus, where a corpus of Slovene original texts and two of its parallel subcorpora, i. e. EN-SL and IT-SL, comprising Slovene translations from English and Italian respectively were employed. The analysis of connectors translated into Slovene and their equivalents in original English and Italian texts is followed by a comparison of their use in original Slovene texts. Correlation of results helps determining the diverging points in original and translated Slovene, as well as the differences and similarities between the three languages observed with regard to the analysed connectors. Some connectors (namreč and sicer) are singled out due to their polysemy. The results show that a considerable number of connectors are added in Slovene translated texts where no connector is present in the originals, the reason for which might be found in explicitation, although the comparison with original Slovene texts does not give conclusive proof.

There is a large presence of translators without formal education in the Slovene market, partly because until the 1990s there were no independent translation programs, but also because of the popular notion that anybody who speaks a foreign language well, or has a degree in it, can translate. In this paper we present a comparison of four B.A. programs at the University of Ljubljana (in three foreign language departments and one department of translation) to shed light on what knowledge and competences are expected at the end of the B.A. studies, and to find out whether these departments actually train people to be translators. The paper also reports the results of a translation quality assessment of third-year students of those departments, who were given the task of translating a text into their L1. The students approached the task in different ways and produced very different results, which indicates that language competences alone are not enough for translation, and that specific additional instruction can give them a considerable advantage at the beginning of their careers.

The article examines the importance of high competences in the mother tongue for any kind of multilingual communication. The analysis shows that the knowledge of a foreign language is not enough for a successful transfer of a foreign language text into one’s mother tongue, and that in order to achieve successful communication in a multilingual environment such as the European Union, it is essential to have a high reading skills and language competence not only in the official languages of the EU, but also in the mother tongue. In the study, an analysis of translations into the mother tongue is used to compare the levels of foreign language and mother tongue proficiency of students of foreign languages (English, German and Italian) and of Interlingual Mediation at the University of Ljubljana.

The article addresses the frequency and usage of English adversative connectors and their translation equivalents in Slovene. These connectors present a challenge for contrastive studies, as their varied use may differ considerably in different language situations. This can have a significant impact also on the translation choices, in particular when translating from English into Slovene. A corpus approach is applied in the article, using corpus Spook, the first Slovene translation corpus. After examining the frequency of adversative connectors in the English-Slovene subcorpus of Spook, the article explores the frequency and distribution patterns of the English connector but.
The study focuses on the ways the connector but is translated into Slovene and on the degree of correspondence between the textual, clausal and phrasal functions in both source and target texts. In addition, its presence in a non-adversative capacity and in how its functions shift during the process of translation are investigated. The analysis is based on a hypothesis that due to its polysemous nature and the different roles it plays, there is an array of translation equivalents available in Slovene for this connector and a correlation can be observed between the roles of the connector but and its Slovene translation equivalents. Raising awareness of the different roles of but also has pedagogical implications as it can contribute to the quality of student translations.

Ključne besede: angleški protivni konektorji, konektor but, slovenske prevodne ustreznice, neprotivna  raba

Centre and Periphery: Power Relations in the World of Translation deals with relations between languages taking part in the translation process. Those relations are not equal, as different languages occupy different positions in the global language and translation systems. While some factors that influence the relative prestige and position of a particular language and culture – such as the number of speakers or the economic importance of the country in which the language is spoken – are obvious, there are other, subtler factors at work, such as the cultural capital of a language community (Bourdieu 1986), and the position that community holds within the global language, literary or translation system (De Swaan 2001, Casanova 2002, Heilbron 2000). Based on theories derived from Wallerstein’s (2004) world system theory, we discuss not only the relations between the centre and the periphery, but
rather a much more complex network of relations, including the various interactions between the hyper-central, central, semi-peripheral and peripheral languages.
This book focuses on the influence the position of a language has on translation and other forms of interlingual mediation. In our research on different combinations of languages, text types, literary genres and translators of varying competence, we found that certain translational paradigms appear to be typical of peripheral language pairs. Our research turned to the ways in which the position of each particular language within the system influences translation on the macro
level (translation policy, quantity, directness of translation, and genres of translated texts) as well as on the micro level of individual translation decisions and strategies within a particular text, sentence or phrase. In our research, we tested the following hypotheses:
• The definition of a language as central or peripheral is based on the
model of the global translation system (cf. Heilbron 1999), but those
positions are not fixed; they can change over time, or vary temporarily
under given circumstances;
• On the macro level, the translation process differs between central and
peripheral languages, in terms of the reasons for a translation, the selection process, quantity and types of translators, etc.;
• Differences can be observed also on the micro level, in the most frequently used translation strategies, especially when dealing with culture-specific elements of the source text;
• Regardless of a language’s position within the global system, its position is always central for the native speakers of that language; communication may be impeded by the speaker’s/writer’s lack of proficiency in the mother tongue, as the latter enables and influences all interlingual contact and mediation.
We begin with a description of the theoretical basis of the language/translation system, showing that the position of a language within it is fluid and can change with time and (historical, political or other) circumstances, but also that this position influences everything, from the probability that two languages will come into direct
contact and in what manner, to the micro-level individual translation decisions.
In the following chapters we present the results of the individual studies of intercultural and interlingual contacts between hyper-central, central, semi-peripheral and peripheral languages on the one side, and the Slovene language on the other side, each in its way addressing the theoretical questions from the opening chapter.
The second chapter thus presents publishing practices in literary translation from different languages and cultures, based on data collected from the Slovene Bibliographic Co-operative On-line System and Services (COBISS), and from the participants in the translation process, namely, translators, editors, publishers and patrons (institutions who offer financial and/or other support for literary translations
from individual languages).
The third chapter presents case studies of literary and non-literary translations between Slovene and various other languages, showing how individual translation decisions are influenced in practice by the source and target languages’ position within the language system.
The final chapter deals with the role played by the mother tongue in all interlingual contacts and communication, regardless of its importance in the world, and calls for ongoing, life-long mother-tongue education in order to enable its speakers to understand and be understood not only within their own language community, but also outside it.
In the conclusion, we present the summary of all our research results and test them against the hypotheses presented in the introduction. In this manner, we present a complete picture of what it means to translate from and into a peripheral language, such as Slovene, and what influences those translations.