The trinity of directionality

The entire system of nominal phrases in Hungarian is characterized by the trinity of directionality, that is, the distinction between adverbials of place on the basis of their three fundamental directions. Nominal phrases with adverbial suffixes answering the questions Honnan? - Hol? - Hova? form an interrelated system. Geographical and locational (ut, utca, ter etc.) names can be divided into two groups. The first group includes, for example, names of foreign towns and the names of some Hungarian towns in addition to the names of all countries with the exception of Magyarorszag. In these cases, the question Honnan? is answered by using the endings -BóL, -BőL, the question Hol? is answered by using the endings -BaN, -BeN, and the question Hova? is answered by using the endings -Ba, -Be. In the other group (that includes Magyarorszag and the names of some Hungarian towns), the question Honnan? is answered by using the endings -R6L, -R6L, the question Hol? is answered by using the endings -N, -oN, -eN, -oN, and the question Hova? is answered by using the endings -Ra, -Re. There is no semantic explanation or logical principle which would indicate whether the name of a given town or location belongs to the first or the second group. This is something that simply must be memorized .

Attention!

In Hungarian the names of continents, configuration countries, towns and personal names are not proceeded by an article: Afrika, Amerika, Anglia, Kina, Magyarorszag, London, Budapest, Hofmann ur, Anna, Komoly doktor.

The exception, however, is the names of countries composed of more than one word: a Del-afrikai Koztarsasag, az Amerikai Egyesult Allamok, az Egyesült Kiralysag, a Kinai Nepkoztarsasag

2 Equivalence at word level

If language were simply a translation hungarian rates ft eur nomenclature for a set of universal concepts, it would be easy to translate from one language to another. One would simply replace the French name for a concept with the English name. If language were like this the task of learning a new language would also be much easier than it is. But anyone who has attempted either of these tasks has acquired, hungarian intensive course alas, a vast amount of direct proof that languages are not nomencla­tures, that the concepts ... of one language may differ radically from those of another.... Each language articulates or organizes the world differently. Languages do not simply name existing hungarian english translator budapest categories, they articulate their own.

(Culler, 1976: 21-2)

This chapter discusses translation problems arising from lack of equivalence at word level; what does a translator do when there is no word in the target language which expresses the same meaning as the source language word? But before we look at specific types of non-equivalence and the various strategies which can be used for dealing with them, it is important to establish what a word is, whether or not it is the main unit of meaning in language, what kinds of meaning it can convey, and how languages differ in the way they choose to express certain meanings but not others. Hungarian certificate translation

2.1  THE WORD IN DIFFERENT LANGUAGES

2.1.1  What is a word?

As translators, we are primarily concerned with communicating the overall meaning of a stretch of language. To achieve this, we need to start by decoding the units and structures which carry that

Equivalence at word level 11

meaning. The smallest unit which we would expect to possess hungarian intensive course district 10 individual meaning is the word. Defined loosely, the word is ‘the smallest unit of language that can be used by itself’ (Bolinger and Sears, 1968: 43).1 For our present purposes, we can define the written word with more precision as any sequence of letters with an orthographic space on either side.

Many of us think of the word as the basic meaningful element in a language. This is not strictly accurate. Meaning can be carried by units smaller than the word (see 2.1.3 below). hungarian translation budapest More often, however, it is carried by units much more complex than the single word and by various structures and linguistic devices. This will be discussed in more detail in the following chapters. For the moment, we will content ourselves with single words as a starting point before we move on to more complex linguistic units.

3. The client’s viewpoint

“Arguments out of a pretty mouth are unanswerable ” Joseph Addison, 1672-1719

One of the purposes of translation is to add value to an original document as well as facilitating communication and comprehension. Since a company’s documentation is often the only tangible evidence that it exists, any translation must be of the same high quality as the original.

Consider your reaction when you receive a document from a foreign client. It is likely that you will pay far more attention to it if the document is in a language that you comprehend. The same applies when you send documentation to a client - it is far more likely to be favourably received if it is professionally translated into the client’s language.

3.1  Who should you get to translate?

The principal criteria applied to certified certificate translation rates ft eur selection of a translator are:

1.   use only a translator who translates into his mother tongue (or language of habitual use as it is sometimes called). Ideally, the translator should have formal training as a translator and be qualified as a Member of a recognised professional association such as the Institute of Translation and Interpreting.

2.   use only a translator who has experience of your product or service segment. It is inappropriate to ask a translator with experience of, say, only electronic engineering to translate a text on property management.

To do otherwise is unprofessional and unethical.

3.2  The service provider and the uninformed buyer

The term ‘seller’ is a misnomer since translations cannot be sold from stock. Although I think that many buyers often believe that this is the case. As I wrote in the

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THE CLIENT’S VIEWPOINT

introductory chapter, some potential buyers are woefully ill-informed of the skills needed for translation. Here is the opportunity to do some effective marketing. The buyer has some idea of what he wants and it is up to you to advise him of what is involved and what the realistic costs are. The following lists some of the false ideas and how you should advise, or dare 1 say, educate the buyer. You may know these truths to be self-evident but need to ensure that the potential client understands that translation is a skilled and demanding profession.

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