8.2 Application of Message and Form

In Lesson One we discussed the concept of message and form and stressed that in translation, we need to transfer the message, and not necessarily the form, of the source text into the target language. In the subsequent lessons we explored many topics that serve to help us to achieve this objective, which we'll now review and analyze in terms of how they relate to the maxim of prioritizing message above form.

To briefly review these terms, we use message to refer to the information which the author wished to communicate with the reader. While the message intended may not always be completely clear, it is our job as translators to analyze the context of the message thoroughly in order to come as close as possible to understanding the intent of the source text and transfer that message into the target language. We use the term form to indicate the words and grammar used to express the message in the source language.

a) Literal Meaning

In Lesson Six we explored issues in literal meaning, which is the meaning held in words themselves. This is the meaning that can be found in dictionaries; our decisions concerning literal meaning determine our choice of words in translation and are vital to conserving the message of the source text.

i) Synonymy

We discussed synonymy, the concept that two words or phrases in two different languages can share the same literal meaning. This does not mean that both words or phrases will have the same form in both the source and target languages, but rather that they will have the same meaning. We can see this illustrated in the following example:

Example 8.2

Source Text

Target Text

In this example we can observe the difference in the form of the expression between “dar coraje” and “make angry”, but despite this difference, these phrases achieve synonymy because they communicate the same message. In addition, the subjunctive mood is used in Spanish, which cannot be mirrored in English.

ii) Hypermyny and Hyponymy

We also examined the concepts of hypermyny and hyponymy. We defined hypernym as a word or phrase with a more general meaning than the one found in the ST, and hyponym as a word or phrase with a more specific meaning than that used in the ST. We translate using hypernyms and hyponyms when it is not possible to achieve complete synonymy between the words in the ST and the TL. Translating with hypernyms and hyponyms is another way to prioritize message over form, because if we insist on translating the words in the ST as they are, the TT will not be expressed naturally and the message could be distorted. For example:

Example 8.3

Source Text

Target Text

Here translating “la maestra” as “the teacher” is an example of using a hypernym because it lacks some detail given in the source text (in this case, the gender of the teacher). Trying to make up for this and express the full meaning by translating it as “the female teacher” would not sound natural in English. This sentence also has an example of prioritizing message over form in relation to the use of indirect objects. “Les” is not translated to English here as English does not use the indirect object pronoun when the object is named (in this case, students), and the word order is changed to suit the rules of English.

The difference between the word used in the source text and the target text could be grammatical. For example, a verb might be translated into a different tense, yet achieve the same meaning. We studied many examples like this in Lessons Four and Five, which focused on the translation of verbs in the present and past tenses. If the verb form used in the ST has several possible translations, we need to use a hyponym in the target text. For example:

Example 8.4

Source Text

Target Text

The Spanish “estamos separados” may be translated into English as “we are separated” or “we have been separated” depending on the context. Therefore, using “we’ve been separated” is a hyponym of “estamos separados”. While the form of these phrases is different and synonymy is not met on the word level, these sentences effectively communicate the same message.

iii) False Cognates

We looked at the concept of false cognates and partial false cognates to avoid making the mistake of translating a word in the ST into a word that has a similar form in the TL, but a different meaning. In these cases, mirroring the form of the ST by using a word that is a false cognate causes confusion and distorts the message. This is illustrated in the following example:

Example 8.5

Source Text

Translation with False Cognate

Target Text

In this example, the Spanish “soportar” appears to be similar to the English “to support”, but actually has a different meaning - that of “to stand (someone or something) or put up with (someone or something)”. Using the false cognate would cause the reader to misinterpret the message.

b) Connotative Meaning

Last week in Lesson Seven we explored connotative meaning, or the meaning that words have based on their use with other words. We focused on two aspects of connotative meaning: collocational meaning and idioms and fixed expressions. Here, we’ll quickly review these concepts and analyze them through the prism of message and form.

i) Collocation

Collocation refers to the tendency of words to be used together in a given language. The verb to describe this phenomenon is to collacate, and so we can say “to eat” collocates with “breakfast” in English, while “comer” does not collocate with “el desayuno” in Spanish, rather we’d use a verb of its own “desayunar”. In another example, in English, the verb “to be” collocates with “late”, while in Spanish it is the verb “llegar” which collocates with “tarde”, so “I was late” should be translated to “Llegué tarde”. The following example provides another illustration of how using collocations that are natural in the TL preserves the message of the ST.

Example 8.6

Source Text

Translation which prioritizes form over message

Target Text

Here there is more than one difference in form between the ST and the TT. First, they use different collocations as in Spanish one can “pasar tiempo” or “pass time” with someone, while in English we “spend time” with someone. In addition, the verb “gustar” has a different grammatical organization than the verb “to like”, but they communicate the same message. Changing the form to adapt to the tendencies and grammar of the target text is necessary to communicate the message of the ST clearly and correctly.

ii) Idioms and fixed expressions

Lastly, we’ll review the concepts of idioms and fixed expressions. We learned that an idiom is an expression which cannot be understood based on the meaning of the individual words in it but rather as a whole. The meaning of idioms is often not literally transparent as they employ metaphor and cultural reference to communicate meaning. Meanwhile fixed expressions are expressions of two or more words that are used together in a given way, the meaning of which is generally transparent and easy to understand. Idioms and fixed expressions frequently cause translators to transfer too much of the form of the ST into the TL, sacrificing the integrity of the message. It is important to use similar idioms or fixed expressions in the TL in order to achieve natural expression and communicate the message of the ST accurately in the translation.

An example with an idiom:

Example 8.7

Source Text

Target Text

In this case, “hacer frente” is an idiom which cannot be translated literally. It can mean “to stand up to”, “to face”, or “to confront” and should be translated according to this idiomatic meaning.

An example with fixed expressions:

Example 8.8

Source Text

Translation which prioritizes form over message

Target Text

In Lesson Two we went over guidelines for translating letters, forms, and phone messages. There we provided lists of common greeting, opening, and closing expressions used in letters, including “a quien corresponda” and “dirigirse a”. All of these are fixed expressions and ought to be translated using parallel fixed expressions in English in order to deliver the intended message.