The aim of this paper is to examine the author’s Swedish translation of French specific terms linked to a particular theme: mountain life in old time France. Which translation techniques are used, and how can these be related to the target text’s function? This is done from a functionalist point of view, where Reiss and Vermeer’s  skopos theory and Nord’s translation brief model provide a theoretical base. This approach is used in combination with terminological concepts and Vinay and Darbelnet’s different translation techniques. These are slightly modified to accommodate for other elements, such as the voluntary omission of a term. The source text is a chapter from a book on the Hautes-Alpes, translated for the Swedish Alpine Club’s imaginary jubilee book on mountain life around the world. A total of 98 different terms are identified and classified into three groups according to their characteristics: special terms, local terms and general terms. The approach is mainly a qualitative one, analyzing a selection of terms. Some quantitative data is presented as a reference point for the analysis. The results suggest that the definition of a skopos does not provide any clear indications regarding the translation technique used, and there does not seem to be any strong causal relations between the type of term, the skopos and the translation technique. The translation techniques using equivalence, modulation, omission and explanatory additions are the most commonly used. In each individual translation case, there is an interaction between the rule of coherence and the rule of fidelity. This requires a great deal of flexibility when it comes to finding a target text solution that is coherent for the reader identified in the translation brief. No standardized solutions are offered and the skopos oriented translation will use a wide variety of translation techniques.

ABSTRACT This essay deals with translation issues, mainly in regard to text function and text norms, which arose during the transfer of a German source text, situated within the field of tourism, into a Swedish target text. Special attention was paid to anglicisms, a typical feature of German marketing language and also a key stylistic feature of the source text at hand. A challenge to translators in general is which textual and cultural considerations, besides considerations of language, should be taken into account in the translation process. In translation literature semantics and pragmatics have received considerable attention. The analysis in this particular essay was based on the skopos theory and Reiss’ translation-oriented text typology. The analysis showed that the source text has an operative function, meaning that it is aimed at influencing the reader in a specific direction, but at the same time fulfills an informative function. Both these functions must be reflected in the translation. The comparison of text norms of tourist texts showed that the use of anglicisms is less common in Swedish tourist texts than in German tourist texts, and therefore many of the anglicisms in the source text were exchanged for equivalent Swedish expressions in the target text. When an equivalent anglicism was not available, the denotation was expressed in accordance with the function of that particular linguistic element, which means that in some cases semantic equivalence was attained and in some cases priority was given to text-normative and pragmatic equivalence.

Denna uppsats består av två översättningar av den japanska författaren Osamu Dazais noveller Spring, Moerus! och Hundra vyer över Fuji från japanska till svenska samt en analys som ur ett litteratur-vetenskapligt perspektiv hjälper till att fastställa översättningsstrategin – att göra en adekvansinriktad och främmandegörande översättning. Översättningarna följs av en översättningsteoretisk kommentar som fokuserar på de tre problemområdena grammatik och lexikon, menings- och styckesstruktur samt passivering. Ett litteraturvetenskapligt perspektiv för källtextanalysen visar sig vara mycket tillämpbart för dessa texter på grund av deras genre, jag-romanen, som är typisk för japansk 1900-talslitteratur. Källtexterna och måltexterna finns med som bilagor. / This essay consists of two translations of the two Japanese short stories Hashire Merosu and Fugaku Hyakkei (in Swedish Spring Moerus! and Hundra vyer över Fuji) by the author Osamu Dazai from Japanese to Swedish. An analysis through a literary science perspective helps to establish the translation strategy, which is to make an adequate and foreignized translation. The translations are followed by a theoretical translation annotation which focuses on the issues of grammar and lexicon, sentence and paragraph structure along with the usage of the passive form. A literary science perspective on the source text analysis proves to be very applicable for these texts because of their genre, the I-novel, which is typical for 20th century Japanese literature. The source and target texts are available as appendixes at the end of the essay.

This study aimed to determine whether the current African language translation facilitation course (ALTFC) held at the Directorate Language Services (D Lang) is in tune with contemporary trends in translator training, as well as the needs of the South African Department of Defence (DOD) and ALTFC candidates. In order to accomplish these aims, the research methodology was divided into a theoretical component in the form of a literature survey and an empirical component by means of questionnaire research. While the literature survey revealed that with the exception of using corpora of parallel texts, the ALTFC largely follows contemporary trends in translator training, the questionnaire research identified four problem areas, i.e. feedback on practical work, the time factor, the candidates' English proficiency and teacher enthusiasm. Based on the theoretical and empirical findings, four new ALTFC models were developed. / Linguistics / MA (Linguistics)

The study adopts a theory of Descriptive Translation Studies to undertake a comparative analysis of stylistic devices in Shakespeare’s two plays, Julius Caesar and Macbeth and their Xitsonga translations. It contextualises its research aim and objectives after outlining a sequential account of theory development in the discipline of translation; and arrives at the desired and suitable tools for data collection and analysis.Through textual observation and notes of reading, the current study argues that researchers and scholars in the discipline converge when it comes to a dire need for translation strategies, but diverge in their classification and particular application for convenience in translating and translation. This study maintains that the translation strategies should be grouped into explicitation, normalisation and simplification, where each is assigned specific translation procedures. The study demonstrates that explicitation and normalisation translation strategies are best suited in dealing with translation constraints at a microtextual level. The sampled excerpts from both plays were examined on the preference for the analytical framework based on subjective sameness within a Skopos theory. The current study acknowledges that there is no single way of translating a play from one culture to the other. It also acknowledges that there appears to be no way the translator can refrain from the influence of the source text, as an inherent cultural feature that makes it unique. With no sure way of managing stylistic devices as translation constraints, translation as a problem-solving process requires creativity, a demonstration of mastery of language and style of the author of the source text, as well as a power drive characterised by the aspects of interlingual psychological balance of power and knowledge power. These aspects will help the translator to manage whatever translation brief(s) better, and arrive at a product that is accessible, accurate and acceptable to the target readership. They will also ensure that the translator maintains a balance between the two languages in contact, in order to guard against domination of one language over the other. The current study concludes that the Skopos theory has a larger influence in dealing with anticipating the context of the target readership as a factor that can introduce high risk when assessing the communicability conditions for the translated message. Contrariwise, when dealing with stylistic devices and employ literal translation as a translation procedure to simplification, the translator only aims at simplifying the language and making it accessible for the sake of ‘accessibility’ as it remains a product with communicative inadequacies. The study also concludes by maintaining that translation is not only transcoding, but the activity that calls for the translator’s creativity in order to identify and analyse the constraints encountered and decide on the corresponding translation strategies. / African Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)

This study aimed to determine whether the current African language translation facilitation course (ALTFC) held at the Directorate Language Services (D Lang) is in tune with contemporary trends in translator training, as well as the needs of the South African Department of Defence (DOD) and ALTFC candidates. In order to accomplish these aims, the research methodology was divided into a theoretical component in the form of a literature survey and an empirical component by means of questionnaire research. While the literature survey revealed that with the exception of using corpora of parallel texts, the ALTFC largely follows contemporary trends in translator training, the questionnaire research identified four problem areas, i.e. feedback on practical work, the time factor, the candidates' English proficiency and teacher enthusiasm. Based on the theoretical and empirical findings, four new ALTFC models were developed. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / MA (Linguistics)

The study focused on the translation and interpretation of cultural concepts from Xitsonga into English. The main aim of the study was to formulate strategies and methods as well as techniques of translating cultural concepts from Xitsonga into English with the view towards bridging the gap between the two cultures. The study used a mixed method approach combining both quantitative and qualitative approaches. It examined the research problem by selecting respondents who deal with translation issues on a day-to-day basis and also observed how cultural concepts are presented in the bilingual dictionaries. This was done by comparing three languages i.e. Xitsonga, Northern-Sotho and Tshivenda. The researcher had to identify the afore-mentioned cultural concepts and to find if they were properly described or translated into English. The observation focused on the translation of both Xitsonga, Northern-Sotho and Tshivenda cultural fixed expressions which were given to translation studies students to translate into English. The aim was to find if they are able to give proper explanations or translation to the given expressions. Quantitatively, 24 out of the 30 questionnaires that were sent out to respondents, were returned to the researcher for presentation, analysis and interpretation. The study found that translating cultural concepts is very challenging. These challenges are presented by lack of equivalence and not recognising the cultural concepts in the source text. The study however found that employing the right strategies, methods and techniques can assist in bridging the gap between the languages and cultures. The translator also needs to have an in-depth knowledge of the two cultures: Xitsonga and English. / African Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)

The study adopts a theory of Descriptive Translation Studies to undertake a comparative analysis of stylistic devices in Shakespeare’s two plays, Julius Caesar and Macbeth and their Xitsonga translations. It contextualises its research aim and objectives after outlining a sequential account of theory development in the discipline of translation; and arrives at the desired and suitable tools for data collection and analysis.Through textual observation and notes of reading, the current study argues that researchers and scholars in the discipline converge when it comes to a dire need for translation strategies, but diverge in their classification and particular application for convenience in translating and translation. This study maintains that the translation strategies should be grouped into explicitation, normalisation and simplification, where each is assigned specific translation procedures. The study demonstrates that explicitation and normalisation translation strategies are best suited in dealing with translation constraints at a microtextual level. The sampled excerpts from both plays were examined on the preference for the analytical framework based on subjective sameness within a Skopos theory. The current study acknowledges that there is no single way of translating a play from one culture to the other. It also acknowledges that there appears to be no way the translator can refrain from the influence of the source text, as an inherent cultural feature that makes it unique. With no sure way of managing stylistic devices as translation constraints, translation as a problem-solving process requires creativity, a demonstration of mastery of language and style of the author of the source text, as well as a power drive characterised by the aspects of interlingual psychological balance of power and knowledge power. These aspects will help the translator to manage whatever translation brief(s) better, and arrive at a product that is accessible, accurate and acceptable to the target readership. They will also ensure that the translator maintains a balance between the two languages in contact, in order to guard against domination of one language over the other. The current study concludes that the Skopos theory has a larger influence in dealing with anticipating the context of the target readership as a factor that can introduce high risk when assessing the communicability conditions for the translated message. Contrariwise, when dealing with stylistic devices and employ literal translation as a translation procedure to simplification, the translator only aims at simplifying the language and making it accessible for the sake of ‘accessibility’ as it remains a product with communicative inadequacies. The study also concludes by maintaining that translation is not only transcoding, but the activity that calls for the translator’s creativity in order to identify and analyse the constraints encountered and decide on the corresponding translation strategies. / African Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)

Hugo Loetscher (1929-2009) a joué un rôle important dans la littérature suisse alémanique du 20e siècle. On lui accole souvent l’étiquette de « cosmopolite suisse », tant il a réussi le pari de s’intéresser au vaste monde sans jamais renier son milieu et son pays d’origine. L’essai dont il est question ici, äs tischört und plutschins. Über das Unreine in der Sprache, eine helvetische Situierung, adopte une perspective suisse pour proposer une réflexion sur le lien entre langue, littérature et nation, sur la place des langues minoritaires dans le monde globalisé et sur l’idéal – critiquable selon Loetscher – de « pureté » linguistique. Ce mémoire, en plus de présenter une traduction de l’essai de Loetscher, qui était jusqu’à ce jour inédit en français, réfléchit à l’actualité de ce texte dans le contexte québécois et au processus de traduction d’un auteur suisse germanophone pour un public francophone diversifié, en s’appuyant sur les théories de la stylistique comparée d’Alfred Malblanc et du skopos de Katharina Reiß et Hans J. Vermeer. Notre étude se penche d’une part sur le rôle d’éléments péritextuels comme les notes de bas de page qui, dans le processus d’adaptation, permettent au translatum, c’est-à-dire au résultat de l’acte de traduction, au texte cible, de respecter son objectif de départ, son skopos. D’autre part, l’analyse aborde la question d’une possible utilisation de régionalismes (québécois ou suisses) dans un translatum en français standard dont le texte source porte lui-même sur la diversité linguistique et les variantes régionales et dialectales. / Hugo Loetscher (1929-2009) has played an important role in Swiss-German literature of the 20th century. He is often described as a “Swiss cosmopolitan” because of the way he managed to stay interested in what was happening in the whole wide world without ever disowning his social background and his country of origin. This thesis examines an essay, äs tischört und plutschins. Über das Unreine in der Sprache, eine helvetische Situierung, which adopts a Swiss perspective to deal with the relationship between language, literature and nation – the place of minority languages in the globalized world and on the ideal of linguistic “purity” deemed questionable by Loetscher Besides proposing a translation of Loetscher’s essay still unpublished in French, this thesis explores the pertinence of the aforementioned text in the current context in Québec and the translation process of a Swiss German author’s text for a diverse francophone public based on the theories of Alfred Malblanc (comparative stylistics), Katharina Reiß and Hans J. Vermeer (skopos theory). The study addresses on the one hand the role of peritextual elements, such as footnotes, for the adaptation process, allowing the translatum, the target text as a result of the translation act, to meet its initial goal; its skopos. On the other hand, the study reflects on the use of (québécois or Swiss) regionalisms in a translatum that is in standard French, how they relate to the source text’s focus on linguistic diversity, and regional and dialectal variations. / Hugo Loetscher (1929-2009) spielte eine wichtige Rolle in der deutschschweizerischen Literatur des 20. Jh. Oft wird er als „kosmopolitischer Schweizer“ beschrieben, da es ihm so gut gelungen ist, sich für die weite Welt zu interessieren, ohne seine Heimat zu verleugnen. Das in dieser Arbeit behandelte Essay – äs tischört und plutschins. Über das Unreine in der Sprache, eine helvetische Situierung – bietet eine schweizerische Perspektive auf die Beziehung zwischen Sprache, Literatur und Nation, die Stellung von Minderheitensprachen in der globalisierten Welt und das von Loetscher kritisierte Ideal einer „reinen“ Sprache an. Nach einer Übersetzung des im Französischen bisher unveröffentlichten Essays fokussiert diese Arbeit die Relevanz dieses Werkes im quebecischen Kontext und, anhand der Stylistique comparée von Alfred Malblanc und der Skopos-Theorie von Katharina Reiß und Hans J. Vermeer, den Übersetzungsprozess eines Deutschschweizer Autoren für ein vielfältiges französischsprachiges Publikum. Einerseits wird die Rolle peritextueller Elemente, u.a. Fußnoten, im Übersetzungsprozess analysiert, welche die Erfüllung des skopos – der Zweck – vom translatum – der Zieltext – ermöglichen. Andererseits wird eine mögliche Verwendung von (quebecischen oder helvetischen) Regionalismen in einem Standardfranzösischen Translat in Bezug auf sprachliche Vielfalt und regionale und dialektale Variationen behandelt.

Text in English / Abstracts in English and Venda / This study has investigated the effectiveness of available tools used for translating from English into Tshivenḓa and vice versa with the aim to investigate and determine the effectiveness of these tools. This study dealt with the problem of lack of effective translation tools used to translate between English and Tshivenḓa. Tshivenḓa is one of South Africa’s minority languages. Its (Tshivenḓa) lack of effective translation tools negatively affects language practitioners’ work. This situation is perilous for translation quality assurance. Translation tools, both computer technology and non-computer technology tools abound for developed languages such as English, French and others. Based on the results of this research project, the researcher did make recommendations that could remedy the situation. South Africa is a democratic country that has a number of language-related policies. This then creates a conducive context for stakeholders with language passion to fully develop Tshivenḓa language in all dimensions. The fact is that all languages have evolved and they were all underdeveloped. This vividly shows that Tshivenḓa language development is also possible just like Afrikaans, which never existed on earth before 1652. It (Afrikaans) has evolved and overtaken all indigenous South African languages. This study did review the literature regarding translation and translation tools. The literature was obtained from both published and unpublished sources. The study has used mixed methods research, i.e. quantitative and qualitative research methods. These methods successfully complemented each other throughout the entire research. Data were gathered through questionnaires and interviews wherein both open and closed-ended questions were employed. Both purposive/judgemental and snowball (chain) sampling have been applied in this study. Data analysis was addressed through a combination of methods owing to the nature of mixed methods research. Guided by analytic comparison approach when grouping together related data during data analysis and presentation, both statistical and textual analyses have been vital in this study. Themes were constructed to lucidly present the gathered data. At the last chapters, the researcher discussed the findings and evaluated the entire research before making recommendations and conclusion. / Iyi ṱhoḓisiso yo ita tsedzuluso nga ha kushumele kwa zwishumiswa zwi re hone zwine zwa shumiswa u pindulela u bva kha luambo lwa English u ya kha Tshivenḓa na u bva kha Tshivenḓa u ya kha English ndivho I ya u sedzulusa na u lavhelesa kushumele kwa izwi zwishumiswa uri zwi a thusa naa. Ino ṱhoḓisiso yo shumana na thaidzo ya ṱhahelelo ya zwishumiswa zwa u pindulela zwine zwa shumiswa musi hu tshi pindulelwa vhukati ha English na Tshivenḓa. Tshivenḓa ndi luṅwe lwa nyambo dza Afrika Tshipembe dzine dza ambiwa nga vhathu vha si vhanzhi. U shaea ha zwishumiswa zwa u pindulela zwine zwa shuma nga nḓila I thusaho zwi kwama mushumo wa vhashumi vha zwa nyambo nga nḓila I si yavhuḓi. Iyi nyimele I na mulingo u kwamaho khwaḽithi ya zwo pindulelwaho. Zwishumiswa zwa u pindulela, zwa thekhnoḽodzhi ya khomphiyutha na zwi sa shumisi thekhnoḽodzhi ya khomphiyutha zwo ḓalesa kha nyambo dzo bvelelaho u tou fana na kha English, French na dziṅwe. Zwo sendeka kha mvelelo dza ino thandela ya ṱhoḓisiso, muṱoḓisisi o ita themendelo dzine dza nga fhelisa thaidzo ya nyimele. Afrika Tshipembe ndi shango ḽa demokirasi ḽine ḽa vha na mbekanyamaitele dzo vhalaho nga ha dzinyambo. Izwi zwi ita uri hu vhe na nyimele ine vhafaramikovhe vhane vha funesa nyambo vha kone u bveledza Tshivenḓa kha masia oṱhe. Zwavhukuma ndi zwa uri nyambo dzoṱhe dzi na mathomo nahone dzoṱhe dzo vha dzi songo bvelela. Izwi zwi ita uri zwi vhe khagala uri luambo lwa Tshivenḓa na lwone lu nga bveledzwa u tou fana na luambo lwa Afrikaans lwe lwa vha lu si ho ḽifhasini phanḓa ha ṅwaha wa 1652. Ulu luambo (Afrikaans) lwo vha hone shangoni lwa mbo bveledzwa lwa fhira nyambo dzoṱhe dza fhano hayani Afrika Tshipembe. Kha ino ṱhoḓisiso ho vhaliwa maṅwalwa ane a amba nga ha u pindulela na nga ha zwishumiswa zwa u pindulela. Maṅwalwa e a vhalwa o wanala kha zwiko zwo kanḓiswaho na zwiko zwi songo kanḓiswaho. Ino ṱhoḓisiso yo shumisa ngona dza ṱhoḓisiso dzo ṱanganyiswaho, idzo ngona ndi khwanthithethivi na khwaḽithethivi. Idzi ngona dzo shumisana zwavhuḓisa kha ṱhoḓisiso yoṱhe. Data yo kuvhanganywa hu tshi khou shumiswa dzimbudziso na u tou vhudzisa hune afho ho shumiswa mbudziso dzo vuleaho na dzo valeaho. Ngona dza u nanga sambula muṱoḓisisi o shumisa khaṱulo yawe uri ndi nnyi ane a nga vha a na data yo teaho na u humbela vhavhudziswa uri vha bule vhaṅwe vhathu vha re na data yo teaho ino ṱhoḓisiso. viii Tsenguluso ya data ho ṱanganyiswa ngona dza u sengulusa zwo itiswa ngauri ṱhoḓisiso ino yo ṱanganyisa ngona dza u ita ṱhoḓisiso. Sumbanḓila ho shumiswa tsenguluso ya mbambedzo kha u sengulusa data. Data ine ya fana yo vhewa fhethu huthihi musi hu tshi khou senguluswa na u vhiga. Tsenguluso I shumisaho mbalo/tshivhalo (khwanthithethivi) na I shumisaho maipfi kha ino ngudo dzo shumiswa. Ho vhumbiwa dziṱhoho u itela u ṱana data ye ya kuvhanganywa. Ngei kha ndima dza u fhedza, muṱodisisi o rera nga ha mawanwa, o ṱhaṱhuvha ṱhoḓisiso yoṱhe phanḓa ha u ita themendelo na u vhina. / African Languages / M.A. (African Languages)