Texts &

Translation
 Content
01 02 03
Sentences & Text Topic maintenance & continuity Information structure
What is not a text? What makes a text, text Another thing that makes a text, text

04 05 06
Coherence & Cohesion Text types & Genres Textual analysis, parallel texts & corpora
Cohesive devices As the title said It looks serious, but it is not!

1
 01
Sentences & Text
What is not a text?

2
Sentences vs. Texts

A text is more than a

concatenation of sentences or even
of paragraphs.

3
Why Are There Flawed Texts In Translation?

#Incomplete acquisition/learning

#Competence

#Not noticing textual features

4
Different languages

= Different textual features

 Textual features need to be

recreated in the target language

5
02
Textual Features

6
 Coherence: Meaning &
Pragmatic Relations underlying
a text and giving it unity,
meaning, purpose. (Mạch lạc)

Cohesive devices: Linguistic

elements assisting readers in
making text cohere, tracing
elements, following thematic
progression & info flow
(Phép liên kết)
Topic maintenance & continuity: Information structure: Readers
Readers must be able to trace must be able to follow info flow,
referents & follow thematic from old to new, relating new
progression contributions of the text to what is
(Duy trì & phát triển chủ đề) know (Kết cấu văn bản)
In translation: cohesive
devices often need to be
adjusted to conform to
target language norms &
usage
7
Topic maintenance and continuity
Topic refers to the point of orientation of a text
and to how this is developed and maintained
throughout the text.

8
 Theme

● What the clause is about.

● The point of orientation.

● The point of departure.

9
 Theme

● Different text types use different types of words, expressions to

show its orientation. (Ex. 4.1, 4.2)

● Maintaining the theme position of SL in the TL is a challenge in

translation  re-order words (Ex. 4.3)

 Noticing the theme helps translators keep their translating

works logical to follow.

10
 Tracing Participants

• Participants + Subsequent referents may be difficult to trace

during reading as they may be continuingly mentioned
throughout the text.

• Languages use a range of linguistic structures to identify

participants. (Ex. 4.6)

 Identification of participants = Right word choice in TL.

11
 03
INFORMATION STRUCTURE
Old & New Information

12
 Old & New Information

Old/ know/ given Info New/ added Info

1. Known because it has been mentioned before or it 1. Writer’s contributions
is extra-linguitic factors shared by writer & 2. Moves the text forward
readers
2. Serves as a common ground to which new info is
added
 Information progression/ flow usually moves from OLD to NEW (cognitive
reasons)
13
Example 1a
Compounding­­1New

(1) Compounding1Old is a process that forms new words not by means

of affixes, but from two or more independent words2New.

(2) The word2Old can be free morpheme affixation, or even words

formed by compounding themselves3New.

14
👉🏻 999,000,000 USD Question 👈🏻
How can we identify OLD and NEW info?
Through reference & linguistic markers of reference

15
 Example 1b
Repetition
Compounding­­1New

(1) Compounding1Old is a process that forms new words not by means

of affixes but from two or more independent words2New.

(2) The word2Old can be free morpheme affixation, or even words

formed by compounding themselves3New.

Definite article

16
 👉🏻 1,000,000 USD Question 👈🏻
What if, we, as translators, cannot recognize reference markers?

17
 English
Example 2a (1) On Monday, December 17, 2012, at
approximately 12:20pm, at the
Fakaye Hotel located at 1250 Main
Street, Mr. Joe Sample, the
investigator, observed Mr. Example
arrive at the hotel in a white
convertible.
(2) The investigator observed Mr.
Example enter the hotel for roughly
a minute, then depart the hotel
parking lot.
(3) Then Mr. Example was observed
arriving nearby in Applebee’s
Restaurant parking lot at 12:40pm.
(4) At nearly the same time, a woman
arrived in a Jeep near the hotel
entrance.
(5) Mr. Example was and the woman
who arrived in the Jeep entered the
Applebee’s at approximately
12:45pm.
18
Vietnamese
(1) Thứ 2, ngày 17 tháng 12, năm
2012, vào khoảng 12:20 tại
Khách sạn Fayke nằm trên
Trục Đường Chính 1250,
Ông điều tra viên Joe Sample
theo dõi Ông Ví Dụ đến khách
sạn trên chiếc mui trần trắng.
(2) Ông ta quan sát ông ấy vào
một khách sạn trong vòng một
phút, sau đó rời bãi gửi xe.
(3) Sau đó ông được nhìn thấy
tới bãi đỗ xe của nhà hàng
gần đó vào lúc 12:40.
(4) Cùng lúc đó, một phụ nữ đi
trên chiếc Jeep tới gần lối vào
khách sạn.
(5) Ông và người phụ nữ được
nhìn thấy đi vào Applebee
đúng 12:45.
 Information structure and its progress through the text
needs coherence.

 Translators need to be aware of how SL & TL organize

and mark information flow in order to make necessary
adjustments & translation decision.

19
 👉🏻 Just a Question 👈🏻
What if shared knowledge between the writer & your reader
is mismatch?

20
Explicitation in translation
English Vietnamese
He sent his manuscript to Kanof. Anh ấy gửi bản thảo tới Kanof,
một Nhà xuất bản ở New York.

Vietnamese English
Hữu duyên thiên lý năng tương If it be fated, we can meet even if
ngộ we are separated by a thousand
Vô duyên đối diện bất tương
miles; but if it not be fated, we
phùng
shall not encounter each other
even if we are face-to-face.

21
Explicitation in translation
English
Roller ShadeTM protects your
children from the sun’s harmful
rays. RollerShadeTM may either
be clipped onto roll-down
window top or applies to
stationary window surface with
enclosed suction cups.
 Advertising purpose (genre-specific feature)
 Mindful of translation brief
Vietnamese
Rèm cuốn RollerShade bảo vệ
con bạn khỏi những tia có hại
từ mặt trời. Rèm cuốn
RollerShade có thể được kẹp
trên đỉnh loại cửa sổ cuốn hoặc
dùng cho bề mặt cửa sổ tĩnh
với các bộ hít kèm theo.
22
04
COHERENCE & COHESION
Cohesive devices

23
Example 3
Conjunction “But” indicates a contrasting idea.
 (a) My brother left, but I went.
 (b) My brother left, but I stayed.
 While the word “But” express contradiction, contrasting idea only appears in
sentence (b).
 (c) Bún đậu had mắm tôm in it, but it was still really good.
 Meaning relation belongs to extra-lingustic context: the participants,
their shared knowledge & presupposition
 Two-ideas in (c) will not cohere for many readers in Vietnam.
24a
 Cohesive devices

Cohesive devices are overt textual signs that help

the readers establish textual coherence.

24b
 Cohesive devices &
Cross-linguistically cohesive devices variation
 used to help the reader establish coherence necessary of the text

English Vietnamese

- Lexical repetition - Phép lặp: từ vựng, ngữ âm, cú

- Substitution with pronoun & pháp
synonyms - Phép thế: đồng nghĩa, đại từ
- Conjunction - Phép nối
- Ellipsis (lược bỏ) - Phép liên tưởng
- Other lexical cohesion - Phép nghịch đối

25
 English
(1) On Monday, December 17, 2012, at
Example 2b approximately 12:20pm, at the
Fakaye Hotel located at 1250 Main
Street, Mr. Joe Sample, the
investigator, observed Mr. Example
arrive at the hotel in a white
convertible.
(2) The investigator observed Mr.
Example enter the hotel for roughly
a minute, then depart the hotel
parking lot.
(3) Then Mr. Example was observed
arriving nearby in Applebee’s
Restaurant parking lot at 12:40pm.
(4) At nearly the same time, a woman
arrived in a Jeep near the hotel
entrance.
(5) Mr. Example was and the woman
who arrived in the Jeep entered the
Applebee’s at approximately
12:45pm.
26
Vietnamese
(1) Thứ 2, ngày 17 tháng 12, năm
2012, vào khoảng 12:20 tại Khách
sạn Fayke nằm trên Trục Đường
Chính 1250, ông điều tra viên Joe
Sample theo dõi ông Ví Dụ đến
khách sạn trên chiếc mui trần trắng.
(2) Vị điều tra viên quan sát ông Ví Dụ
vào khách sạn ấy trong vòng một
phút, sau đó rời bãi gửi xe khách
sạn.
(3) Sau đó ông Ví Dụ được nhìn thấy
tới bãi đỗ xe của nhà hàng
Applebee gần đó vào lúc 12:40.
(4) Cùng lúc đó, một phụ nữ đi trên
chiếc Jeep tới gần lối vào khách sạn
Fayke.
(5) Ông Ví dụ và người phụ nữ trên
được nhìn thấy đi vào nhà hàng
Applebee đúng 12:45.
Cross-linguistically cohesive devices variation
In Spanish journalist texts, it is extremely common to refer to participants previously
introduced in discourse by their specifically characters.
Spanish
Nike1 rompe su contrato con Lance
Arm Strong2
La marca deportiva dice que las
prubas del dopaje del cilista2 son
“irrefutables.” Al mismo tiempo el
tejano2 anuncia que deja2(él) la
presidencia de su2 fundación
contra el cáncer.
27
English
Nike1 terminates contract with
Lance Armstrong2
The sports brand1 says that there
is insurmountable evidence that
the cyclist2 participated in
dubbing. Also, the Texan
sportsman2 has announced that
he is stepping down as chairman
of his anti-cancer foundation.
Cross-linguistically cohesive devices variation
Finnish lacks articles  using word order to trace referents instead.
• Noun phrases at the final-clause position  introducing new or unkown referents.
• Noun phrases at the initial-clause position  introducing old or known referents.

Finnish English
Pihalla on lapsi ‘There is a child in the garden'

Lapsi on pihalla ‘The child is in the garden’

28
Example 4
Anh Dậu uốn vai ngáp dài một tiếng. Uể oải chống tay xuống phản, anh vừa rên vừa
ngỏng đầu lên. Run rẩy cất bát cháo, anh mới kề vào đến miệng, cai lệ và người nhà lí
trưởng đã sầm sập tiến vào với những roi song, tay thước và dây thừng.
________________
- Thằng kia! Ông tưởng mày chết đêm qua, còn sống đấy à? Nộp tiền sưu! Mau!
(Ngô Tất Tố, Tắt Đèn)

(1) Cai lệ gõ đầu roi xuống đất, thét bằng giọng khàn khàn của người hút nhiều xái cũ.
(2) Cai lệ thét bằng giọng khàn khàn của một người hút nhiều xái cũ, gõ đầu roi xuống đất.
(3) Gõ đầu roi xuống đất, bằng giọng khàn khàn của một người hút nhiều xái cũ, cai lệ thét.
(4) Bằng giọng khàn khàn của một người hút nhiều xái cũ, cai lệ gõ đầu roi xuống đất, thét.
(5) Bằng giọng khàn khàn của một người hút nhiều xái cũ, gõ đầu roi xuống đất, cai lệ thét.
(6) Thét bằng giọng khàn khàn của một người hút nhiều xái cũ, cai lệ gõ đầu roi xuống đất.
(7) Gõ đầu roi xuống đất, cai lệ thét bằng giọng khàn khàn của người hút nhiều xái cũ.
29 (Nguồn: Sách Ngữ văn 8)
Omission in translation
English
These people should not get IPV:
• Anyone who has ever had a life-
threatening allergic reaction to
the antibiotics neomycin,
streptomycin or polymyxin B
should not get another one.
These people should wait:
• Anyone who is moderately or
severely ill at the time the shot is
scheduled should usually wait
until they recover before getting
polio vaccine. People with minor
illness, such as a cold, may be
vaccinated.
Ask your health care provider for
more information.
Vietnamese
Không nên tiêm IPV khi:
• Người từng dị ứng (đe doạ tính
mạng) với kháng sinh neomycin,
streptomycin hoặc polymyxin B.
• Vừa bệnh nhẹ hoặc nặng vào thời
điểm đã được lên lịch để lịch tiêm
thuốc.
• Những người mắc bệnh nhẹ, như
cảm lạnh, có thể được tiêm vắc-
xin.
Nhận tư vấn từ nhân viên y tế trước
khi tiêm.
30
Spanish
Las siguientes personas no deberian
ser vacunadas con la IPV:
These people should not get IPV:
• Cualquier persona que alguna vez
haya tenido una reaación alégica
que le puso en peligro la vida al usar
los antibióticos neomicina,
estreptomicina o polimixina B.
• Anyone who has ever had a life-
threatening allergic reaction when
using the antibiotics neomycin,
streptomycin, or polymyxin B.
• Cualquier persona que haya tenido
una reacción alérgica grave a la
inyección antipoliomelítica.
• Anyone who has had a severe
allergic reaction to the polio
injection.
 05
TEXT TYPES AND GENRES

31
 • Text types: a conceptual framework, enabling us to
DEFINITION classify texts in terms of communicative intentions
serving an overall rhetorical purpose. (Hatim and
Mason, 1990).

• Text types are related to the writers’ intentions:

- trying to convince the reader of a viewpoint
(argumentative: nghị luận).
- offer information (expository: thuyết minh).
- express feelings or make someone behave/react
in a certain way (expressive: biểu cảm).

32
DEFINITION
Genres are the labels used to classify
texts according to the contexts in which
they occur; they are conventionalized
forms of texts that reflect features of a
social occasion (audience, time, place,
medium).
Ex: A poem, a book review, a novel, an
abstract, an editorial, an office memo
and a report, …

33
Example 5
You say that you love rain,
But you open your umbrella when it rains.
You say that you love the sun,
But you find a shadow spot when the sun shines.
You say that you love the wind,
But you close your windows when wind blows.
This is why I am afraid,
You say that you love me too.
(William Shakespeare)

34
 Hồ Xuân Hương
Chém cha mấy đứa thích trời
mưa
Mưa xuống che ô, chẳng chịu
vừa
Năm lần bảy lượt mê trời
nắng
Lại núp bóng vườn lúc giữa
trưa
Thích có gió lên, hiu hiu thổi
Nhưng rồi khép cửa, chẳng
khe thưa
Thân này ai nói yêu thương
nhớ
Chẳng biết thật không, khéo
lại lừa!
Source: https://www.facebook.com/SachVanhocDinhTi/posts/3853283304681876/
Bà Huyện Thanh Quan Nguyễn Du
Ai ước trời mưa hắt bóng tà Trăm năm trong cõi người ta
Mưa về xuống chợ, mở ô ra Yêu mưa yêu nắng khéo là dễ
Bâng khuâng khách trú, mong quên
trời nắng Núp tán dâu lúc nắng lên
Nắng sáng trời trong, núp Che ô mưa xuống mà thê
bóng nhà thảm lòng
Nhớ gió chưa về đưa chút Lạ gì kẻ thích gió đông
chút Những là quen thói gió lồng
Then cài bỏ mặc gió xa xa cài then
Dừng thơ ngẫm lại lời non Thơ tình lần giở trước đèn
nước Liệu chàng còn nhớ thề
Biết có thật không, người với nguyền ngày xưa?
ta?
35
 Knowledge of text-type features helps readers recognize the text
type and the function of the text, and it is part of the knowledge
that readers bring to the process of text comprehension, which
means properly recognizing the writer’s purpose and accomplish
textual goals successfully.

36
 06
TEXTUAL ANALYSIS, PARALLEL TEXTS AND COPRA

37
DEFINITION
Parallel-text analysis consists of:
• examining a corpus of target-language texts (referred to as “parallel texts”),
• independently produced (not translated), and of the same type and genre
as the one assigned to the target text
• in order to isolate common features of organization and textual markers.

38
EXAMPLE
(1) 17 October, 2012 bottomline.nbcnews.com
Lance Amstrong steps down from Livestrong, loses Nike, Bud contract
Lance Armstrong has stepped å as chairman of anti-
cancer foundation Livestrong. On the same day, Nike said it
terminated its sponsorship contract with Armstrong after what
they termed “seemingly insurmountable” evidence that he
participated in doping.
(2) 17 October, 2012 msn.foxsports.com
Lance Armstrong stepped down as chairman of his Livestrong
cancer-fighting charity and Nike severed ties with him as fallout
from the doping scandal swirling around the famed cyclist
escalated Wednesday. 39
EXAMPLE

(3) 17 October 2012 newsyahoo.com

Lance Armstrong steps down from charity, Nike drops him
Austin, Texas (Reuters) – Lance Armstrong stepped down as
chairman of the cancer support charity he founded, as Nike Inc
dropped the disgraced cyclist over the doping scandal that will
cost him his seven Tour de France titles.

40
By using parallel texts, the translators avoid unfairly biasing toward
the form in his/her most immediate consciousness, that which
most closely resembles, formally and structurally, the source text.

41
• Extensive experience with parallel texts can help translators
develop an intuitive sense of textual features.
• Parallel texts can be of assistance for translators or student
translators who are heritage speakers of one of their
languages to acquire textual competence.

42
 Content
01 02 03
Sentences & Text Topic maintenance & continuity Information structure
What is not a text? What makes a text, text Another thing that makes a text, text

04 05 06
Coherence & Cohesion Text types & Genres Textual analysis, parallel texts & corpora
Cohesive devices As the title said It looks serious, but it is not!
Texts &
Translation
 Thanks For
Listening!
Do you have any questions?

CREDITS: This presentation template was created by Slidesgo, including

icons by Flaticon, and infographics & images by Freepik.
1. A text is more than a ____________ of ___________ or even of
___________.
(A: concatenation, sentences, paragraphs)

2. For a __________ of __________ to qualify as a ________ unit, the

unit must ________.
(A: sequence. sentences, textual, cohere)

3. _________consists of the________ and ________ relations that

underlie a text and that give it_______, _______and _________.

(A: Coherence, meaning, pragmatic, unity, meaning, purpose)

4. For a text to ___________, the reader must be able to trace
__________and ____________throughout the text
(___________________________), and to follow the flow of
___________, from _______________to _____________,
relating the new ________________of the text to what is already
known (________________________).
(A: cohere, referents, topics, topic maintenance and continuity, information, old
information, new information, contributions, information structure)

5. The two important aspects of topic maintenance and

continuity includes: ___________ progression and
_________ tracing.
(A: thematic, participants)
True/ False
6. Old information is marked through reference and linguistic markers.
True
7. English is less strict in word orders than Finnish.
False
8. Cohesive devices are overt textual signs that help the reader
establish textual coherence.
True
9. Cohesive devices variation only affects the linguistics form of the
markers and doesn’t affect how they are used.
False
10. A promotion on a cereal box allows the consumer to order an action figure for the
cost of shipping only. In order to do this an order form needs to be filled out. The
form is in English, but a couple of lines on the sign of the package refer consumers to
the inside of the box for the Spanish form. These lines read:

Making use of the interlinear translation in italics and the literal translation in
quotes under it, comment on the informational structure.
Hint: why does the literal English translation sound odd, although it is
perfectly grammatical? What would be a more commonly used translation in
English (vs. Inside is the order form)
11. Text types are a _______ _______ which enables
us to classify texts in terms of ­________ intentions
serving an overall rhetorical purpose.
(A: conceptual framework, communicative)

12. Genres are the labels used to classify texts according to

the _______ in which they occur; they are _______ forms of
texts that reflect features of a social occasion (_______, time,
_______, medium). (A: contexts, conventionalized, audience, place)
13. Parallel texts help translators to develop an _______ _______ of
textual features.
(A: intuitive sense)
14. What type of text is this?
The birds and I get acquainted all over again every spring. They have seen
strange lands in the winter, and all the brooks and woods have been covered
with snow. So we run and romp together and find all the nooks and crannies
which we had half-forgotten since October. The birds remember the old places.
The wrens pull the sticks from the old hollow rail and seem to be wild with joy
to see the place again. They must be the same wrens that were here last year,
for strangers could not make so much fuss over an old rail. The bluebirds and
wrens look into every crack and corner for a place in which to build, and the
robins and chirping-sparrows explore every tree in the old orchard.

(A: Expressive text)

 Readings & References

1. Baker, M. (2009). In other words: a coursebook on translation. London: Routledge.

2. Colina, S. (2016). Fundamentals of translation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.