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Post Graduate Diploma in Translation Studies
 

423.7.5: TEXT / DISCOURSE STRUCTURE AND TRANSLATION

 

     A text is not simply a random sequence of unrelated sentences. There is some kind of mutual dependence among the sentences. A text 'hangs together' both linguistically and conceptually. That is, internal structure of a text is a complex network of relationships. Sometimes, the structure is immediately apparent as in the headings of a restaurant menu, official forms etc. We shall see in this section what makes a text hang together and what should a translator consider while translating text.

 

423.7.5.1  : COGENCY

 

     The cogency of a text may be defined as the degree to which a text hangs together. It has been suggested that there may be some conventional strategies and constraints that regulate cogency. Moreover, it is also pointed out that such strategies and constraints vary from culture to culture like the ritual greeting formulae. That means, a rational discourse is not a universal concept in the sense that it is not identical for language users across cultures. This culture specific concept puts the translator in a problematic situation.

 

423.7.5.2  : COHESION

 

     Cohesion is one of the aspects of cogency and discourse. It refers to the transparent linking of sentences through different strategies / devices. These devices make the sentences in a text hang together. They contribute to the stability, economy and efficiency of the text. We shall look at some of them below before we attempt how they can be translated.

 

     (i)  Connectives

 

     Connectives are the explicit markers such as moreover, but, while and so on. We can distinguish four kinds of connectives on the basis of their function:

     Conjunctions - words like 'and', 'moreover', 'also', 'in addition', 'besides'. They join words/sentences/propositions.

     Disjunctions - words like or either . or, whether or not.

     Contrajunctions - words like but, yet, however, nevertheless. These link units which are incompatible with each other.

     Subordinators - words like 'since', 'because', 'while', 'therefore'. These words link units and make one of the units dependent on the other. They explain cause, effect, reason etc.

 
     (ii) Coreference
 

     A unit is said to corefer with another in the text if the former is interpreted in terms of the semantic feature of the latter. The relationship is called coreference. Two types of coreference are recognized: anaphoric and cataphoric. Anaphoric relation looks backward while cataphoric relation forward. The units which depend are usually referred to as pro-forms. Look at the following:

 

Short-cuts to freedom

 

Shortly after his arrival in prison, a young man had to have three teeth extracted. Then he lost a finger working in the kitchen. When he had to have his appendix taken out, a warden said to his collegue, "We'd better keep a close eye on this one. I reckon he's trying to break out piece by piece".

 

(Readers Digest, May 1995)

 
     In the first sentence we come across the pronoun 'his' which refers to the phrase 'a young man' which comes late in the sentence. The relation here is cataphoric. In the next sentence, the pronoun 'he' refers back to the phrase in the earlier sentence. That is, it is looking backward for reference. The relation is anaphoric. Similarly in the next sentence, the proform 'he' and 'his' in the subordinate clause 'when . taken out" refer back to the phrase in the first sentence of the text. If this sentence is isolated, we can interpret the pro-forms in the subordinate clause as referring to the phrase 'a warden' in the main clause. But as part of the text it is not so. Another proform which occurs in the text is 'this one' which refers to 'a young man' in the text. The relation here is again anaphoric.
 
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