TRANSLATION STUDIES 1

WEEK 8
EQUIVALENCE ABOVE WORD LEVEL

Collocation

Idioms and Fixed Expressions

Remember that...
• Words seldom occur alone; they are typically found in combinations with
other words.
• There are rules governing the combinations of words for conveying
meaning.
• Rules, especially those concerning classes of words, are written down to
articulate restrictions on word combinations.
• For example, a determiner cannot come after a noun, making sequences like
• "beautiful girl the" unacceptable.
• Some restrictions have exceptions and pertain to individual words,
identified as recurrent patterns in language.
Collocation
Collocational range and collocational markedness

Collocation and register

Collocational meaning

Some collocation-related pitfalls and problems in translation

• Collocation ??
• The tendency of certain words to regularly co-occur in a given language.
• Defined colloquially as 'semantically arbitrary restrictions not logically
following propositional meaning.'
• Propositional Meaning Influence:
• The co-occurrence tendency is partly influenced by propositional
meanings.
• Example: "Cheque" is more likely to occur with "bank," "pay," "money,"
and "write" than with unrelated terms.
• Limitations of Meaning:
• Meaning alone cannot account for all collocational patterns.
• Example: "Carry out," "undertake," or "perform" don't collocate with
"visit"
• instead, “pay a visit” is more common than “make a visit”
• Distinct Collocates for Synonyms:
• Synonyms or near-synonyms often have different sets of collocates.
• Example: English speakers "break rules" but not "break regulations."
• Examples of Unlikely Collocations:
• Uncommon pairings like "deliver a sentence" or "grilling bread" despite similar
semantic components.
• Specific cases where synonymous adjectives (e.g., "unblemished," "spotless") have
distinct collocates.
• Language Reflecting Physical Reality:
• The organization of language reflects the physical world, with things occurring
together having a higher chance of being mentioned together.
• Examples of Acceptable and Unlikely Collocations:
• "Deliver a verdict" and "pronounce a verdict" are acceptable, but "deliver a sentence"
is unlikely.
• Differences in collocates for adjectives like "unblemished," "spotless," "flawless,"
"immaculate," and "impeccable."
• Collocational Variability:
• Collocational relationships can span various forms of words,
combined in grammatically acceptable orders.
• Example: "Achieving aims," ✅
• "aims having been achieved," ✅
• "achievable aims,”✅
• "the achievement of an aim" ✅ are all acceptable in English.
• Partial Collocation:
• Words may collocate in some forms but not in others.
• Example: "bend rules”✅
• "unbendable rules" ❌
• Instead, we use "inflexible."
• Arbitrary and Independent of Meaning:
• Collocational patterns are often seen as arbitrary and independent of
meaning within and across languages.
• A mismatch is observed when comparing collocational patterns of
synonyms and near-synonyms in the same language.
• While synonyms may share similar meanings, they may not always be
interchangeable due to differences in usage and connotation.
• Example, (speak & talk) – “speak the truth” ✅ “talk the truth” ❌

• Cross-Language Collocational Patterns:

• A similar mismatch is evident in the collocational patterns of dictionary
equivalents or near-equivalents in different languages.
• Example: The English verb "deliver" collocates with various nouns,
each having a different corresponding verb in Arabic.
• Example, “delivers a speech” is ”‫"يلقى خطاب‬
• “deliver a baby” is "‫”انجبت طفل‬
1. Collocational range and collocational markedness
• Collocational Range:
• Every word in a language has a range of compatible collocates to varying degrees.
• Range refers to the set of words typically associated with a given word.
• Collocational Variability:
• Words can have broad or limited collocational ranges.
• Example: "Shrug" has a limited range (typically with "shoulders"), while "run" has a
vast range (with various terms like "company," "business," etc.).
• Factors Influencing Collocational Range:
• Level of specificity and number of senses influence the collocational range.
• More general words tend to have broader ranges, and the number of senses a word
has affects its collocates. (bank) (bank account) (river bank)
• Flexibility in Collocational Patterns:
• Unlike grammatical statements, collocational statements focus on what is typical or
untypical, not what is admissible or inadmissible.
• No such thing as an impossible collocation; new and unusual combinations occur
frequently.
• Creation and Extension of Collocational Ranges:
• Speakers can reinforce existing collocational patterns or create variations by
extending the range of an item.
• Example: "Compulsive gambler" is a common collocation, while "heavy gambler"
represents an attempt to extend the range.
• Marked Collocations:
• Marked collocations challenge expectations and involve deliberate confusion of
collocational ranges to create new images.
• Common in fiction, poetry, humor, news reporting, and advertisements.
• Example of Marked Collocation:
• Example: "President Clinton fanned the flames of optimism in Northern Ireland."
• The marked collocation challenges expectations, creating irony by associating
"fanning the flames" with a positive context.
• New Collocations and Language Evolution:
• New collocations, whether by extension or deliberate mixing of ranges, catch on and
become part of the standard repertoire of a language.
• Established patterns serve as a backdrop for communicating new meanings,
perpetuating a cycle of language evolution.
2. Collocation and register
• Collocational Patterns Across Registers:
• Collocational patterns can vary across registers, and what may seem typical or
atypical depends on the specific language register.
• Examples in everyday language may differ from those in specialized registers.
• Register-Specific Collocations:
• Some collocations may be deemed untypical in everyday language but are common
in specific registers.
• Example: "Dull highlights" and "vigorous depressions" are standard collocations in
photography and meteorology, respectively.
• Collocational Markedness in Registers:
• Collocational markedness is not an absolute quality but depends on the norm within a
given register.
• Register-specific collocations are determined by the conventions of that specific
domain.
• Beyond Standard Terms:
• Register-specific collocations extend beyond standard terms found in dictionaries and
glossaries.
• Familiarity with a register involves understanding the set of collocates compatible
with specific terms within that register.
• Translation Challenges in Specialized Registers:
• Translating specialized literature requires more than knowing the terms; it involves
understanding the collocational patterns within that register.
• Example: A translator of computer literature needs to be aware of how terms like
"data" are handled, extracted, processed, etc., rather than shifted, treated, arranged, or
tackled.
• Native Speaker Limitations:
• Being a native speaker does not automatically confer the ability to assess the
acceptability or typicality of register-specific collocations.
• Specialized and technical language courses are essential in translation training to
equip translators with the necessary skills for different registers.
3. Collocational meaning

• Word Meaning in Context:

• Meaning is contextualized in a word's most typical collocations rather than its rarer
ones.
• The meaning of a word depends largely on its pattern of collocation, not in isolation.
• Paraphrasing Meaning in Collocations:
• Collocations like "dry cow," "dry bread," and "dry wine" have unique meanings.
• The meaning of a word often depends on its association with specific collocates.
• Importance of Collocational Patterns:
• Criticism of translation may stem from the translator's failure to recognize unique
collocational patterns with meanings exceeding the sum of individual elements.
• Examples of Collocational Meanings:
• In the collocation "dry voice," the meaning of "dry" is not simply 'not moist'
but conveys 'cold' in the sense of not expressing emotion.
• Similarly, "run a car" doesn't mean 'drive a car fast'; it means 'to own, use, and
be able to maintain a car financially.'
• Crucial Role in Translation:
• Recognizing collocational meaning is crucial
• Translators need to account for the meaning of collocations rather than
substituting individual words with their dictionary equivalents.
• Cross-Language Collocational Differences:
• Even with apparent close matches in collocational patterns between
languages, the meanings may differ.
• Example: "To run a car" in English means ownership and financial ability,
while in modern Greek, it simply means driving fast or with excessive speed.
4. Some collocation-related pitfalls and
problems in translation

• Some Common Pitfalls:

• Difficulty in Handling Certain Problems:
• Examples of Translation Pitfalls:
• Strategies Used by Professional Translators:
 collocation-related pitfalls and problems in
translation
1. The engrossing effect of source text patterning
2. Misinterpreting the meaning of a source-language collocation
3. The tension between accuracy and naturalness
4. Culture-specific collocations
5. Marked collocations in the source text
1. The engrossing effect of source text patterning
• It is easy to assume that as long as a collocation can be found in the TL
which conveys the same or a similar meaning to that of the source
collocation,
• Translator will not be confused by differences in the surface patterning
between the two.
• For example, strong tea is literally ‘dense tea’ in Japanese;
• break the law is an unacceptable collocation in Arabic, the common
collocation being, literally, ‘contradict the law’;
• keep a dog/cat is unacceptable in Danish, where the usual expression
is ‘hold a dog/cat’.
• Translators are well advised to avoid carrying
over source-language collocational patterns
which are untypical of the target language, unless
there is a good reason for doing so.
 2. Misinterpreting the meaning of a source-
language collocation
• When a source-language collocation appears to be familiar because it
corresponds in form to a common collocation in the target language.
• For example,
• All this represents only a part of all that Forbes Magazine reported on Fayed in
the March issue mentioned before. In 1983, he had approached the industrialist
Robert O. Anderson under the cover of a commission agent. The industrialist
had been struck by his appearance as someone with modest means. Mr.
Anderson was therefore astonished by his sudden acquisition of a considerable
fortune.
• “The industrialist had been struck by his appearance as
someone with modest means”
"‫ وقد رأى فيه رجل الصناعة شخصا ينم مظهره عن التواضع والبساطة‬..." •
• “The industrialist saw in him a person whose appearance
suggests modesty and simplicity”

• The collocation modest means suggests lack of affluence in English.

• The equivalent of ‘modest’ in Arabic (mutawaadi’) can suggest a similar meaning
in some collocations such as dakhl mutawaadi’ (‘small income’).

• The translator of the above extract seems to have confused the collocational
patterns of English and Arabic, thus misinterpreting the source collocation and
communicating the wrong meaning in the target text.
 3. The tension between accuracy and
naturalness
• Translation often involves tension – a difficult choice between what is typical and what is
accurate.
• The nearest acceptable collocation which can replace hard drink in Arabic is ‘alcoholic
drink’.
• But hard drink refers only to spirits in English, for example, whisky and brandy. It does
not include other alcoholic drinks, such as beer.
• The Arabic collocation, however, refers to any alcoholic drink, including beer as well as
spirits. The meanings of the two collocations, therefore do not map completely.
• Whether the translator opts for the typical Arabic collocation or tries to translate the full
meaning of hard drink, will depend on whether the distinction between hard and soft
alcoholic drinks is significant or relevant in a given context.
• A certain amount of loss, addition of meaning is often unavoidable in translation
 4. Culture-specific collocations
• Some collocations reflect the cultural setting in which they occur.
• If the cultural settings of the source and target languages are significantly
different,
• there will be instances when the source text will contain collocations which
convey what to the target reader would be unfamiliar associations of ideas.
• Examples,
1.Hollywood Red Carpet Premiere:
1.Describes the glamorous events marking the premiere of a major film,
with celebrities walking a red carpet and posing for photographers.
2.Thanksgiving Turkey Dinner:
1.The traditional meal shared on Thanksgiving Day, featuring roast
turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie, among other dishes.
 5- Marked Collocations in the ST
• Unconventional pairings of words are occasionally employed in the original
text to generate innovative mental images
• The translation of such distinctive collocations would feature corresponding
markers in the target language.
• However, this adaptation is always contingent upon the limitations of the
target language and the specific objective of the translation at hand.
• examples;
1. jubilant Whispers:
1. The term "whispers" is typically associated with secrecy or quietness, but pairing it
with "jubilant" creates an intriguing contrast.
2. Thunderous Elegance:
1. Combining "thunderous," often linked to loud and powerful sounds, with "elegance"
introduces an unexpected collocation.