Föreliggande avhandling syftar till att utveckla läsningen och tolkningen av inskrifterna på de i dagsläget 46 kända vikingatida runblecken. Målet är att ge en så tydlig bild som möjligt av inskriftsgenren vikingatida runbleck. I detta syfte har upprepade fältundersökningar av runblecken genomförts med stereomikroskop. På grundval av på så vis etablerade nya läsningar föreslås nya tolkningar till de mest problematiska ställena i de tidigare tolkade runblecksinskrifterna. Nya tolkningsförslag ges även för runblecksinskrifter som tidigare har ansetts vara olexikaliska. Utöver nya läsningar och tolkningar resulterar denna studie i en kartläggning av relationen mellan runblecksinskrifternas innehåll och form å den enda sidan och runbleckens fyndmiljöer och utseende å den andra. / The aim of this dissertation is to represent as clearly as possible the genre of Viking-Age runic plates by developing readings and interpretations of the inscriptions on the 46 metal plates with runes from the Viking Age known today. Several investigations of the runic plates have been conducted with a stereomicroscope for this purpose. On the basis of the new readings thus established, new interpretations have been proposed for the most problematic sections of previously interpreted inscriptions. New interpretations are also offered for inscriptions on runic plates which have previously been considered non-lexical. As well as providing new readings and interpretations, this study has resulted in clarification of the relationship between the form and content of the inscriptions on the runic plates on the one hand and on their find circumstances and appearance on the other.

Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited / This thesis presents Concept of Operations (CONOPS) for two specific automated language translation (ALT) devices, the P2 Phraselator and the Voice Response Translator (VRT). The CONOPS for each device are written as Appendix A and Appendix B respectively. The body of the thesis presents a broad introduction to the present state of ALT technology for the reader who is new to the general subject. It pursues this goal by introducing the human language translation problem followed by nine characteristic descriptors of ALT technology devices to provide a basic comparison framework of existing technologies. The premise is that ALT technology is presently in a state where it is tackled incrementally with various approaches. Two tables are provided that illustrate six commercially available devices using the descriptors. A scenario is then described in which the author observed the two subject ALT devices (depicted in the CONOPS in the Appendices) being employed within an international military exercise. Some unique human observations associated with the use of these devices in the exercise are discussed. A summary is provided of the Department of Defense (DOD) process that is exploring ALT technology devices, specifically the Language and Speech Exploitation Resources (LASER) Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration ACTD. / Lieutenant Commander, United States Navy

While the linguistic concept of politeness has been thoroughly analyzed, the same does not apply to its interpreting. The present theoretical-empirical work describes the means for expressing politeness grouped by G. Leechʼs maxims of politeness. The empirical part analyzes recordings of simultaneous interpretation from media and European Parliament settings. This is a quantitative study and the outcome is the number of means for expressing politeness which the interpreters conveyed into Czech. On average and in all of the material 65,7 % of means for expressing politeness were conveyed into Czech in compliance with the maxims. The means analyzed are prosody, non-verbal communication, modality, personal reference, etc. An equivalent interpretation of means of politeness was deemed desirable. The thesis verifies the hypothesis whether the level of politeness significantly increased in comparison with the original speeches. Key words: politeness, pragmatics, illocutionary act, maxims of politeness, face, modality, prosody, non- verbal communication, Czech, English, interpreting, equivalence, US presidential debate, Obama, Romney, Common Agricultural Policy, European Parliament, Catherine Ashton, forms of address

Text in English / This study examines and discovers the translation strategies as employed in the Sesotho sa Leboa translation of Mandela's Long Walk to Freedom. Mandela's Long Walk to Freedom was published in 1995 and was translated into Sesotho sa Leboa by S M Serudu in 2001. The Sesotho sa Leboa translation of the life history of Mandela, Leetotelele go ya Tokologong (Long Walk to Freedom) is one of the four completed translations to date that form part of the assignment to translate the original text into the official languages of South Africa. The aim of this study is to investigate the translation strategies used to transfer linguistic and cultural items in the translation of Mandela's autobiography. The study is mainly qualitative and examines the strategies employed by Serudu. For data collection, the source and target texts of Mandela's Long Walk to Freedom as well as the semi-structured face-to-face interviews with four translators into Sesotho sa Leboa, isiZulu, isiXhosa and Afrikaans were used. The study is based on the Descriptive Translation Studies Theory, Bassnett and Lefevere's "cultural turn" as well as the domestication and foreignization strategies. In this case, it investigates if Serudu has domesticated and/or foreignized his translation. The findings revealed that Serudu domesticated his translation by using metaphors, similes, personification, euphemism, hyperbole, proverbs, idioms and the use of descriptive words. Foreignization was also found when the translator dealt with the borrowing and loaning of words where most of the concepts were transferred, Sotholised, retained and transferred, as they were, especially culture specific items. / African Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)

By conducting case studies in which representative works of Chinese and English feminist writing, together with their translations, are carefully analyzed, the third and fourth chapters examine the trajectory of the female power's traveling from the source text to the target text. The C-E section discusses a novel (written by the Chinese feminist writer Hong Ying) and its English translations by Howard Goldblatt (complete translation) and Mu Lei (partial translation); the E-C section deals with the independent story extracted from Doris Lessing's The Golden Notebook and its three Chinese versions by one female and two male translators respectively. In both sections, the writers' feminist thoughts that embrace female power are specifically analyzed. In the study, it is found that male and female translations differ from each other, thus offering quite different pictures of the female power expressed by feminist writers and altering the reading experience. / The current thesis, standing astride Translation and Gender Studies, has taken an interdisciplinary perspective to study the translations of contemporary feminist fiction. It is hoped that this study can offer some insights into the intersection between language and gender issues in translation and contribute to the development of the research domain of gender and translation. / The fifth chapter elaborates on how the translators' interpretation and translation might affect in the target text the feminist writers' expression of power, and discusses the translator's gender as an important variable that might affect the translation of feminist literary writings. In the last chapter, conclusions about and reflections on the current study are presented, followed by some suggestions for future research. / The thesis is divided into six chapters. The first chapter introduces the research background and reviews previous studies examining translation using gender perspectives. The second chapter offers a theoretical framework for the current study. Taking Foucault's theory of power/discourse as a starting point, it demonstrates the relationship between power and discourse (feminist writing and translations), and argues 1) that feminist writing proclaims female power; 2) that translation can, on the one hand, transmit and strengthen that power and, on the other hand, weaken that power by toning down the feminist consciousness inherent in the original text; and 3) that translation is actually an 'intermediary station' where power is negotiated and discourse (re)constructed. / This thesis looks, from a gender perspective, into the translation of contemporary feminist fiction from Chinese to English and vice versa. In the thesis, the relationship among three interrelated domains, namely, gender, translation and power, is carefully examined. The role played by male as opposed to female translators in translating contemporary feminist fiction is further discussed by conducting case studies to investigate multiple translations of two pieces of feminist writing. / 劉劍雯. / Advisers: Wong Kwok Pun; Tung Yuan Fang. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 73-01, Section: A, page: . / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 217-238). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [201-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in Chinese and English. / Liu Jianwen.

This thesis reports a collective case study of the school educational experiences of five severely and profoundly deaf students who were enrolled in regular schools in rural areas of New South Wales. The students ranged in age from 6 to 18 years. Three issues were examined: (1) The impact of the philosophy of inclusive education and the question of why students with high degrees of deafness and high support needs were enrolled in regular schools in rural areas; (2) The specific linguistic an educational support needs of deaf students; and (3) The ability of the regular schools and teachers to cater for the educational needs of the deaf students in those settings. The case studies revealed that to considerably varying extents in different situations, the students were afforded inclusive educational opportunities. The extent of inclusiveness of students’ educational experiences was shown to vary according to a number of variables. The variables identified included: the type and quality of communication with the deaf student, teaching style, accessibility of content, particular lesson type, and the type and extent of curriculum adaptations employed. As a result of the analysis of the data from the five cases, a number of generalistions were possible. These generalisations were that (a) students with the ability to access spoken communication auditorily were more easily included than students using manual communication; (b) reduction of linguistic and academic input occurred as a response to student inability to access class programs because of reduced linguistic capabilities, resulting in the deaf students receiving different and reduced information to the hearing students; (c) communication between a deaf student and his or her class teacher needed to be direct for the most successful inclusion to occur; (d) teaching style needed to be interactive or experiential for successful language learning and literacy development to occur; (e) curriculum adaptations needed to involve provision of visual support for lesson material to be highly effective; (f) lessons/subjects easily supported by visual means, such as mathematics or practical subjects, when taught hierarchically, going from the known to unknown in achievable steps, meant teaching style could be either transmission or interactive, for lesson activities to be considered inclusive; (g) students with poor literacy skills were unable to successfully access an intact (i.e., unaltered and complete) high school curriculum; (h) the teaching style of the class teacher impacted on the support model possible for the itinerant teacher; (i) an interactive class teaching style allowed for cooperative teaching between class teacher and itinerant teacher who could then assist the class teacher with both the linguistic and academic needs of the deaf student; (j) a transmission style of teaching resulted in various levels of withdrawal for the deaf student unless the subject matter could be represented visually; (k) when curriculum content or expected outcomes were reduced, the deaf students did not have the same access to information as their hearing counterparts and consequently could not develop concepts or understandings in the same manner; and (l) language and literacy development were most facilitated when interactive teaching opportunities were established proactively for the deaf students rather than through the reduction of content as a response to their failure to successfully engage with the complete curriculum. The conclusions suggest an alternative support proposal for deaf students in rural environments. The model of support proposed involves the targeting of specific preschools and primary schools with the provision of teachers identified to teach collaboratively and interactively. Under the proposed model several students with impaired hearing would be located within the one school with the itinerant teacher position becoming a full-time appointment in that school. Such a model would enable coenrolment, co-teaching, co-programming, creative grouping, and the provision of demonstration opportunities and support for other teachers within the school and district that had deaf students enrolled. Finally, interactive teaching, based on a clearly defined theoretical model of language acquisition, development, and learning, is recommended for students with impaired hearing in such environments. It is argued that the support of linguistic development and academic learning could be facilitated concurrently, thus ensuring that by the time students had reached high school they would possess sufficient literacy skills to access a regular high school program successfully. / PhD Doctorate

La tesi té per objecte l'estudi de les decisions d'una jurisdicció constitucional en les quals, com a alternativa a la declaració d'invalidesa, es condiciona la constitucionalitat dels preceptes legals que s'examinen a una determinada interpretació fixada pel Tribunal Constitucional. La investigació analitza els fonaments d'aquesta tècnica i els exemples del seu us en dret comparat. L'autor rebutja una aproximació a aquest fenomen de caràcter tipològic (que ha estat l'habitual en les aportacions fins ara publicades sobre la matèria) per endinsar-se a analitzar les raons materials i institucionals que porten a una jurisdicció constitucional a dictar aquesta mena de pronunciaments. / La tesis tiene por objeto el estudio de aquellas decisiones de una jurisdicción constitucional en las que, como alternativa a la declaración de invalidez, la constitucionalidad de los preceptos legales examinados quedan condicionados a una interpretación establecida por el propio Tribunal Constitucional. La investigación analiza los fundamentos de dicha técnica y los ejemplos de su uso en derecho comparado. El autor rechaza una aproximación a este fenómeno de carácter tipológico (habitual en las aportaciones hasta la fecha publicadas) y se centra en el análisis de las razones materiales e institucionales que impulsan a la jurisdicción constitucional a dictar esta especie de pronunciamientos. / The dissertation examines those constitutional court decisions in which the controlled statute is not set aside but constitutional under some conditions fixed by the Constitutional Court. The research analyzes the foundations of these decisions and their use by the Constitutional Courts in comparative law. The author rejects an approach of such decisions based upon their classification and argues for a position concerning the institutional and material background in which these decisions are invoked.

L'avaluació de la qualitat en interpretació al final del procés formatiu de postgrau hauria de coincidir, si més no majoritàriament, amb les expectatives de qualitat professionals respecte a un intèrpret novell. Partint d'aquesta hipòtesi, i inspirant-nos tan en estudis de satisfacció o expectatives de qualitat d'usuaris d'interpretació (perspectiva professional) com en els protocols d'avaluació aplicats a diverses universitats (perspectiva acadèmica), així com en els Models dels esforços de Daniel Gile, la nostra recerca empírica i observacional suposa una contribució a la identificació dels criteris de qualitat en interpretació. Es va enregistrar i transcriure un ampli corpus amb un total de 69 avaluacions de 18 estudiants davant d'un total de 7 examinadors en un postgrau d'interpretació de conferència mèdica. Després d'identificar els indicadors de qualitat (67) considerats pels avaluadors, es va dur a terme una anàlisi estadística, l'establiment de categories (6) i la identificació de trets distintius entre els avaluadors. La innovació rau en el fet d'haver desgranat els criteris de qualitat implícits a partir del corpus (avaluacions en un postgrau d'especialitat), en el mètode emprat per identificar les categories i en el seu processament. Els resultats mostren, entre altres qüestions, que la quantitat de comentaris positius o negatius fets pels avaluadors pràcticament no influeixen en la puntuació atorgada als estudiants. / La evaluación de la calidad en interpretación al final del proceso formativo de posgrado debería coincidir, al menos mayoritariamente, con las expectativas de calidad profesionales respecto a un intérprete novel. Partiendo de esta hipótesis, e inspirándonos tanto en estudios sobre satisfacción o expectativas de calidad de usuarios de interpretación (perspectiva profesional) como en los protocolos de evaluación aplicados en distintas universidades (perspectiva académica), así como en los Modelos de los esfuerzos de Daniel Gile, nuestra investigación empírica y observacional supone una contribución a la identificación de los criterios de calidad en interpretación. Se grabó y se transcribió un amplio corpus con un total de 69 evaluaciones de 18 estudiantes ante un total de 7 examinadores en un posgrado de interpretación de conferencia médica. Tras identificar los indicadores de calidad (67) considerados por los evaluadores, se procedió a un análisis estadístico, al establecimiento de categorías (6) y a la identificación de rasgos distintivos entre los evaluadores. La innovación radica en haber desgranado los criterios de calidad implícitos a partir del corpus (evaluaciones en un posgrado de especialidad), en el método utilizado para identificar las categorías y en su procesamiento. Los resultados muestran, entre otros extremos, que la cantidad de comentarios positivos o negativos realizados apenas influyen en la puntuación que otorgan a los estudiantes. / Assessing interpreting quality at the final stages of a student's training process at the postgraduate level should be, for the most part, in keeping with quality expectations for novel practitioners. On the basis of such hypothesis, and inspired by studies on quality satisfaction or users' expectations (professional approach), assessment protocols used in different training schools (academic approach), and Daniel Gile's Efforts Model, our research -empirical and observational- aims to contribute to identify quality-defining criteria in interpreting. A large corpus was recorded and transcribed, with a total of 69 post-exercise assessments of 18 interpreters taking a specialization course in medical interpreting by 7 instructors. The assessments were scrutinized for evaluative comments which were analyzed statistically. This involved also classifying them in categories (67) and later merging them into 6 category groups. The innovation lies in the very concept of working backwards from a corpus towards implicit quality criteria, in the work on this corpus type (assessments during a postgraduate training course), in the method used to identify categories and in the further processing of the categories. The findings give some solid indications and show that assessors are not too influenced by the number of positive or negative comments they make when deciding what mark they will grant to the students.

Η παρούσα διδακτορική διατριβή επικεντρώνεται σε δύο ερευνητικά προβλήματα που αποτελούν τα αντικείμενα δύο ερευνητικών φάσεων. Στην Α΄ ερευνητική φάση, διάρκειας ενός έτους, ασχολείται με τη διερεύνηση μαθηματικών πρακτικών σε τρεις ομάδες τεχνικών του Οργανισμού Τηλεπικοινωνιών Ελλάδας αναζητώντας παράλληλα την ύπαρξη αμετάβλητων στοιχείων της μαθηματικής επιστήμης τα οποία διαπερνούν την ακαδημαϊκή και την παρούσα εργασιακή κοινότητα. Στη Β΄ ερευνητική φάση, διάρκειας οκτώ μηνών, εξετάζει κάτω και υπό ποιες προϋποθέσεις πέντε σπουδαστές ενός Τεχνολογικού Εκπαιδευτικού Ιδρύματος που πραγματοποιούν την πρακτική τους άσκηση στον ίδιο Οργανισμό είναι σε θέση να αναγνωρίσουν τα αμετάβλητα αυτά στοιχεία. Στην Α΄ ερευνητική φάση η Θεωρία Δραστηριότητας των Vygotsky, Leont’ ev και των συνεχιστών του έργου τους, Engeström & Cole, αποτελεί τη θεωρητική βάση της εργασίας. Τα ερευνητικά δεδομένα προκύπτουν από εθνογραφικής φύσης παρατηρήσεις αλλά και συζητήσεις με τους συμμετέχοντες. Η μαθηματική δραστηριότητα που αναγνωρίσαμε στο χώρο εργασίας ήταν πολύπλοκη και πλούσια αλλά πλήρως ενταγμένη στο πλαίσιο αναφοράς της. Ειδικότερα, αναγνωρίσαμε και ταξινομήσαμε τα μαθηματικά εργαλεία τα οποία διαμεσολαβούσαν στις κεντρικές καθημερινές εργασιακές δραστηριότητες των τεχνικών και αναδείξαμε τους τρόπους με τους οποίους αυτά εμπλέκονταν με τα τεχνικής φύσης εργαλεία τους. Ταυτόχρονα αναγνωρίσαμε αμετάβλητα μαθηματικά στοιχεία στις μαθηματικές έννοιες, στο τρόπο κατανόησής τους από τους τεχνικούς και σε μαθηματικές διαδικασίες που οι ίδιοι χρησιμοποιούσαν για την επίτευξη των εργασιακών τους στόχων. Στην Β΄ ερευνητική φάση τα ερευνητικά δεδομένα προέρχονται από διερευνητικής και παρεμβατικής φύσης συνεντεύξεις με τους σπουδαστές και εθνογραφικές παρατηρήσεις. Μέσα από τις διερευνητικής φύσης συνεντεύξεις καταγράψαμε τις στάσεις των σπουδαστών ως μέλη της σπουδαστικής και της συγκεκριμένης εργασιακής κοινότητας και αναζητήσαμε μαθηματικές πρακτικές που ανέπτυξαν ως μαθητευόμενοι στην παρούσα εργασιακή τους κοινότητα. Οι μαθηματικές πρακτικές που ανέπτυξαν οι σπουδαστές, έστω και ασυνείδητα, είχαν άμεση εξάρτηση από τα εργαλεία και τους εργασιακούς στόχους της κάθε κοινότητας και αφορούσαν την ικανότητα οπτικοποίησης και την ανάγνωση και ερμηνεία σύνθετων οπτικών αναπαραστάσεων. Τέλος, μέσα από μια σειρά παρεμβατικής φύσης συνεντεύξεων αναλύσαμε με εργαλεία σημειωτικής τη δραστηριότητα που ανέπτυξαν οι ίδιοι σπουδαστές στην προσπάθεια ερμηνείας αυθεντικών αναπαραστάσεων με σκοπό τη σύνδεση κοινών μαθηματικών εννοιών που συναντώνται στην ακαδημαϊκή και στην παρούσα εργασιακή κοινότητα. Οι έννοιες αυτές αφορούσαν το θεσιακό σύστημα αρίθμησης και τη συναρτησιακή σχέση αντίστασης, μήκους, διαμέτρου χάλκινων καλωδίων. Καταλήγουμε, καταγράφοντας τα χαρακτηριστικά που προάγουν και αναστέλλουν, τη μεταφορά της γνώσης στο νέο κοινωνικό-πολιτισμικό πλαίσιο. Στο τέλος της διατριβής καταγράφονται και αναλύονται οι εκπαιδευτικές προεκτάσεις της έρευνας. / This dissertation thesis focuses on two different research problems carried out in two research phases. In the first research phase, lasting one year, it focuses on the exploration –identification of mathematical practices of three different groups of technicians of the Greek Telecommunication Organization. In parallel, it investigates the existence of invaried mathematical elements that are crossing the academic and the current workplace community. In the second research face, lasting eight months, it investigates how and whether five students of a Technological Educational Institute who were doing their practicum in this setting could recognize these invariant mathematical elements. In the first research phase, the theoretical framework is guided by Vygotsky and Leont’ev work on Activity theory and their followers, Engeström & Cole. Our data are coming from ethnographic observations and discussions with the participants. The mathematical activity we identified was complex and rich but completely contextual. Especially, we recognized and categorized the mediated mathematical tools in technicians’ central workplace activities and we were showing off how these are interrelated with their physical mediated tools. At the same time we recognized invariant mathematical elements in the category of mathematical concepts, the meanings the technicians attributed to these concepts and in the category of mathematical processes they were using in order to achieve their workplace goals. In the second research phase, our data are coming from eexploratory and intervention interviews with the students and ethnographic observations. In the exploratory interviews we recorded their experiences and their attitudes as members of the academic and the workplace community and we identified mathematical practices they developed as apprentice members of this community. Τhe main mathematical practices the students developed, mainly unconsciously, were attached to the tools and the goals of the workplace community and referring to visualization and reading and interpreting complex visual representations. Finally, through the intervention interviews, we analyzed with the help of semiotic tools the activity the same students developed in order to interpret mathematical objects that are common to the academic and workplace community. The mathematical objects were referring to the place value concept and the functional relation between the resistance, the length and the diameter of the copper wires. In the conclusion, we recorded the characteristics that support and block students’ transfer of knowledge in their new socio-cultural context. In the end of the thesis we discuss and analyze the educational implications of our findings.

Javier Marías has explained many times that working as a translator of literary works from English into Spanish helped shape him as a writer. This study explores those claims by analysing two things: firstly, his translations themselves; and secondly, seeing how those translations have left discernible traces in his own fiction.