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Article published In: Babel
Vol. 69:2 (2023) ► pp.188–215

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Translating explicatures between Arabic and English

Completing logical forms and calculating pragmatic competence and metalinguistic knowledge

 | University of Jordan
 | Yarmouk University
Published online: 30 March 2023
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/babel.00319.alj
Abstract
This article explores which areas of explicature identification (i.e., disambiguation, reference resolution, saturation, free enrichment, and ad hoc concept constructions) were more attended to in Arabic-English translation. Twenty translators were asked to render from one language into another 50 sentences whose logical form could be enriched by explicatures. Translators were found to attend more to the effects of disambiguation and reference resolution. A demarcation line was drawn between explicatures that called for completing overt logical forms (disambiguation and reference resolution) and those that prompted calculating pragmatic competence and meta-linguistic knowledge (saturation, free enrichment, and ad hoc concept constructions). Using relevance theory as a framework of analysis, we propose that completing overt logical forms is more rewarding and less costly for translators than computing pragmatic competence and meta-linguistic knowledge. The figures corroborated this assumption, which showed that explicature observance was positively correlated with educational attainment and years of experience.
Résumé
Cet article explore les domaines de l’identification des explicatures (c’est-à-dire la désambiguïsation, la résolution des références, la saturation, l’enrichissement libre et les constructions de concepts ad hoc) auxquels on s’intéresse davantage dans la traduction arabe-anglais. Vingt traducteurs ont été invités à traduire d’une langue à l’autre 50 phrases dont la forme logique pouvait être enrichie par des explicitations. Il a été constaté que les traducteurs étaient plus attentifs aux effets de la désambiguïsation et de la résolution des références. Les explicitations qui demandaient d’appliquer des formes logiques manifestes (désambiguïsation et résolution de références) ont été séparées de celles qui incitaient à estimer la compétence pragmatique et les connaissances méta-linguistiques (saturation, enrichissement libre et constructions de concepts ad hoc). En utilisant la théorie de la pertinence comme cadre d’analyse, nous avançons que l’application des formes logiques manifestes est plus gratifiant et moins coûteux pour les traducteurs que l’estimation de la compétence pragmatique et des connaissances méta-linguistiques. Les chiffres ont corroboré cette hypothèse, montrant que le respect de l’explicature était positivement corrélée au niveau d’éducation et aux années d’expérience.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Explicatures and their identification
    • 2.1Disambiguation
    • 2.2Reference resolution
    • 2.3Saturation
    • 2.4Free enrichment
    • 2.5Ad hoc concept construction
    • 2.6Questions of the study
  • 3.Methods
  • 4.Findings and discussion
    • 4.1Explicature identification areas and their observance in translation
    • 4.2Experience and educational attainment
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
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