Translatability vs. untranslatability: a sociosemiotic perspective

Ke Ping

Babel 1999 45 (4)289-300
(ReLIS:jul:oibfdn:y:1999:v:45:i:4:p:289-300)

Abstract:

The problem of translatability or untranslatability is closely related to man's understand-mg of the nature of language, meaning and translation. From the sociosemiotic point of view, 'untransíatables' are fundamentally cases of language use wherein the three catego-ries of socioserniotic meaning carried by a source expression do not coincide with those of a comparable expression in the target language. Three types of untranslatability, referential, pragmatic, and intralingual may be the carrier of the message, language-specific norms considered untranslatable by sorne linguists should be excluded from the realm of untranslatables. And since transíation is a communicative event involving the use of verbal signs, the chance of untranslatability in practical translating tasks may be minimized if the communicative situation is taken into account. In a larger sense, the problem of translatabiliiy is one of degrees: the higher the linguistic levels the source language signs carry meaning(s) at, the higher the degree of translatability these signs may display; the lower the levels they carry meaning(s) at, the lower the degree of translatability they may register

Keywords: Traductología ; Intraducibilidad ; Aspecto social ; Semiótica ; Traducción ; Traductibilidad
Pages: 289-300
Volume: 45
Year: 1999
Issue: 4

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