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John Cunnison Catford (1917-2009),

Edinburgh, Scotland.
Professor of linguistics at the University of Michigan 1964-1986

Translation Shifts EFL teacher: Middle East countries and Africa

Foundation: School of Applied Linguistics,University of Edinburgh.

John C. Catford Focus of study: Phonetics and Systemic Linguistics (M.A.K. Halliday)
Works:
• A Practical Introduction to Phonetics, 2nd. ed., Oxford University Press, 2002.
Mohamed Jaafari • Fundamental Problems in Phonetics
• Word-stress and sentence-stress: a practical and theoretical guide for teachers of Basic
English

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References The Notion of Equivalence

Catford, J.C. (1965) A Linguistic Theory of Translation: an Essay in Applied
Linguistics, London: Oxford University Press Conditions for equivalence: Formal correspondence & Texual
Equivalence.
Abdulaziz Altwaijri, A. B. (2019). The Application of Catford's Translation
Formal Correspondence: Items in the target language which fill
Shifts to the Translation of the UN’s Convention on the Rights of the Child from
English into Arabic. https://doi.org/10.24093/awej/th.227 in approximately the same functions of items existing in the source
language texts.
Hijjo, N. F. M., & Kadhim, K. A. (2017). The Analysis of Grammatical Shift in There is a high degree of formal correspondance between French
English-Arabic BBC Media News Text. Language in India, 17(10), 79–104. and English at the level of hierarchies of units: the two languages
https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/57772
operate with the same grammatical units at five ranks: sentence,
clause, phrase, word and morpheme.
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Formal Correspondence Full Formal Correspondence?

English SL text: Iꞌve left my keys on the table.

↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓
French TL text: j’ai laissé mes clés sur la table.
▰ Preservation of the units’ format and structure;
▰ The wording is almost literal: verbs by verbs, nouns by nouns…
▰ ‘Formal Correspondence’: word-for-word rendition from SL to TL. (p.36)

(p. 49)

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Formal Correspondence
at Lower Ranks Textual Equivalence! How?
«We may talk of formal correspondence between SL and TL
elements of structure operating at ‘corresponding’ ranks. » (p. 32)
The elements of structure of English unit « clause » SPCA
Correspondence at lower levels/ranks
The word class of locative preposition in English and French.
▰ The man is in his car. L’homme est dans sa voiture.
▰ The ball is on the table. La balle est sur la table.
▰ The manager is at her desk. La gérante est à son bureau. ▰ Convergence between formal correspondence and textual equivalence.
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Why Translation Shifts? Translation Shifts: Level & Category Shifts

Halliday (1961): Language, as a phenomenon, occurs at four levels:

Lexis, phonology, grammar, graphology
( 1965, p. 27) Level shifts: SL item at one linguistic level (e.g. grammar) has a TL
▰ «The central task of translation theory is that of defining the equivalent at a different level (e.g. lexis).
nature and condition of translation equivalence.» (p.21)
That you are ignorant of the rules is not an acceptable excuse.
▰ «The central problem of translation practice is that of finding .‫إن جهلك بالقوانين ليس عذرا مقبوﻻ‬
TL translation equivalents» (p. 21) How the book will sell depends on the reviewers’s assessment of it.
‫إن درجة رواج الكتاب تعتمد على تقييم النقاد له‬

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Level Shifts:Grammar to Lexis & VV.
What are Translation Shifts?
The fact that he was present at the scene of the crime doesn’t necessarily
▰“departures from formal correspondence in the process of going from mean He is involved. .‫إن وجوده في مسرح الجريمة ﻻ يعني بالضرورة تورطه فيها‬
the SL to the TL” (1965, p. 73) -Linguistic changes- She is writing her letter. ‫إنها عاكفة على كتابة رسالتها‬
▰ “reconstructing this same meaning using the lexicon and grammatical There is a man at the door . ‫ يوجد رجل بالباب‬/‫ﺛمة‬
structure which are appropriate in the receptor language and its Her joy was indescribable ‫فرحت فرحا يتعذروصفه‬
cultural context.” (Larson in Hijjo & Kadhim, 2017, p.31). He had encountered many obstacles ‫لقد واجه عدة معيقات‬
▰Translation shifts occur in the absence of formal correspondence to
achieve functional equivalence.
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Category Shifts: Structure, Class, Unit & intra-system Category Shifts: Structure, Class, Unit & intra-system
Structure shifts are the changes in word order of a sentence at any
linguistic rank (i.e., phrases, clauses, and sentences). Word to morpheme: She cleaned her desk. ‫نظفت مكتبها‬
Shifts of agent: VSC– SVC ‫ تعمل ليلى في البنك‬: Leila works at the bank
Verb tense: She had read a story before she went to bed. Word to phrase: All people are equal regradless of their race or sex.
Elle avait lu une histoire avant de se coucher. ‫لقد قرأت قصة قبل أن تنام‬ ‫جميع الناس متساوون بغض النظر عن عرقهم أو جنسهم‬
Word-order: Parents give particular care to babies. Chomsky is widely known ‫إن تشومسكي معروف على نطاق واسع‬
Modifier+head head + modifier .‫يمنح الوالدين رعاية خاصة للمولود‬ last

Les parents accordent une attention particulière au bébé. Clause to Word: There is something causing him distress ‫ثمة شيء يقلقه‬
Passive-Active- case: The cat caught the mouse. It is rumoured that the director will resign ‫يشاع أن المدير سيستقيل‬
The mouse was caught by the cat.
‫ أُم ِسك بالفأر من قِبَل القط‬/ ‫تم اﻹمساك بالفأر من قِبَل القط‬

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Category Shifts: Structure, Class, Unit & intra-system Category Shifts: Structure, Class, Unit & intra-system
Intra-System Shifts: Catford’s shift usually occur when the ST and the TT
Class shift: It is very important to tell me the truth. have somewhat similar linguistic systems
‫ اﻷهمية بماكان ان تخبرني بالحقيقة‬/‫من المهم جدا‬
It is unfair to accuse people….. ‫ من اﻹجحاف إتهام الناس‬/‫ليس من العدل‬ System of number: Cats are domestic animals= ‫القط حيوان أليف‬
Child protection during emergency and armed conflict:
Unit shift: In English grammar, language units are set up in a hierarchy
Gray
of 5 units sentence, clause, phrase, word and morphene. Each of these ‫حماية اﻻطفال أثناء الطوارئ و المنازعات المسلحة‬
‫للوالدين حقوق و واجبات‬ Parents have duties and rights
ranks can be changed into the other for the purpose of achieving textual
equivalence: In/definite & zero article:
Women empowerment has become a significant topic of discussion in
development and economics.
‫أصبح موضوع تمكين النساء من الموضوعات الهامة جدًا بالنسبة ل ُمنحنى التطور واﻻقتصاد‬
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4 Language Press websites Versions
https://www.mapnews.ma

https://www.almaany.com/