Pobočíková, Pavlína. 2011. “Changes in a Source Text during Repeated Translation.” MA thesis, Masaryk University.

4 Christiane Nord’s Model

After determining the most appropriate and holistic approach to TQA which, as it has
been previously shown (Ch. 3), quite often overlaps with other approaches, this chapter
will deal with the methodology of the two first parts of the analysis – the analysis of
external and internal factors. Nord’s approach, which is explained in her book Text
Analysis in Translation (1991), was not primarily designed for translation quality
assessment. This model should help teachers in training students of translation. Such
training, however, should not try to avoid assessing or grading students’ translations.
Therefore, the model of the text analysis in translation can be used as a clue or ground
for translation assessment which endeavours to be more than mere subjective criticism
(Nord, 1991, p. 163). In other words, the model tries to “exclude intuition from TQA
and teaching” (Nord, 1991, p. 2).
Another quality of the model is its functionality, in the sense suggested by Reiss
(as cited in Koller, 1971) and, likewise, in accordance with the Skopos theory (Reiss &
Vermeer, 1984). Nord (1991) even considers functionality “the most important criterion
for a translation” (p. 28), meaning that no matter how logical it may seem at first, it is
neither a ST or its effect on a recipient nor a function assigned to it by the author that
“operates the translation process”. The deciding factor here is, conversely, a function or
skopos of a TT which should comply with initiator’s needs (Nord, 1991, p. 9).
Similarly, a text which is obviously incoherent and incohesive may still be textual (i.e.
make sense) in some communicative situations (Nord, 1991, p. 35). For instance, a
shopping list with various products and their quantity may also be a part of a poem, etc.
Nord (1991) adds that, “one possible TT function may be to ‘imitate’ the effects of the
original ST reception” (p. 5). According to her, “translation should fulfil certain
‘translation instructions’ [...] explicit description of the prospective target situation,” in
other words, the skopos of a target text (Nord, 1991, p. 8). With respect to this theory, a
translation should not break any conventions assigned to a text type in a target culture.
In the present thesis, texts were repeatedly translated between two cultural
environments – Czech and English – and the final TTs are written in the same language
as the original texts. What will thus be analysed is, in fact, how the final TTs differ from
the ST profiles determined at the beginning of the analysis. It hence appears that the
present analysis slightly differs from Nord’s model to the extent that there is no need to

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elaborate any TT profiles, since the STs and the final TTs are presented in the same
language and should meet the same cultural norms. Accordingly, the aim of the analysis
is mainly to determine all possible deviations from the initial STs.
Further, although Nord (1991) states that it is not necessary to perform the whole
text analysis before every single translation task (p. 81), as it may be very time
consuming and contra-productive, for the purposes of the thesis, the analysis will be
conducted in its entirety to give a holistic view on the texts and the method as well.
Nevertheless, the author of the thesis is in broad agreement with the model author that,
in practical application, for some text types “the analysis will have to focus on certain
specific intratextual aspects, whereas in others these aspects will be conventional and,
therefore, predicable” (Nord, 1991, p. 81). The model seems to be quite flexible, which
is also supported by its independence of a source and a target language and even the
translator level of competence; it works both directions, too (Nord, 1991, p. 1).
At the very core of the analysis, there lies the idea that a translator and
subsequently a reviewer should, firstly, create a ST profile, secondly a TT profile, and
finally compare both. The translator’s task is then to “place a cultural filter between ST
and TT” (Nord, 1991, p. 16). As simple as it may sound, the model is highly
sophisticated and it can also be summarised as follows: “In a translation-oriented
analysis, we will first analyse these factors [the communicative situation and the
participants in the communicative act] and their function in the ST situation and then
compare them with the corresponding factors in the (prospective) TT situation [...]”
(Nord, 1991, p. 15). In this respect, Nord’s model corresponds with the model
elaborated by another translation scholar, Juliane House (1997): “By using situational
dimensions for opening up the source text, a particular text profile is obtained for the
source text. This profile which characterizes the function of the text is then the norm
against which the quality of the translation text is to be measured [...]” (p. 42).
However, it seems that House lays more emphasis on the ST, whereas Nord on the TT
function. Last but not least, one more explanation of Nord’s approach should be
mentioned: “Communicative function [...] determines the strategies of text production.
[...] From a retrospective angle, he [the translator] tries in his ST analysis to verify his
expectation regarding text function, which has been built up by situational clues [...].
From a prospective angle, [...] he has to check each ST element as to whether it can
fulfil the intended TT function [...]” (Nord, 1991, p. 17). Likewise, the translator has to

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bear in mind that a ST may have more than one function (“polyfunctionality of texts”
Nord, 1991, p. 21), which should be reflected in the corresponding TT.
Before any further explanation of the model is given, it appears useful to explain
some terms used within the analysis in greater detail to avoid ambiguity:

• Initiator is the person who initiates the translation; someone “approaching a

translator because he needs a certain target text” (Nord, 1991, p. 4).
• Text sender can be defined as a person who “transmits a text in order to
send a certain message” (Nord, 1991, p. 5).
• Text producer is the person who “actually produces the text”. If the text
producer and the text sender are represented by the same person, he or she is
called an “author” (Nord, 1991, p. 5).
• Text type, according to Nord (1991), is “a distinctive configuration of
relational dominances obtaining between or among elements of:
• surface text,
• textual world,
• stored knowledge patterns,
• situation of occurrence” (p.18).
For a detailed commentary on the text type of the texts analysed in the
thesis, see the previous chapter (Ch. 3.4). The text type is particularly
important for the translation process because it determines the conventions
which should be obeyed both in ST and TT. Or, on the other hand, if a ST
author decides to deliberately break some of the conventions, the translator
must take this fact into account when producing a corresponding TT. It
ought to be said that such conventions or even norms, of course, differ from
culture to culture, and they undergo minor or major changes over time
(Nord, 1991, p. 19). Furthermore, the text type conventions are even more
important in the case of non-literary texts because recipients have certain,
more or less specific, expectations about both extratextual and intratextual
factors. Any undesired deviation from such conventions may lead to
ambiguity.
• Equivalence is “the greatest possible correspondence between source text
and target text” (Nord, 1991, p. 22). Translators are constantly looking for
balance between “fidelity (being faithful) and servility (being too faithful)

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on the other hand, and liberty (being free) and libertinage (being too free,
i.e. adapting or ‘even’ paraphrasing) on the other [...]” (p. 22).
• Intertextual coherence simply means that a TT should be coherent with
other texts of the same text type in a target culture as the ST is in the source
culture. Likewise, the ST should be coherent with the TT. However, “[...] in
a skopos-oriented translation the observance of the skopos is performed
prior to intertextual coherence with the source text” (Nord, 1991, p. 24).

A particularly important aspect of Nord’s model (1991) is its looping nature –

with every step the translator takes he has to “look back” on the facts that have arisen
from the ST analysis and their implications for a prospective TT (p. 35). He constantly
goes back and forth to choose the most appropriate solutions and not to miss any
important factors, which is illustrated in the following looping model of the translation
process in Figure 5 taken from Christiane Nord (1991, p. 34):
Figure 5: Looping Model of the Translation Process

It is obvious from Figure 5 that the looping model can be divided into several steps:

1. TT skopos analysis
2. Source text analysis
a. Determining whether the source text is compatible with the
requirements for the prospective target text.
b. Detailed analysis focused on the elements of particular importance
for TT production.
3. Final structuring of the target text

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The translator thus moves backwards from the TT to the ST and back to the TT
which closes the circle. Nord (1991) says, “If the translator has succeeded in producing
a functional text conforming to the initiator’s needs, the target text will be congruent
with the TT skopos” (p. 33). As regards the second part of the second step in the
translation process, it seems to bear some resemblance to Pym’s concept of risk
management (also risk analysis) (2004), since he also admits that not all of the ST
elements should be treated with the same attention and precision: “Some elements are
high risk, others are low risk [...] work hard on the high-risk elements, and do not work
too hard on the low-risk elements” (p. 2).
Not only does the model try to be as universal as possible, but it also attempts to
include all possible aspects which may have some effect on the translation process,
translator’s decisions, and, finally, the target text. Therefore, a more detailed and
practical explanation of such aspects should follow.
Extratextual (or external) factors, analysed by the translator right before reading
a text, are the starting point of the analysis. They help the translator to determine a
source text function. Translator’s task is to observe a ST situation as both a ST recipient
and the translator build up certain expectations about the intratextual factors of a text
which will hopefully be verified by further reading. The translator should particularly be
interested in the effect the text has on the ST recipient (Nord, 1991, p. 37). The set of
extratextual factors follows: sender, intention, recipient, medium, place, time, motive,
and text function.
After exploring the extratextual factors, the translator or reviewer should
continue with the intratextual (internal) ones. These, on the contrary, relate to a text
itself and include even non-verbal elements (Nord, 1991, p. 35, 36). Among the
intratextual factors are: content, subject manner, presuppositions, text composition, non-
verbal elements, lexis, sentence structure, and suprasegmental features. Taking into
account the looping nature of the translation process, the sequence in which the
translator observes each extratextual or intratextual factor is irrelevant. The key term
determining the relations between the factors is interdependence (Nord, 1991). Each of
the factors can and should give the translator a clue about some of the others (e.g. if an
author lived between 1900 and 1958, the text was probably published at that time, if not
later – this shows the interdependence of the author and time).

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4.1 External Factors

4.1.1 Sender
“The sender of a text is the person (or institution, etc.) who uses the text in order to
convey a certain message to somebody else and/or to produce a certain effect, whereas
the text producer writes the text according to the instructions of the sender, and
complies with the rules and norms of text production valid in the respective language
and culture” (Nord, 1991, p. 43). As it has been said before, the categories of sender and
text producer often overlap. The translator then finds himself in a situation comparable
to the one of the text producer. He has to produce a text having the same effect on TT
recipients as the ST had on ST recipients, and he will exert himself to produce a text
which would be in compliance both with the ST and the TT norms (unless there exist
other instructions from the translation initiator). This, however, is not to discredit
translator’s creativity in translation.

4.1.2 Intention
Intention determines structuring of a text (what to mention and what to omit) and its
form (e.g. the choice of a TT text type, non-verbal elements, etc.). It is the sender who
defines the intention, and the translator should exert himself to adhere to it when
creating a TT. Christiane Nord (1991) adds, “At the same time, the particular
organization of a text marks the text type and is a pre-signal which tells the recipient in
which function he is expected to use the text” (p. 48). The category of intention is
especially important for literary texts (since a non-literary text, namely a technical one,
tends to be as clear as possible, not ambiguous, without any hidden meanings), which is
not the case of the present analysis.

4.1.3 Recipient
At this stage of the analysis, a text recipient is in question; later (Ch. 5.2.2), it will
particularly be the ST recipient followed by the TT recipient. These two are, according
to Nord (1991), different from each other at least in two aspects – cultural background
and linguistic community (p. 52). Though, in the present thesis, both the ST recipient
and the final TT recipient share the same background and community. However, it is
still vital to take their characteristics into account when translating. Adjustments
concerning the TT recipient should be found only in the texts translated into English.

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4.1.4 Medium
This extratextual factor can be defined as a “medium or vehicle which conveys the text
to the reader” (Nord, 1991, p. 56). On the basis of the medium through which the
message comes to its recipient, he builds certain presuppositions (or expectations)
which are based on his experience with the medium (e.g. offensive language certainly
has a different effect in a film dubbing, or even in subtitles, and in a textbook). The
translator should thus bear in mind the prospective recipient’s presuppositions.

4.1.5 Place
The dimension of place can be ambiguous because not everyone shares the same image
when thinking about the term. On account of this, it ought to be said that the place
stands not only for the place of production, but also for the place of reception (Nord,
1991, p. 60). The place factor is, undoubtedly, closely connected to the medium since a
person would not search for a book in a cinema theatre. Likewise, a close connection
can be found between the place and time because of e.g. the political influence on
literature at a certain time. When considering the place, the translator should account for
linguistic aspects as well as cultural and political conditions. The dimension of place
grows in importance when there exist more language varieties used in different regions
of the same language culture (Nord, 1991, p. 61).

4.1.6 Time
The time dimension is important for the text analysis performed before every translation
for two reasons, the first of which is generally applicable on literary texts rather than
technical ones. Firstly, summarised by Nord (1991), “Certain text types are linked to a
particular period (e.g. oracles and epic poems as opposed to weather reports and
television plays), and, of course, text-type conventions also undergo change” (p. 63).
Secondly, the translator should consider, whether the information given in the source
text is still valid (Nord, 1991, p. 64). If so, it can be considered a “modern” piece of
work (e.g. the probability that the text will contain more than just a few adverbial
participles, in case of Czech, is quite low) written by a “contemporary” author, and its
translation can thus, according to Popovič (1981), be regarded a synchronous one.
The translator should also bear in mind that, especially with technical texts, the
field terminology is constantly undergoing minor or major changes (e.g. computer
science). It goes hand in hand with development as it attempts to name new inventions,
events, etc.

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4.1.7 Motive
The category of motive represents the reasons why a sender decided to establish
communication with a recipient/s. This also includes the occasion for which the text
was produced (Nord, 1991, p. 67). The motive may signal conventions that will “guide
the recipient’s expectations” (Nord, 1991, p. 68).

4.1.8 Text Function

Assumingly, the most significant of all the external factors, the text function, is the key
for an acceptable translation as “it is only by analysing the ST function that the
translator can decide which TT function(s) will be compatible with the given ST”
(Nord, 1991, p. 72). Yet, it is still the recipient who completes a particular
communicative situation and thus defines the text function (Nord 1991, p. 16). This
means that the only limitation to the number of possible text functions is the number of
recipients. The text function can be described, according to Nord (1991), as the
communicative function “which a text fulfils in its concrete situation of
production/reception” (p. 70). Two different types of translation – documentary and
instrumental (Nord, 1991, p.72) – may serve as an example of the connection between
the text function and a translation. The more frequent instrumental translation represents
conveyance of a message from a ST author to a TT recipient directly, whereas the
documentary translation is only a document of the communication between a ST author
and a ST recipient (which bears some resemblance to House’s [1981] overt and covert
translation).

4.2 Internal Factors

4.2.1 Subject Matter
Subject matter, in other words the main topic of a text, is vital for the text analysis for
several reasons. First, if the analysis proves that there is a subject which dominates a
text then the whole text is, in all probability, coherent (Nord, 1991, p. 85).
Second, the subject matter can be embedded in a cultural context and indicate
some of the readers’ presuppositions (Popovič, 1981). If so, the translator has to take the
fact into account.
Third, as little as the subject matter can give the translator a hint about the
content and terminology – the two deciding factors of whether he possesses the expert
knowledge to understand and translate a text (Nord, 1991, p. 86). It can also give him an

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initial clue about the amount of research he is about to conduct (in case he lacks
specialised knowledge), and whether it is worth conducting (since a good translator
should be aware of his own professional limits). In the case of students’ translations, the
ability to perform detailed research will probably be more relevant than possessing
expert knowledge, even though the texts were selected with regards to the students’
level of competence, and they do not differ much from the texts which may be, at some
point, presented to them in their future professional careers. Really the key ability here
seems to be the risk analysis (Pym, 2004) – to decide which translation units bear a
higher degree of risk (as discussed in Ch. 3.3).
Fourth, from the subject matter analysis, the translator may gain information
about the role (function) of the headline and sub-headlines which differs culture from
culture (Nord, 1991, p. 86).
Finally, “the elicitation of the subject matter occasionally yields some
information about certain extratextual factors (e.g., sender, time, text function), where
these have not already been ascertained by external analysis” (Nord, 1991, p. 86).
Further, the expectations concerning the subject matter developed in the course of the
external factors analysis may be confirmed or adjusted.

4.2.2 Content
In most cases, being a translator presupposes a good command of a source language and
a target langue as well as knowledge of the rules and norms governing text production.
This leaves little space for possible misunderstanding caused by ST (content)
comprehension. Still, Christiane Nord provides some useful guidelines for determining
the precise content of a text; mostly on the level of lexical items. To start with, she
defines content as “the reference of the text to objects and phenomena in an
extralinguistic reality” (Nord, 1991, p. 90), and adds that such reference is generally
expressed by the semantics of the lexical and grammatical structures. These structures
work well together (ideally), complement each other and significantly contribute to the
coherence of the text (and also the coherence of the text and other texts in the same
language culture). By the lexical and grammatical structures, the author means: linking
devices (including anaphora, cataphoric reference, substitution, recurrence, paraphrase,
etc.), other logical connections, theme-rheme relationship, functional sentence
perspective, words and phrases, sentence patterns, tense, mood, etc. (Nord, 1991, p. 91).
This corresponds (not fully overlaps, for it contains more than just a mere analysis of

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cohesion) with the concept of cohesion presented by Halliday and Hasan (1976) as it
takes into account all the five sources of cohesion suggested by the scholars: cohesion
through reference (anaphoric reference, cataphoric reference...), substitution, ellipsis,
conjunction, and lexical items (repetition, hyponyms and hypernyms...).
At least two more things ought to be mentioned when describing the category of
content – the denotative vs. connotative meaning of a word and the “internal situation”
of a text. Nord (1991) very clearly states, “The amount of information verbalized in a
text includes not only denotative but also connotative (or ‘secondary’) meaning, i.e. the
information expressed by a language element by virtue of its affiliation to a certain
linguistic code (stylistic levels, registers, functional style, regional and social dialects,
etc.)” (p. 92). With respect to this fact, the translator should read and understand a
source text and then create the target text accordingly.
Last but not least, the information contained in a text can be either “factual”
(based on reality – the one that both the sender and the recipient can agree on) or
“fictional” (referring to a fictional world invented by the author, and therefore separated
from the reality of the communicative act) (Nord, 1991, p. 93).
This is assumingly the first factor which may lay some foundations for a
quantitative analysis of translation quality (rather than qualitative, as it was so far).
Although, these are only clues since the fact that e.g. a target text holds the very same
number of particular verb forms as the source text, or that the translator managed to use
exactly the same variety of conjunctions, does not ensure a high standard of translation.

4.2.3 Presuppositions
Pragmatic presuppositions are those “implicitly assumed by the speaker, who takes it
for granted that this will also be the case with the listener” (Nord, 1991, p. 95); such
presuppositions usually refer to objects and phenomena of the source culture (p. 96).
Problems arise if the thesis does not work. For example, in cases when the target reader
is not fully aware of the source culture aspects presented in the ST and transferred into
the TT. Therefore, the translator may want to “adjust the level of explicitness to the
(assumed) general background knowledge of the intended TT recipient” (Nord, 1991, p.
98). Nord also suggests that he will take advantage of the translation procedures of
‘expansion’ or ‘reduction’.
It is vital, to mention the problem of redundancy, too. The main aim of the
redundancy is to assist comprehension by repeated verbalization (e.g. explanation,

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repetition, paraphrase, summary, tautology, etc.). Since both texts analysed in the
present thesis are technical ones written by experts for experts or almost experts, the
redundancy should be minimal.

4.2.4 Text Composition

What Nord means by the text composition is, in short, the structuring of a text; whether
it consists of several shorter texts or whether it is a part of a bigger text, etc. She builds
upon Thiel’s aspects of text composition: “She [Thiel] suggests that the text has an
informational macrostructure (i.e. composition and order of information units)
consisting of a number of microstructures” (Nord, 1991, p. 100); where the
macrostructure is marked by chapters and paragraphs, and the microstructure by
syntactic structures, lexical devices, or suprasegmental features. Both the micro and
macrostructure are of great importance for the translation-oriented analysis because,
firstly, a text can be comprised of smaller text segments with different functions which
may thus require different translation strategies. Secondly, the beginning and the end of
a text may play special part in its comprehension, and they thus deserve to be analysed
in greater detail (e.g. do they somehow guide the reception or change the effect of the
whole text?). Thirdly, some text types may be subject to culture-specific conventions
concerning text composition (e.g. a letter). Fourthly, if a text is very complex or
incoherent in its nature, the analysis of microstructure can yield some information about
the subject matter (Nord, 1991, p. 101).

4.2.5 Non-verbal Elements

Non-verbal elements are various signs which do not belong to any linguistic code and
which are used as supplements to them. By using such signs, the author aims to
illustrate, disambiguate, or even intensify the message contained in a text or a discourse
(Nord, 1991, p. 108). Among these are, as for the texts, photos, illustrations, emblems,
special types of print, etc. The translator’s task is not only to find such signs, but also to
reveal their specific function within a particular text. The non-verbal elements should
not be mistaken for suprasegmental features (punctuation, capitalisation...), discussed
later in the chapter (Ch. 4.2.8).

4.2.6 Lexis
The category of lexis is quite large. It may refer to the affiliation of a word to stylistic
levels and registers, word formation, connotations, rhetorical figures (metaphors,

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repetition of lexical element, metonymy, metaphor), parts of speech, morphological

aspects (suffixes, prefixes, compositions, acronyms, abbreviations, etc.), collocations,
idioms, addressing, selection of words (with respect to the sender’s intention, time,
place, medium, occasion...), degree of originality (words invented by the author, phrases
coined by him, intentional violation of norms), etc. Nord (1991) also states that “the
choice of lexis in a particular text is determined by both extratextual and intratextual
factors” (p. 112), and Crystal and Davy (1969) add, “In any text, the stylistically
significant characteristics of lexis clearly reflect the extratextual factors of the situation
in which the text is used, including the participants using it for communication” (p. 81).

4.2.7 Sentence Structure

Is the sentence structure mainly paratactic or hypotactic? Are the sentences simple or
complex? Are there any deviations from functional sentence perspective? Does the text
flow with syntactic figures of speech such as aposiopesis3 (which may indicate certain
presuppositions), parallelism, chiasm, rhetorical question, parenthesis, ellipsis, etc.
(Nord, 1991, p. 118-120)? What is their function in the text? Such and other questions
should be asked and hopefully answered during this part of the analysis. The
extratextual factors may contribute to the image about the sentence structure which the
translator builds throughout the course of the analysis in a way that e.g. the author’s
intention may be realized through various syntactic figures. In other words, as soon as
the intention is analysed, it may indicate the presumable sentence structure. Likewise, in
all probability, the more complex the subject matter, the more complex the sentence
structure.

4.2.8 Suprasegmental Features

The author of the model says about suprasegmental features that they “serve to highlight
or focus certain parts of the text and to push others to background” (Nord, 1991, p. 80),
and adds that they possess both an informative (i.e. denotative) and a stylistics (i.e.
connotative) function. Simply said, the suprasegmental features are those which do not
fall into any of the previous categories of lexical or syntactical segments, sentences,
paragraphs, etc. In writing, they are signalled by e.g. italics, spaced or bold type,
quotation marks, dashes, parentheses, underlining, affirmative words (actually, in fact),
emphatic evaluations (fantastic, great), clefts (It was John who...), ellipsis, aposiopeses,

3
„when [...] the speaker breaks off his speech before the sense is completed, in order to aggravate the
purpose of his address“ (Boyd, 1860, p. 281/282)

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asyndetic enumerations (higher tempo), theme-rheme structures (e.g. stress the most
important one by putting it at the end), selection of words, word order, onomatopoeia,
and so forth (Nord, 1991, p. 120-124). From the above list and from other additional
aspects, such as rhythmicity, melody, alliteration, rhyme, and tone, it seems that the
suprasegmental features play a bigger role in poems and spoken discourses than in
strictly technical texts.

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