Connotative meaning and translation issues Connotative meaning refers

  • Slides: 26
Download presentation
Connotative meaning and translation issues

Connotative meaning and translation issues

Connotative meaning refers to the associations which over and above the denotative meaning of

Connotative meaning refers to the associations which over and above the denotative meaning of an expression, form part of its overall meaning. - There are six types of connotative meaning.

1. Attitudinal meaning • It is part of the overall meaning of an expression

1. Attitudinal meaning • It is part of the overall meaning of an expression which consists of some widespread attitude to the referent. The expression does not merely denote the referent in a neutral way, but also hints at some attitude to it. • For instance, ‘the police’, ‘the filth’ and ‘the boys in blue’ have the same denotative meaning. However, the expressions have different connotative meanings. ‘The police’ is a neutral expression, ‘the filth’ has pejorative overtones while ‘the boys in blue’ has affectionate ones.

Example 1: ● In the following example, the translator has used the term ‘lady’

Example 1: ● In the following example, the translator has used the term ‘lady’ rather than ‘woman’ since ‘lady’ has overtones of respect. ● ﻳﺎ ﺃﻨﺜﺎﻱ ﻣﻦ ﺑﻴﻦ ﻣﻼﻳﻴﻦ ﺍﻟﻨﺴﺎﺀ. . . آﻪ ﻳﺎ ﺑﻴﺮﻭﺕ ● Ah Beirut…. my lady amongst millions of women.

 Example 2 : ﻭ ﻗﺪ ﺭﺍﺣﻮﺍ ﻳﻘﺘﺤﻤﻮﻥ ﺍﻟﺒﻴﻮﺕ ﺑﻴﺘ “They have raided homes

Example 2 : ﻭ ﻗﺪ ﺭﺍﺣﻮﺍ ﻳﻘﺘﺤﻤﻮﻥ ﺍﻟﺒﻴﻮﺕ ﺑﻴﺘ “They have raided homes one by one” Here the word “homes” can be contrasted with its near –synonym “houses’. “Houses” is a neutral word in English, whereas “homes” has warm emotional connotations.

2. Associative meaning • It is that part of the overall meaning of an

2. Associative meaning • It is that part of the overall meaning of an expression which consists of expectations that are – rightly or wrongly- associated with the referent of the expression.

For example: Most people automatically associate the word ‘ nurse’ with the idea of

For example: Most people automatically associate the word ‘ nurse’ with the idea of female gender, as if ‘ nurse’ is synonymous with ‘ female who looks after the sick’. This unconscious association is so widespread that the term ‘ male nurse’ has had to be coined to counteract its effect. However, different people might have different associations or connotations attached to a word like needle. They might associate it with 'pain, ' or 'illness, ' or 'blood, ' or 'drugs, ' or 'thread, '

 • For example, the term ‘Crusade’ has strongly positive associations in English, whereas

• For example, the term ‘Crusade’ has strongly positive associations in English, whereas its Arabic equivalent ﺣﻤﻠﺔ ﺻﻠﻴﺒﻴﺔ has negative associations, since the word is associated with the Crusades to Palestine in the Middle Ages.

 • Conversely, the term ﺟﻬﺎﺩ in Arabic has positive associations, since the word

• Conversely, the term ﺟﻬﺎﺩ in Arabic has positive associations, since the word is associated with one of the five pillars of Islam, and those who are killed in the cause of Allah are rewarded with heaven on the Day of Judgement

 • On the contrary, the term ﺟﻬﺎﺩ has negative associations in the West,

• On the contrary, the term ﺟﻬﺎﺩ has negative associations in the West, since the word is connected with international extremist organizations, especially after the September 11 attacks.

3. Affective meaning • It is related to the emotive effect worked on the

3. Affective meaning • It is related to the emotive effect worked on the addressee by the choice of expression, and which forms part of its overall meaning. The expression does not merely denote its referent, but hints at some attitude of the speaker or writer to the addressee. • Features of linguistic politeness, flattery, rudeness or insult are typical examples of expressions carrying affective meaning. • For instance, the two expressions ‘silence please’, and ‘shut up’, or ﺍﻟﺮﺟﺎﺀ ﺍﻟﺼﻤﺖ and ﺃﺴﻜﺖ in Arabic share the same denotative meaning of ‘be quiet’.

 • However, the speaker’s implied attitude to the listener produces a different affective

• However, the speaker’s implied attitude to the listener produces a different affective impact, with the first utterance producing a polite effect and the second one producing an impolite one. • More examples on p. 70

4. Allusive meaning • It occurs when an expression evokes an associated saying or

4. Allusive meaning • It occurs when an expression evokes an associated saying or quotation in such a way that the meaning of that saying or quotation becomes part of the overall meaning of the expression.

5. Reflected meaning • The meaning given to the expression over and above the

5. Reflected meaning • The meaning given to the expression over and above the denotative meaning which it has in that context by the fact that it also calls to mind another meaning of the same word or phrase. • reflected meaning is normally a function of polysemy, i. e. the existence of two or more denotative meaning in a single word. The simplest forms of reflected meaning are when a single word has two or more senses, and its use in a particular context in one of its senses conjures up at least one of its other senses as in the following examples.

 • For example, 1 - the word ‘rat’ in ‘John was a rat’

• For example, 1 - the word ‘rat’ in ‘John was a rat’ it carries two meanings: ‘ a person who deserts his friends or associates’ and the other basic denotative meaning of the animal ‘ rat’. 2 - In Arabic to call someone ﺣﻤﺎﺭ means denotatively ‘stupid’. The word ﺣﻤﺎﺭ also refers to the animal ‘donkey’, which in this context provides a connotative reflected meaning.

6. Collocative meaning • ‘To collocate’ means ‘ to typically occur in close proximity

6. Collocative meaning • ‘To collocate’ means ‘ to typically occur in close proximity with; hence a ‘ collocation’ is an occurrence of one word in close proximity with another. • For example, ‘ pretty’ and ‘ handsome’ have a shared sense of ‘ good looking’ in English. However, ‘ pretty’ collocate with ‘ girl’, ‘ boy’, ‘ woman’, ‘flower’, while ‘ handsome’ collocates whit ‘ boy’, ‘ man’, ‘ car’, ‘ vessel’ , ‘ overcoat’.

 • ‘Pretty’ and ‘handsome’ share the common grounds of ‘good looking’, but they

• ‘Pretty’ and ‘handsome’ share the common grounds of ‘good looking’, but they are differentiated by the range of nouns with which they are likely to co-occur. ‘Pretty’ collocates with ‘girl’, ‘boy’, woman’, ‘flower’, while ‘handsome’ collocates with ‘boy’, ‘man’, ‘vessel’, etc

 • Baker says that the propositional (denotative) meaning of a word does not

• Baker says that the propositional (denotative) meaning of a word does not always determine the collocational patterning. • For example, English speakers typically ‘pay a visit’ but less typically ‘make a visit’ and they do not ‘perform a visit’. Another example of collocation in English is ‘rancid’ and ‘addled’. Though the two words have the same denotative meaning, they have different collocational patterning. ‘Addled’ collocates with ‘eggs’, while ‘rancid’ collocates with ‘butter’

 • Collocations differ from one language into another. According to Baker (1992: 49)

• Collocations differ from one language into another. According to Baker (1992: 49) English and Arabic use different collocational patterns that reflect the preferences of each community for certain modes of expression and certain linguistic configurations

 • According to Dickins et al (2002: 71) the two languages also have

• According to Dickins et al (2002: 71) the two languages also have different collocations in the use of conjoined phrases. • For instance, the collocation ﻣﻦ ﺩﻣﻪ ﻭﻟﺤﻤﻪ is equivalent to ‘his own flesh and blood “, rather than ‘his own blood and flesh’. Other examples include ‘life and death’ ﺍﻟﻤﻮﺕ ﻭﺍﻟﺤﻴﺎﺓ and ‘day and night’ ﻟﻴﻞ ﻧﻬﺎﺭ

 • Collocations constitute a major problem for translators. As Newmark (1988: 180) maintains

• Collocations constitute a major problem for translators. As Newmark (1988: 180) maintains “The translator will be caught every time, not by his grammar, which is probably suspiciously ‘better’ than an educated native’s, not by his vocabulary, which may well be wider, but by his unacceptable or improbable collocations”.

 • In translating from English into Arabic or vice versa the translator faces

• In translating from English into Arabic or vice versa the translator faces the difficult task of finding appropriate collocations in the target language, as he is dealing with two languages that are linguistically and culturally distinct. Therefore, the translator should pay considerable attention to the collocational differences between the two languages in order to choose the appropriate collocation in the target language.

 • A translator who renders ‘shake hands’ as ﻳﻬﺰﺍﻷﻴﺪﻱ would give an erroneous

• A translator who renders ‘shake hands’ as ﻳﻬﺰﺍﻷﻴﺪﻱ would give an erroneous translation. The Arabic equivalent for the English collocation ‘shake hands’ is ﻳﺼﺎﻓﺢ , which is not a collocation in Arabic.