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Article published In: Babel
Vol. 69:2 (2023) ► pp.242–265

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The Little Prince

A study of its translations into Hebrew and Arabic

 | SWANTECH Ltd.
Published online: 8 June 2023
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/babel.00318.ros
Abstract
This paper studies translations of Antoine de Saint Exupéry’s The Little Prince into Hebrew and Arabic, genealogically related Semitic languages. The discussion in the paper focuses on three questions related to subjects already raised in the translation literature: What does the word count of any translated text contribute to translation study? How does comparing different translations of the same text into the same language contribute to translation research? Will translating one text into genealogically related languages reveal similarities between the translations? The research hypothesizes that (1) similarities and differences will be found between the translations, but (2) they will not affect target language rules. The main findings are that (1) total word sums were smaller in the translations than word sums in the source text. (2) The differences reflect the style and register considerations (formal versus daily lexical and structural elements) rather than grammatical issues. The research hypotheses appear to be correct, at least for these languages.
Résumé
Cet article étudie les traductions du Petit Prince d’Antoine de Saint Exupéry en hébreu et en arabe, langues sémitiques généalogiquement proches. La discussion dans cet article se concentre sur trois questions liées à des sujets déjà soulevés précédemment dans la littérature: Qu’apporte le nombre de mots d’un texte traduit à l’étude de la traduction ? En quoi la comparaison de différentes traductions dans une même langue contribue-t-elle à la recherche en traductologie ? La traduction d’un texte dans des langues apparentées sur le plan généalogique révèle-t-elle des similitudes entre les traductions ? La recherche émet l’hypothèse que (1) des similitudes et des différences seront trouvées entre les traductions, mais (2) qu’elles n’affecteront pas les règles de la langue cible. Les principaux résultats sont les suivants : (1) les sommes totales de mots étaient plus petites dans les traductions que dans le texte source. (2) Les différences reflètent des considérations de style et de registre (registre formel opposé au registre quotidien pour les éléments lexicaux et structurels) plutôt que des questions grammaticales. Les hypothèses de recherche semblent être correctes, du moins pour ces langues.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Background features of translation studies of literary works
  • 3.Method
  • 4.Translation examples
  • 5.Analysis
  • 6.Findings: Answers to the research questions
    • 6.1What do Word Count Studies of the Source Text and Its Translation(s) Contribute to Translation Science?
    • 6.2How Does Comparing Different Translations of the Same Text into the Same Language Contribute to Translation Research?
    • 6.3Does the Translation of One Text into Two (or More) Genealogically Related Languages Reveal Similar Features in Both Translations?
  • 7.Summary and conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
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Liu, Bilin (Belen)
2025.  Translationalizing Le Petit Prince to Hong Kong: Exploring a new approach to world literature . Studia Neophilologica ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo

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