Catford's Translation Shifts

Introduction

• Catford's translation shifts were first introduced in 1965.
• They are used when formal equivalence in translation is impossible.
• Formal equivalence relates to the structure and meaning of a sentence.

Definition of Translation Shifts

• Shifts are departures from formal equivalence during translation from Source Language (SL) to Target Language (TL).
• Focus in the 1960s was primarily on linguistic equivalence, not cultural equivalence.
• Cultural equivalence involves understanding language as part of culture, requiring translators to be bilingual and bicultural.

Types of Translation Shifts

1. Level Shifts

• Occur when an SL item is translated to a TL item at a different linguistic level.
• Examples include shifts from grammar to lexis or vice versa.
  • Example: Russian imperfective (unmarked) vs. perfective (marked) aspect translated to English past simple (neutral) vs. continuous (marked).
  • Example: English deictic item translated into French article plus lexical adjective.

2. Category Shifts

• Involves structural changes in the translation process.
• Unbound Shifts: Occur across sentences, clauses, phrases, words, morphemes.
• Rank-Bound Shifts: Involve changes in unit ranks, such as structure changes or class shifts.
  • Class Shifts: Changing word class, e.g., verb to adjective.
  • Structure Shifts: Changes in syntax, e.g., translating interrogative to affirmative.
  • Unit Shifts: Number of units in SL translate into different units in TL.

Intra-System Shifts

• Occur within a language's own system during translation.
• Examples:
  • English subject-verb-object changes to Arabic verb-subject-object.
  • Structure Shifts: Change in grammatical structure, e.g., interrogative to affirmative.
  • Class Shifts: Change in word class, e.g., adjective to noun.
  • Examples:
    • "A White House" to French "Une Maison Blanche."
    • English plural "dishes" translated to French singular "la vaisselle."

Abstract Noun Shifts

• Abstract English nouns without definite articles require definite articles in Arabic or French.
  • Examples:
    • "Dignity" in English vs. "الكَرامة" in Arabic.