Reference Semantic units Equivalence The term semantics does not simply refer to the meaning of words it is the entire system of ID: 420340
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Slide1
5.
Semantics
Reference
Semantic
units
EquivalenceSlide2
“The
term
‘
semantics
’
does
not
simply
refer
to the
meaning
of
words
;
it
is
the
entire
system
of
meanings
of a
language
,
expressed
by
grammar
as
well
as
vocabulary
. The text
is
a
semantic
unit
[…]
meanings
are
realised
through
wordings
.” (M.A.K.
Halliday
,
cited
by Taylor p. 68).
Phonetic
features
also
contribute
to
meaning
. In
Italian
we
can
add
a diminutive
suffix
to the end of a
noun
to
suggest
smallness
or
lightness
. In
fact
there
are
two
diminutives
in
Italian
.
English
has
a diminutive
suffix
but
it
is
used
less
frequently
than
the
Italian
forms
.
However
, in English
we
have
the
colloquial
expressions
teeny-weeny
and
itsy-bitsy
to
suggest
that
something
is
very
small or of no
importance
at
all
.
From a 1960 hit single by Brian
Hyland
: “
It
was
an
itsy-bitsy
,
teeny-weeny
yellow
polka-dot bikini…”
http://testi-di-canzoni.com/canzone/mostrare/243594/brian-hyland/testo-e-traduzione-itsy-bitsy-teeny-weeny-yellow-polka-dot/
And
what
is
the
Italian
augmentative
suffix
to indicate
largeness
or
heaviness
?Slide3
Function
words
have
no
semantic
value
,
only
a
grammatical
function
.
What
does
the
mean
? Or
by
or
in
?
Content
words
or
lexical
items
refer
to
something
that
exists
in the world,
whether
concrete (
house
, Cagliari, coffee
) or
abstract
(
curiosity
,
philosophy
, idea
). The
thing
referred
to
is
the
referent
; the
word/
words
that
indicate
it
is
/are
the
referring
expression
.Slide4
Reference
is
not
always
straightforward
.
The English
words
bough
/b
aʊ
/ and
branch
are both translated into Italian by
ramo
but native speakers of English know that they do not refer to exactly the same thing.
Branch
is
polysemous
: it can also be translated as
filiale
,
succursale
or
sportello
.
Bough
is
monosemous
but in spoken English there could be ambiguity because it is a homophone of
bow
, which means
inchinarsi
.
Do
paura
and
spavento
refer to
exactly
the same emotion?
If
you
live
at
the
Equator
,
what
does
autumn
refer
to?Slide5
Semantic
units
or
chunks
Sexual
intercourse
began
In
nineteen
sixty-three
(
which
was
a
little
late for me) –
Between
the end of the
Chatterley
ban
And the Beatles’ first LP
(from
Annus
Mirabilis
by Philip
Larkin
1922-1985)Slide6
Equivalence
is
rarely
100%
perfect
Taylor (
pp
71,72)
points
out
that
:
1.
we
have
no
difficulty
in
translating
bread
into
other
languages
but
the target
language
word
probably
does
not
refer
to
quite
the
same
food
product
;
2.
nursery
school
and
asilo infantile
do
not
refer
to
exactly
the
same
kind
of
institution
;
3. The
sentence
“He
ate
my
bacon sandwich”
is
not
as
easy to
translate
as
you
might
think
.
L’anagrafe
requires
a
lengthy
translation
in English.
English speakers take
it
for
granted
that
doctor
refers
to a
doctor
of medicine.Slide7
A complete
grammatical
clause
is
not
necessarily
a
semantic
unit
for
translation
purposes
.
This
appears
to be an easy
translation
:
They
decided
to park the bus
Hanno deciso di parcheggiare il pullman
But
the source text
continues
:
They
decided
to park the bus and
protect
their
1-0
lead
.
Here
park the bus
is
a
metaphor
used
in football
when
a team
scores
a goal and
then
adopts
defensive
tactics
to stop
their
opponents
from
getting
an
equalizer
.Slide8
Lord of the
Flies
by William
Golding
(1954)
“
There
ain’t
nothing
we
can do.
We
ought
to be more
careful
.
I’m
scared
…”
Jack
dragged
his
eyes
away
from the
fire
.
“
You’re
always
scared
.
Yah
–
Fatty
!”
“I
got
the
conch
,”
said
Piggy
bleakly
. He
turned
to Ralph. “I
got
the
conch
,
ain’t
I Ralph?”
Unwillingly
Ralph
turned
away
from the
splendid
,
awful
sight
.
“
What’s
that
?”
“The
conch
. I
got
a right to
speak
.”
The twins
giggled
together
.
“
We
wanted
smoke
…”
“
Now
look…”
A
pall
stretched
for
miles
away
from the
island
.
All
the boys
except
Piggy
started
to
giggle
;
presently
they
were
shrieking
with
laughter
.Slide9
Il signore delle mosche
. Traduzione di Filippo
Donini
(1980)
«Non c’è niente da fare. Dovremo stare più attenti. Ho paura...»
Jack staccò gli occhi dal fuoco.
«Tu hai sempre paura. Ih!... Grassone!»
«Io ho la conchiglia» disse
Piggy
con voce lagnosa. Si volse verso Ralph. «Io ho la conchiglia, non è vero, Ralph?»
Contro voglia, Ralph staccò gli
occchi
dallo spettacolo splendido e pauroso.
«Che c’è?»
«Io ho la conchiglia. Ho diritto di parlare.»
I gemelli ridacchiarono tutti e due insieme.
«Volevamo del fumo…»
«Ma sì, guarda!...»
Una striscia nera si stendeva per miglia e miglia lontano dall’isola. Tutti i ragazzi tranne
Piggy
cominciarono a ridacchiare, e dopo un po’ le risate erano altissime.Slide10
Piggy
lost
his
temper
.
“
I
got
the
conch
! Just
you
listen
! The first
thing
we
ought
to
have
made
was
shelters
down
there
by the beach.
It
wasn’t
half
cold
down
there
in the night.
But
the first time Ralph
says
‘
fire
’
you
goes
howling
and
screaming
up
this
here
mountain. Like a pack of
kids
!”
By
now
they
were
listening
to
his
tirade
.
“
How can
you
expect
to be
rescued
if
you
don’t
put first
things
first and
act
proper
?”
Slide11
Piggy
perse la calma.
«
Io ho la conchiglia! Ma sentite un po’! La prima cosa che avremmo dovuto fare, erano dei rifugi laggiù sulla spiaggia. Faceva ben
freddo
, laggiù, di notte. Ma è bastato che Ralph parlasse di fuoco, ed eccovi tutti quassù sulla montagna a gridare e fare chiasso. Come un mucchio di bambini!»
Adesso
stavano ad ascoltare la sua tirata.
«
Come potete pretendere che ci salvino, se non fate quello che bisogna fare?»Slide12
FALSE FRIENDS 5
What
do
you
remember
about
aspersion
, assassinate/
murder
and
assume
?
Attic
= soffitta, mansarda
Attico
=
penthouse
, top-
floor
flat
Bigot
(
adjective
:
bigotted
) =
not
necessarily
related
to
religion
. A
bigot
is
someone
who
has
very
strong
views
about
something
(e.g.
politics
) and
refuses
to
consider
other
points
of
view
.
Bigotry
and
racism
often
go
together
.
Callous
= insensibile alle sofferenze altrui.
Calloso
=
callused
.Slide13
THE DIARY OF A BRAVE TRANSLATOR VERILY IN LEG – PART 5
Don’t
believe
everything
you
see
on the internet. The
other
day
I
read
that
it’s
very
dangerous
to use
your
phone
while
the
battery
is
recharging
,
but
I
later
discovered
that
it
was
just a cow buffalo.
There
are
often
stories
about
certain
foods
that
have
miraculous
qualities
,
but
I
didn’t
fall
with the last
rain
, so I
don’t
believe
them
.
But
these
stories
persist
because
there
are
plenty
of
naive
people
about
and
it’s
easy to take
them
by the bottom.