Some Grammatical Problems in Translation

By

Obododimma Oha

Grammar is not the use of big or difficult words in a language but the appropriate combination of structures to form sentences and texts. We have been taught that these combinations have to comply with rules  for language is generally rule-governed. Another thing is that although there are universal linguistic issues to be considered. One is that the grammars of the SL and of the TL may converge in some respects and diverge in some. In other words, some problems may be language-specific. In addition, the appropriateness of combination depends on competence. Thus translation inevitably has to deal with grammar in at least two languages and we have to find equivalents for structures.

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Equivalents for Structures :

This is a big issue for translation. It is easier to find equivalents for words but not for larger structures. Moreover, structures of meaning have to be accounted for. What it means is that some syntactic structures may be skipped as problematic, especially in Machine Translation.

It also means that translators have to know some grammar in both languages , not just the meanings of words.

Translation as a Competence Issue :

We have said that translators need to be interested in the structures of the SL and the TL. But, what is behind it all? It is obviously knowledge of language that is controlled by the brain, as generative grammarians have argued. That knowledge of language controls the identification and use of equivalents. That knowledge knows structures that can move and where, knows language elements that can change and convey a meaning. That knowledge should make it clear that rebuilding Babel from language universals is possible!

Thus the argument is that translation is still possible. Babel can still be rebuilt. Differences in structures are to be expected, but we need to work out ways of overcoming the grammatical problems.

But there is still a problem. It is that many would see translation as a performance thing. Looking for items to replace items and roughly keep the meaning is not really idealistic but real in the use of language. We want one language to say what another is saying. And that is performance and actual use. So, even if there is knowledge at the base, use matters. It is at the level of use that structures are compared and tested.

The Non- gendering of pronouns in some languages:

Another grammatical problem that can arise in translation is the fact that some languages, in their use of pronouns, do not make any distinction between maleness and femaleness of what is being referred to. If one is translating from an SL that makes no gender distinction to a TL that does, how does one handle the problem?

Igbo, for instance, may have an expression like : "Ọ bịara ngaa." The pronoun, "Ọ," can be translated as "he" or "she." In other words, if one encounters this problem in translating from Igbo to English, one is forced into gender problem in language use by translation!

This points to gender and grammar in translation and how languages that seem to neutralize the problem of pronominal gendering eventually contact the problem through translation. English is still wrestling with pronominal choices in relation to gender and there have been problems in the choices of "his or her," "his," "her," and "their."

See

https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/problems-with-pronouns-and-gender/2770727.html

https://painintheenglish.com/case/677

The Expression of a Singular Referent as a Plural

Another grammatical problem for translation which we have to consider is the situation where, for pragmatic reasons, a singular referent is captured as a plural. In the grammar of English,  such a violation of number condition for the pronominal is unacceptable. If one is translating from a language that allows the switch for pragmatic reasons to a language that does not, what does one do?

  The argument may be that one should follow what the TL requires. That is quite reasonable. But it also means being unfaithful to the source and its pragmatics.

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We have brought up these grammatical problems, not to provide answers, but to show that translators still have some grammatical issues.

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