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Catford Shift

Catford proposed two main types of translation shifts: level/rank shifts and category shifts. Level/rank shifts refer to items translated between different linguistic levels, like a word translated as a phrase. Category shifts involve departures from formal correspondence. Category shifts include structure shifts (changing sentence type or word order), class shifts (changing word class), unit shifts (changing linguistic rank), and intra-system shifts (selecting a non-corresponding term in the target language system). Catford also distinguished between types of translation based on extent, grammatical rank, and language levels involved. Translation shifts are an important part of Catford's theory for understanding how translation necessarily alters forms between languages.

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3K views16 pages

Catford Shift

Catford proposed two main types of translation shifts: level/rank shifts and category shifts. Level/rank shifts refer to items translated between different linguistic levels, like a word translated as a phrase. Category shifts involve departures from formal correspondence. Category shifts include structure shifts (changing sentence type or word order), class shifts (changing word class), unit shifts (changing linguistic rank), and intra-system shifts (selecting a non-corresponding term in the target language system). Catford also distinguished between types of translation based on extent, grammatical rank, and language levels involved. Translation shifts are an important part of Catford's theory for understanding how translation necessarily alters forms between languages.

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katrina k
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THE LINGUISTIC APPROACH TO

TRANSALTION
By Catford A Linguistic Theory of Translation (1965)

Catford (1978: 73) states that by shift we mean the departure from formal correspondence in the process of going from the SL to theTL. Further, he states that basically, in shift of translation, or transposition he says, it is only the form that is changed

THUS:

Translation shifts =small linguistic changes occurring in translation of ST to TT affecting the form only.

TYPES OF THE SHIFTS


Catford (1978) divides the shift in translation into two major types: level/rank shift category shift

Level/rank shift refers to a SL item at one linguistic level (phonology, graphology, grammar and lexis) that has a TL translation equivalent at a different level. E.g.In Russian sigrat in English to finish plying In Lithuanian eisiu in English will go

Category shift refers to departures from formal correspondence in translation. What is meant by formal correspondence is any grammatical category in the TL which can be said to occupy the same position in the system of the TL as the given SL category in the SL system

The category shift is divided again into: structure shifts, class shifts, unit shift, intra-system shifts.

Structure shift changes words sequence in a sentence (changes in type of sentences, positions of main and subordinate clases) E.g. The roads are clear as I set off from Vancouver, Washington, toward Interstate 5 (compound) I Vankuverio Vaingtono valstijoje link Penktojo tarpregioninio greitkelio vaiuoju beveik visikai tuiais keliais (simple)

Class shift occurs when the translation equivalent of a SL item is a member of a different class from the original item. E.g.Oh, the Merc is a fun drive, and the miles slip away as I hit the pedal to the metal (noun) Ak, vaiuoti mersedesu tikras malonumas, ir iki galo nuspaudusi greiio pedal, rodos,skrieju vien kilometr po kito.(verb)

Unit shift is the changes of rank; that is, departures from formal correspondence in which the translation equivalent of a unit at one rank in the SL is a unit at a different rank in TL. E.g. To come across rasti Ilgai-for a long time

Intra-system shift happen when the SL and TL have approximately systems but, where the translation involves selection of a noncorresponding term in the TL system. Catford (2000) considers number and article systems and states that although similar systems operate in two languages, they do not always correspond. Thus, flour (singular) in EN becomes miltai (plural) in LT

http://transvanilla.blogspot.com/2010/04/translationshifts.html http://www.scribd.com/doc/24545942/TheTranslation-Shift-Approach#download http://rua.ua.es/dspace/bitstream/10045/13038/1/M onTI_01_09.pdf

As far as translation is concerned, Catford makes an important distinction

CATFORD PROPOSED VERY BROAD TYPES OF TRANSLATION IN TERMS OF THREE CRITERIA:


The extent of translation (full translation vs partial translation); The grammatical rank at which the translation equivalence is established (rank-bound translation vs. Unbounded translation); The levels of language involved in translation (total translation vs. restricted 3. translation).

translation shifts, as elaborated by Catford, which are based on the distinction between formal correspondence and textual equivalence:(a) Structural shifts: These are said by Catford to be the most common 6 form of shift and to involve mostly a shift in grammatical structure. For example, the subject pronoun + verb + direct object structures of I like jazz and j'aime le jazz in English and French are translated by an indirect object pronoun + verb + subject noun structure in Spanish (me gusts el jazz) and in Italian (mi piace il juzz). (b) Class shifts: These comprise shifts from one part of speech to another. An example given by Catford is the English a medical student and the French un itudiant en midecine, where the English premodifying adjective medical is translated by the adverbial qualifying phrase en me'decine. (c) Unit shifts or rank shifts: These are shifts where the translation equivalent in the TL is at a different rank to the SL. 'Rank' here refers to the hierarchical linguistic units of sentence, clause, group, word and morpheme.

According to Bell (1991: 33), to shift from one language to another is, by definition, to alter the forms.

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