Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics Plus
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Die sigbaarheid van vertaaldheid in resensies van vertaalde Engelse en Afrikaanse romans
Full text linkThe tendency to review translated texts as “original†works has been studied by various scholars in literary criticism (see for example Lamber 2010, Maier 2008, Paloposki 2012, and Schulte 2015). This means that reviews very seldom mention that the reviewed work is in fact a translation. This tendency to treat translated texts as “originals†in literary criticism is problematic. It can cause translators as well as translation to be marginalised, with negative consequences for the translation industry as well as the canonisation of translated novels (Leech 2005: 12). Furthermore, translations and translators are subjected to virtually impossible standards when reviewers are not familiar with translation and consequently reinforce the non-recognition of translated works.The research referred to above was conducted in Europe, and there is a need for similar research in the South African context. This study focuses on reviews of translated novels published in South Africa between 2006 and 2015. The analysis examines the degree to which the translator and translational acts are visible in reviews, and therefore whether translated texts are also reviewed as originals in the Afrikaans and South African English literary system. OpsommingDie neiging in die literêre kritiek om vertaalde werke as “oorspronklike†werke te resenseer, is alreeds deur verskeie navorsers ondersoek (sien byvoorbeeld Lambert 2010, Maier 2008, Paloposki 2012, en Schulte 2015). Dit beteken dat resensies baie selde daarvan melding maak dat die teks in der waarheid ’n vertaling is. Hierdie neiging van die kritiek om vertaalde tekste as “oorspronklik†te hanteer, is problematies. Vertalers en vertalings kan sodoende gemarginaliseer word, met negatiewe gevolge vir die vertaalprofessie sowel as vir die kanonisering van vertaalde romans (Leech 2005: 12). Vertalings en vertalers word voorts aan haas onmoontlike standaarde onderwerp, omdat resensente dikwels nie vertroud met vertaling is nie, en sodoende die nie-erkenning daarvan in die hand werk.Die studies waarna reeds verwys is, is in Europa uitgevoer, sodat daar ruimte is vir ’n soortgelyke studie in die Suid-Afrikaanse konteks. In hierdie studie val die fokus op resensies van vertaalde romans wat tussen 2006 en 2015 in Suid-Afrika gepubliseer is. Die ontleding sal lig werp op die vraag na die mate waartoe die vertaler en vertaalhandelinge in resensies sigbaar raak, en derhalwe of die resensering van vertaalde werke as oorspronklikes ook binne die Afrikaanse en Suid-Afrikaanse Engelse literêre sisteem plaasvind
Phonological and Morphological Influences on Vowel Hiatus Resolution in Rutooro
Full text linkWhen the morphology of a language creates instances of successive vowels, these cases of vowel hiatus are often resolved or repaired. This paper presents a wide variety of instances where vowel hiatus is created within verbs in Rutooro, a Ugandan Bantu language. It is shown that five different strategies are employed to resolve vowel hiatus: deletion, gliding, diphthongisation, epenthesis, and lexical allomorphy. While some of these processes are largely phonological, there are a number of morphological factors which also play a role in determining which of the various strategies are employed. All of these are explored and discussed
’n Vergelykende ondersoek na die Afrikaans- en Zulu-vertalings van “South Africa’s Suspended Revolution: Hopes and Prospects†deur Adam Habib
Full text linkIn 2013 Adam Habib published South Africa’s Suspended Revolution: Hopes and Prospects. Habib approached the Wits Language School and asked for the translation of a condensed version of the book into Zulu, Northern Sotho and Afrikaans. The translation brief requested that the translations should be very close to the original in as far as the use of terminology was concerned to ensure that the orrignal argument remains shrewd and convincing. The language was to be as plain possible, and the title catchy. In this article the Zulu and Afrikaans translations are compared and it is shown how the two translation teams, due to differences in their respective target audiences, but primarily due to the differences in the possibilities and limitations of the languages into which they translated, made use of differerent translation strategies resulting in the final products differing from each other substantially. As a result of zero equivalence, the Zulu translators often had to make use of translation strategies such a paraphrase and explitation which resulted in a more accessable text as what was the case with the Afrikaanse text. The Afrikaans team was not confronted with zero-equivalence. However, the use of standardised terms made the text less accessable and the Fog Index rating of the final text is 14,2. In terms of the translation brief, the Afrikaans text probably did not succeed in its goal.Opsomming In 2013 verskyn South Africa’s Suspended Revolution: Hopes and Prospects deur Adam Habib. Habib het die Wits Language School genader en gevra dat ’n verkorte weergawe van die boek in Zulu, Noord-Sotho en Afrikaans vertaal word. Die vertaalopdrag het gevra dat die vertalings baie na aan die oorspronklike moes wees wat betref terminologie sodat die oorspronklike argument skerpsinnig en oortuigend bly. Die taalgebruik moes so eenvoudig moontlik wees en die titel, prikkelend. In hierdie artikel word die Zulu- en Afrikaanse vertaling met mekaar vergelyk en word daar aangetoon hoe die twee vertaalspanne, weens verskille in teikengehore, maar veral weens verskille in die moontlikhede en beperkings van die tale waarin hulle vertaal, hulle tot verskillende vertaalstrategieë gewend het sodat elke finale produk wesenlik van die ander een verskil. As gevolg van die voorkoms van zero-ekwivalensie moes die Zulu-vertalers dikwels gebruik maak van vertaalstrategieë soos parafrasering en eksplitering wat gelei het tot ’n toegankliker teks as wat die geval met die Afrikaanse teks was. Die Afrikaanse vertaalspan is bykans glad nie met zero-ekwivalense gekonfronteer nie. Die gebruik van gestandaardiseerde terme het egter die toeganklikheid van die teks verlaag sodat die Misindeks van die finale produk 14,2 meet. In terme van die vertaalopdrag het die Afrikaanse teks dus waarskynlik nie in sy doel geslaag nie
On cosmopolitan translation and how worldviews might change
Full text linkThe theorisation of cosmopolitanism can be dated from Kant’s “right to hospitalityâ€, where the reciprocal welcoming of foreigners is supposed to lead to universal understanding. Differences in languages and religions are recognised as obstacles in the way to that ideal, yet Kant has little to say about how to get around their differences – translation is strangely absent. A role for translation in cosmopolitanism nevertheless appears in the discourses that assume an age of effective economic globalisation. The cosmopolitanisms elaborated on by Ulrich Beck (2004/2006) and Gerard Delanty (2009), among many others, adopt a sense of cultural translation that requires no anterior text, no language barrier, and thus no mediator: the cosmopolitan becomes an intercultural space where relations transform subjects. Those views may be tested on the narratives of three Afrikaans-speaking intellectuals who recount how they grew up under Apartheid and progressively dissented from totalitarian discourse. The concepts of cosmopolitan translation are found to explain some of the narratives involved, particularly when the self is seen through the eyes of the other, yet strong social and national frames are still in force, boycotts counter hospitality and reinforce national frames, and language translation is found to be relatively unimportant in a milieu of polyglots
A long walk to freedom: Charting a way for doing comparative translation studies in Africa
Full text linkIn recognition of the work that Ilse Feinauer has done for the development of translation studies in Africa, this paper considers the position of translation studies on the continent. It proposes a comparative approach to translation studies on the continent to counter the two extremes of universalism and provincialism in the field of study. After considering some of the epistemological problems that translation studies faces in Africa, the paper suggests that a complex adaptive systems approach linked to a semiotic conceptualisation of translation allows for this kind of comparative approach. The paper concludes with some suggestions about the nature of comparative work in translation studies
Pre-nominal DP modifiers and penultimate lengthening in Xitsonga
Full text linkBantu languages generally have a noun-initial DP word order but they typically allow for demonstratives, and in some languages also the quantifier meaning ‘each, every’, to precede the noun. Beyond this, Bantu languages generally allow changing the relative order of the post-nominal modifiers which leads to subtle (focus-related) changes in meaning but not for adjectives, numerals and possessives to appear before the noun. In this paper, we discuss DP word order alternations that are allowable in Xitsonga and their effects on prosody in terms of penultimate lengthening and show that there is a stable, statistically significant effect on length which can be demonstrated experimentally
The Prosody of Shingazidja Relatives: an Update
Full text linkMuch work has been done in recent years on the prosody of relative clauses in Bantu languages (see among others Downing et al. 2010), and this is also the case for Shingazidja, a Bantu language of the Comoros (Patin 2010), for which it has been established that restrictive relatives differ from non-restrictive ones in that the latter, contrary to restrictives, have the relative separated from its head by a prosodic boundary, as in other languages (Cheng & Kula 2006, Cheng & Downing 2007). However, many aspects of the prosody of Shingazidja relatives remain to be established. In particular, the question of whether relatives are in this language aligned with the boundaries of Intonational phrases remained undetermined, as the H% boundary tone that characterizes these prosodic structures when they do not emerge at the end of an utterance (see O'Connor & Patin 2015) is not always observable in the data (Patin 2017). The descriptive exam of a corpus collected in 2009 indicates that a H% boundary tone does emerge at the right boundary of the relative, but that i. this tone is associated with the last surface tone and not with the last vowel, on the one hand, and ii. that it is absent from a restrictive if the restrictive relative is of reduced size, revealing that eurhythmic constraints condition the prosodic structure of these clauses
Interpreter training: Devising a model for aptitude testing for simultaneous interpreters
Full text linkThe proper selection and training of simultaneous interpreting candidates would ensure that they meet all essential requirements and are fully prepared to face any professional assignment they might encounter. Aptitude tests for entrance to training courses may be a step on the path to improving interpreting quality and strengthening the professionalisation of the field. As a result, this study aimed to design a comprehensive, custom-made aptitude test for simultaneous interpreting relevant for the South African context. A further aim for this test was for it to be used in practice to differentiate between those students who have the ability to succeed as interpreters and those who do not, in order to ultimately improve the quality of the professional field of interpreting. This aim was accomplished through a qualitative research design. First, a review was conducted on the available literature on interpreter aptitude testing. Further analysis showed that only eight of these tests had been proven to reliably predict aptitude for interpreting. Second, online surveys and in-person, semi-structured interviews were utilised to gather the opinions of interpreter trainers and potential interpreting students. The trainers were asked, among other questions, which cognitive and personality traits they would wish to test for in prospective students. The students were also asked, among other questions, to rate on a Likert scale their confidence in successfully completing the different available aptitude tests. Through this data, it was found that there is a need for aptitude testing for the training of simultaneous interpreting students in South Africa, and that both trainers and students advocated for its use. Moreover, it was possible to determine the most effective aptitude tests from among those that are available and, furthermore, those that would be easy to administer and complete
Phonetic and phonological considerations on the moraic status of pre-NC vowels in Bemba
Full text linkThe pre-NC vowel in many Bantu languages, among which Bemba, is generally understood to be long. In Bemba, where there is also a vowel length contrast, this raises the question whether the pre-NC vowel is phonetically as long as lexical long vowels and how phonologized this length might be. This paper presents an evaluation of whether the pre-NC vowel is monomoraic or bimoraic by considering both phonetic and phonological evidence. The findings are mixed but lean towards a monomoraic treatment of the pre-NC vowel based on some segmental and tonal evidence. One set of tonal data, however, show variation in moraicity, presenting a mixed picture that we conclude emanates from the intermediate length of the pre-NC vowel and the nuanced interpretation this entails in phonology