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The Translation of Geographical Names /proper Names Dealing With Abbreviations in Translation

The document discusses common mistakes made by translation students such as overuse of articles and use of "wird" in German. It then lists some online tools for translation training including video, slideshows and exercises. The rest of the document focuses on translating abbreviations, noting that they are commonly used in many fields and contexts. It provides some tips for translators on researching abbreviations and when to translate them directly versus expanding them.

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shri
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52 views

The Translation of Geographical Names /proper Names Dealing With Abbreviations in Translation

The document discusses common mistakes made by translation students such as overuse of articles and use of "wird" in German. It then lists some online tools for translation training including video, slideshows and exercises. The rest of the document focuses on translating abbreviations, noting that they are commonly used in many fields and contexts. It provides some tips for translators on researching abbreviations and when to translate them directly versus expanding them.

Uploaded by

shri
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Common mistakes made by students –

1. Excessive use of ‘the’


2. Nominalization instead of using verbs
3. Wird = is (in passive) and will be (future). Technical text uses wird in passive mostly.

Moodle, Udemy, Openlearning – PPT slideshow, video, article, self-correction exercise, screencast

Translation Software for Trainees –

Café Tran Espresso

Virtaal

OmegaT

Translator Training

The Translation of Geographical Names /proper names

Dealing with Abbreviations In Translation

Abbreviations often occur as names of professions, art groups and especially as


organizations and associations—UNO, USAID, IMF, AU, etc. They also appear as
names of appliances, such as TV, Fridge, VCD, DVD, etc., vehicles and on vehicle
license plates. Here in Nigeria, national organizations are often called by their
abbreviations. We have a series of recently created abbreviations especially with
the advent of telecommunication companies in the field of mobile telephony such
as MTN, Vmobile, Glo, MTS. All these have become household names without
anyone caring to know what they stand for; they are simply brand names of
telephone companies. Abbreviations are also found in literary works; e.g., viz, AD,
i.e., DV, pm, am, PTO, PS, etc. Another area where abbreviations abound is in
academic certificates and names of educational institutions such as B.A, B.S.,
M.Phil., Ph.D,. etc.

a good translator must have the latest information worldwide at his disposal,
through reading of newspapers, journals, international magazines, the consulting of
which has been facilitated by the Internet. Another useful tool for the translator to
have at his disposal a glossary of abbreviations of the subject field he is working
on. In some cases; the translator may also have to consult his client or the author or
the source text for more clarification of the terms.
In summary, one last exit route for the translator (especially if he is going from
English into French), is to simply render the acronyms as borrowed concepts, as
they figure in the original text. In this era of globalization, the issue of translating
acronyms is becoming less emphasized due to the constantly widening vocabulary,
thanks to the modern information technology.

 Journalism
 IT and localization
 Health care and medicine
 Economics
 Finance
 Business
 Politics
 Law
 Science
 Technology
 The environment

Be ready for a steep learning curve!

Assignment review

1. Verify files
2. All segments done.
3. Accurate and complete
4. Formatting
5. For checking and marking assignments -
Addition: (A): An addition error occurs when the translator introduces superfluous information or

stylistic effects. Candidates should generally resist the tendency to insert “clarifying” material. Can

explain but not add words.


6. Capitalization: (Ca): A capitalization error occurs when the conventions of the target language
concerning upper and lower case usage are not followed.
7. Consistency (Co): when a text is hard to follow because of inconsistent use of terminology
8. Faithfulness: (F): A faithfulness error occurs when the target text does not respect the meaning
of the source text as much as possible. Candidates are asked to translate the meaning and intent of
the source text, not to rewrite it or improve upon it. The grader will carefully compare the
translation to the source text. If a “creative” rendition changes the meaning, an error will be
marked. If recasting a sentence or paragraph—i.e., altering the order of its major elements—
destroys the flow, changes the emphasis, or obscures the author’s intent, an error may be marked.
9. Faux ami: (FA): A faux ami error occurs when words of similar form but dissimilar meaning across
the language pair are confused. Faux amis, also known as false friends, are words in two or more
languages that probably are derived from similar roots and that have very similar or identical forms,
but that have different meanings, at least in some contexts.
10. Grammar: (G): A grammar error occurs when a sentence in the translation violates the
grammatical rules of the target language. Grammar errors include lack of agreement between
subject and verb, incorrect verb tenses or verb forms, and incorrect declension of nouns, pronouns,
or adjectives, conjunctions, structure.
11. Indecision: (IND): An indecision error occurs when the candidate gives more than one option for
a given translation unit. Graders will not choose the right word for the candidate. Even if both
options are correct, an error will be marked. More points will be deducted if one or both options are
incorrect.
12. Literalness: (L): A literalness error occurs when a translation that follows the source text word
for word results in awkward, unidiomatic, or incorrect renditions.
13. Mistranslation: (MT): A mistranslation error occurs when the meaning of a segment of the
original text is not conveyed properly in the target language. “Mistranslation” includes the more
specific error categories described in separate entries. Mistranslations can also involve choice of
prepositions, use of definite and indefinite articles, and choice of verb tense and mood.
14. Omission: (O): An omission error occurs when an element of information in the source text is left
out of the target text. This covers not only textual information but also the author's intention (irony,
outrage). Missing titles, headings, or sentences within a passage may be marked as one or more
errors of omission, depending on how much is omitted.
15. Punctuation: (P): A punctuation error occurs when the conventions of the target language
regarding punctuation are not followed, including those governing the use of quotation marks,
commas, semicolons, and colons. Incorrect or unclear paragraphing is also counted as a
punctuation error.
16. Spelling: (SP): A spelling/character error occurs when a word or character in the translation is
spelled/used incorrectly according to target-language conventions. A spelling/character error that
causes confusion about the intended meaning is more serious and may be classified as a different
type of error using the Flowchart and Framework. If a word has alternate acceptable spellings, the
candidate should be consistent throughout the passage.
17. Terminology: (T): A terminology error occurs when a term specific to a special subject field is not
used when the corresponding term is used in the source text. This type of error often involves terms
used in various technical contexts. This also applies to legal and financial contexts where words
often have very specific meanings. In more general texts, a terminology error can occur when the
candidate has not selected the most appropriate word among several that have similar (but not
identical) meanings.
18. Usage: (U): A usage error occurs when conventions of wording in the target language are not
followed. Correct and idiomatic usage of the target language is expected.

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