Translation of technical texts in shipbuilding

Shipbuilding is one of the key industries of our country. The next following years may see the development in building many kinds of vessels: bulk carriers, oil tankers, container vessel, car carriers, floating storage and offloading units ….

PART I: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

Shipbuilding is one of the key industries of our country The next following years maysee the development in building many kinds of vessels: bulk carriers, oil tankers, containervessel, car carriers, floating storage and offloading units … Each kind of vessel has it owntechnical specification And in order to understand the structure, technical characteristic aswell as the operation, the translation of these technical documents has become moreimportantly than ever before

As a translator in a shipbuilding company, the author of this minor thesis days by dayswork with technical documents She is fully aware that the translation of technical document is

a difficult job, it requires the translator to continuously improve basic knowledge onshipbuilding as well as skill in dealing with situations relating to technical terms, specialexpressions, and ambiguous structures…

That is the reason why the author chooses the study on translation of technical texts inshipbuilding for her MA minor thesis with the hope that the study can provide the translator ageneral view on translation of technical texts in shipbuilding industry and the author herselfcan improve her job

2 Aims of the study

The study is implemented with the following aims:

o To clarify some aspects in translation of technical texts in shipbuilding

o To delve into some problems relating to translation of technical texts in shipbuilding

o To put forward some suggestions for solution of difficulty in translation

3 Scope of the study

Technical translation is a huge field, each technical field has it owns characteristic,therefore, the translator working on any field of technical translation has to try her/ his best to

fulfill her/ his job The translation of technical texts in shipbuilding is not an exception Withinthe scope of this study, a study on the translation of technical texts in shipbuilding is veryexclusive to talk about However, due to the limitation of time and lack of experience, myminor thesis is only limited to dealing with some aspects, problems in translating technicaltext in shipbuilding.

4 Method of the study

To set up the framework for this study, the author refers to some in-house and foreignpublications In order to achieve the goal of the study, the main method is quantitative dataanalysis All the considerations, conclusions in this minor thesis are largely based on:

o Reference to relevant publications

o Analysis of collected data

o Personal observations

5 Design of the study

The study consists of three parts:

Part 1, introduction, includes: rationale, aims, scope, method and design of the study.Part 2 is the development, the focus of the study with three chapters: Chapter 1 is generaltheoretical background, it introduces general information about translation theory Chapter 2deals with an investigation into translation of technical text in shipbuilding In this chapter,some kinds of technical shipbuilding texts, aspects and problems related to translation thesedocuments are analyzed Chapter 3 is the implication This chapter points out some mistakesthe translator often meets in translating and some suggested solutions Part 3 is the conclusion

PART II: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: Theoretical background

1 What is translation?

Translation has been the subject of interest not only to linguists, professional andamateur translators, language teachers but also to other engineers of other technical fields Agreat number of publications have been written about this matter However, “What istranslation?” is still a question in need of research Barkhudarov (1975) defined translation as

“the transformation of a speech product in one language into that of other language keeping the content (or meaning) unchanged”, by speech product he meant translation as an act of

communication Catford (1965) considers translation is an cognitive behavior by saying that

“Translation is the replacement if textual material in one language (source language) by equivalent textual material in other language (target language)” For Nida & Taber (1974), translation “consists in reproducing in the receptor language the closet natural equivalent of the source language message, first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style” Hatim

& Mason (1990) termed it briefly “Translating is a communicative process which takes place within a social context”

Different scholars defines translation in different way, seemingly, they have not come upwith a “single valid comprehensive theory of translation”, that is because they seem to look attranslation from different views

2 Text, discourse and translation

2.1 About text, discourse and translation

Text and discourse sometimes are confused in linguistic For Windowson, a text is

“sentences in combination”, and discourse is the “use of utterances in combination” To put itmore clearly, text is a “structured sequence of linguistic expressions forming a unitary whole”and discourse is a “structured event manifest in linguistic (and other) behavior” Yet, thesedefinitions do not satisfy because text and discourse sometimes are used interchangeably, andtext is referred to as “written documents” while discourse as “speech” Thus, Roger (1991)

proposed the following: text is “the formal product of selections of options from the THEME systems of the grammar; a unit which carries the semantic sense of the proposition (the propositional content and locutionary force of the speech act) through sentences which are linked by means of cohesion” and discourse is “ a communicative event which draws on the meaning potential of the language (and other systems of communication) to carry communicative value (the illocution force) of speech acts through utterances which are linked

by means of coherence”

A text is a string of sentences, a unit of language in use A discourse is a communicativeprocess by means of interaction and its linguistic product is text And discourse refers to theconnected speech or writing at supra – sentential levels while text – both written and spoken –

is seen as the representation of discourse

Discourse analysis is the analysis of language in use and includes in itself the analysis ofthe text beyond and above the sentence Thus, text is one of the core terms in translation

2.2 Types of text

Type of text is an important factor in translation It affects on all stages of translation andtranslation product That is the reason why that this matter is always discussed in translation.According to Newmark (1988), one of the most important function of language is to helpthe users to express their feelings, thus equivalent to expressive function of language, we haveexpressive text Imaginative, authoritative statements and autobiography, essays, personalcorrespondence are some sub-types of this kind of text

The very important function of language is informative function For Newmark (1988),

“the core of the informative function of language is external situation, the facts of a topic,reality outside language, including reported ideas or theories” The informative text –typeincludes scientific papers, textbooks, popular science or art books, popular journalism

The third function of language, as Newmark (1988) proposes is to call upon thereadership to act, think or feel in order to react in the way intended by the text, say, vocativetext This text – type is also called instrumental, operative text aiming at producing a certain

effect on the readership This text type includes: instructions, publicity, propaganda,persuasive writing.

Besides, Newmark also bases on 3 other functions of language which were proposed byJakobson to classify some other text – types: The aesthetic function – aesthetic text, the phaticfunction – phatic text, the metalingual function – metalingual text

2.3 Text analysis in translation

Text analysis plays an important role in translation process, thus, it is always paidattention by both the translator and the translation researcher According to Newmark (1988),analysis of a text is a procedure in which the translator must read the text, find out theintention of the text, text styles, readership, as well as stylistic scales, attitude, setting Besides,the translator has to take into account the quality of the writing, and before translating, he/ shehas to read the text the last time

2.3.1 Reading the text

The translator, at first, is the reader, but not the normal reader At least, he is both readerand reader – translator As Newmark (1988) claimed, the translator begins the job by reading

for two purposes: “to understand what it is a bout; to analyze it from the translator’s point of view” The translator has to define its intention and the way it is written for the purpose of

selecting suitable translation method and identifying particular problems

Also, Newmark (1988) suggested in order to understand the text, general reading and

close reading are required General reading is “to get the gist” The translator can gather

general information about subject of the text through textbooks, specialist papers Close

reading is to read “words both out of and in the context”

2.3.2 The intention of the text and the intention of the translator

In reading, the translator, as Newmark (1988) stated, searches for the intention of thetext, he/ she can not isolate this from understanding it Intention of the text is shown throughthe selecting means like grammatical structures, vocabulary of the writer, for example: twotexts describe the same subject as a battle for instance, the positive text uses positive

expressions, vocabulary such as hopefully, luckily… However, the negative text, conversely,

uses negative expressions, vocabulary like unfortunately, it is a pity that… “The intention of the text represents the SL writer’s attitude to the subject matter” (Newmark (1988)) Thus, the

first and very important task is to search the intention of the text

And, also according to Newmark (1988) “usually, the translator’s intention is identical with the intention of the source text author” But sometimes, it is adapted by the translator to

make it suitable to new readership

2.3.3 Text styles

Understanding text styles is an important step in analyzing text According to Nida(1979), four types of text are divided as per the text styles The first is narrative text , it is a

“dynamic sequence of events”, and because it is a sequence of event, it is expressed by a string

a verbal actions The second type is descriptive This kind of text is, on the contrary, is “static with emphasis on linking verbs, adjective, adjectival nouns” The third type is discussion, it is

“a treatment of ideas, with emphasis on abstract nouns (concepts), verbs of thought, mental activity, logical argument and connectives” And the last type as Nida (1979) suggested is dialogue with “emphasis on colloquialism and phaticisms”.

2.3.4 Readership

The readership is a group of readers that the text is aimed at and this group is markedwith level of education, the class, age and sex In translation, as Newmark (1988) claimed, thereadership of SL text should be characterized, then the readership of the translation to decidehow much attention to pay to the TL readers

And, Newmark (1988) states that there is a tendency to make the translation for

“educated, middle – class readership in an informal, colloquial style”

There are three types of readership: expert, educated layman, and the uniformed

2.3.5 Stylistic scales

To understand and form as suitable text, the translator has to identify the stylistic scales

of the text For example, basing on the formality, texts can be divided: officialese, official,

formal, neutral, informal, colloquial, slang and taboo; basing on the generality and difficulty,texts can be divided into: simple, popular, neutral, educated, technical and opaquely technical;and basing on emotional tone: intense, warm, factual and understatement.

2.3.6 Setting of the text

To learn about the setting of the text, Newmark (1988) suggests is to find out the placewhere the text will be published in TL, the TL equivalent of the SL periodical, newspaper,

textbook, , the clients and their requirements, also take into account the “briefer title, absence of sub-titles and sub-headings, shorter paragraphs, and other features of the TL house-style”.

The translator has to “make several assumptions” about the readership, that is to say,

who they are, their education…

2.3.7 The quality of the writing

Another important thing the translator has to pay attention is the quality of the writing inorder to choose the translation method The quality of the writing, as Newmark (1988)claimed, depends upon the author’s writing skill, author’s intention and the requirement of thesubject matter A text is considered to be a well – written one when is uses the right words inright places, it has a minimum of redundancy, it is logical, … The authority of a text is subject

to the status of writer in his field If the text is written by an experts, of course, the accuracy is

better If the text is written with “stereotyped phrased, poorly written”, the translator at that

time, has to deal with the badly written text

2.3.8 The last reading

At last, the translator should read the text, he/ she should underline “all neologism, metaphors, cultural words and institutional terms, technical terms, proper names, and

“untranslatable” words” to identify the “semantic range, the frontiers” This can be

considered to be the last analyzing step in translating process

3 Translation method

For a good translator, which could be considered the utmost importance and theguideline in translation job is translation methodology It has been a central problems whether

to translate “literally or freely” at least since the first century BC Many years have gone, somemethods have been identified and Newmark (1988) has put the argument in the form of aflattened V diagram as the following:

Diagram 1: V diagram of translation method by Newmark (1988)

3.1 Word – for – word translation

Word – for – word translation is a method in which the words are translated “singly by their most common meanings, out of context”, the method in which the “SL word – order is preserved” This method is used to understand the mechanics of source language and to

attempt to analyze preliminarily draft of translation process

This method reproduces the precise contextual meaning of the original and deals with the

constraints of the TL grammatical structures Its aim is to be “completely faithful” to the

intentions and the text-realization of the SL writer

3.4 Semantic translation

Semantic translation takes into account the aesthetic value – the beauty of the SL text It

is more flexible than faithful translation in that it admits creative exception to 100% fidelityand allows the translator’s intuitive empathy with the original

Communicative translation presents the exact contextual meaning of the original in such

a way that both content and language are made to be acceptable and comprehensible to thereaders of TL language

On analyzing the method of translation, it is experienced that communicative translation

is appreciated However, depending on the text type, the translation method is chosen becausewith this kind of text, this method is the best but it is not good for the others

4 Equivalence in translation

Equivalence can be considered as a fundamental conception in translation and it ismentioned in most of the definitions of translation, however, it is difficult to agree on a

uniform concept of equivalence Thus, there exist many categories of equivalence: contentequivalence, stylistic equivalence, formal equivalence, functional equivalence, textualequivalence, dynamic equivalence, communicative equivalence, pragmatic equivalence andequivalence of effect by scholars like Winter (1961), Catford (1965), Nida & Taber (1969),Will (1977) and Jager (1975).

And according to Newmark (1988), the utmost purpose of any translation is to reach

“equivalence effect”, that is to say, to create the same effect (or one as close as possible) onthe group of readers of translation and the readership of the original

Within this minor thesis, the writer only considers some equivalence types which are themost mentioned and are applied widely

4.1 Quantity based equivalence

- One to one equivalence:

For this kind of equivalence, there is a single expression in TL for a single expression in

SL This equivalence is commonly seen in terminology

- One to many equivalence

There are many expressions in TL for a single SL expression in this kind of equivalence

- One to part one equivalence

With this equivalence, one way of expression in SL has more than one meaning but theway of expression in TL is only equivalent to one of the meanings

- Nil – equivalence

There is no equivalence in TL due to difference in culture

4.2 Meaning – based equivalence

This kind of equivalence is considered by Koller (1979) as follows:

- Denotative equivalence

The equivalence in which both SL and TL expressions show the same definition, event

in real life

- Connotative equivalence

This type of equivalence bases on connotation of language It provides additional valuesbesides denotation value This equivalence is formed by selecting words in different aspectssuch as style, usage, social, usage frequency… It can be connotation of poetry language,connotation of socially determined usage, connotation of geographical relation or origin,connotation of stylistic effect, connotation basing on evaluation, connotation basing onattitude and connotation basing on register (the case of technical language).

For the author of this minor thesis, connotative equivalence basing on register is of greatinterest and importance because her topic deals with the translation of technical text inshipbuilding and the equivalence of technical text translation is based on connotative register

- Text – normative equivalence

For this type of equivalence, the SL and TL expressions are used in the same or similarcontext in their respective language like correspondence and law

- Formal equivalence

The equivalence formed by form expression when both the SL and TL have the sameaesthetic feature which is created by formality The equivalence is originated from rhyme,tune, style of poetry, metaphor, …

5 Technical translation

In modern world, science and technology are applied in every aspect of life, thus, thenumber of scientific and technological texts appear in a great number And the profession oftranslator is co-extensive with the rise of technology, and staff translators working in that fieldare usually called technical translators But what is technical translation?

Newmark (1988) defines and distinguishes technical translator from institutionaltranslation “Technical translation is one part of specialized translation; institutionaltranslation, the area of politics, commerce, finance, government etc., is the other” He alsosuggests that technical translation is potentially non-cultural and universal because the benefits

of technology are not confined to one speech community In his view, the technical termsshould be translated, whereas, the institutional translation is cultural so the terms aretransferred

Also, according to Newmark (1988), technical translation is primarily distinguishedfrom other forms of translation by terminology, its characteristics, grammatical features(passives, nominalizations, third person, empty verbs, present tenses) and it technical format(technical report).

5.1 Technical style

Newmark (1988) suggests “unless its non-technical language is jazzed up and popularized, it is usually free from emotive language, connotations, sound-effects and original metaphor, if it is well-written” However, not all the technical texts are well – written, thus,

it’s the translator’s job to rephrase poorly written language

Regarding to technical style, Parpcke (1975) distinguished four kinds of technicallanguage: scientific, workshop level, every day usage level, and publicity/ sales Yet,

according to Newmark (1988), the division Parpcke is “likely to be valid only for one or two terms in a few fields” He suggests the following scales: academic, professional and popular.

5.2 Technical terms

Newmark (1988) states that “ Technical translation is primarily distinguished from otherforms of translation by terminology” Thus, the core characteristic of a technical text in anyfield is terms; terms are also the main factor to distinguish a technical text from other kinds oftexts And, the central difficulty in technical translation is usually new terminology

It is due to the fact that some technical terms appear only once in the source languageand the context is not clear to the translator Furthermore, the technical terms are distilledknowledge and written for specialists in that field

It is also because that even standardized terms may have more than one meaning in onespecific field, as well as in the other fields

5.3 Technical terms and descriptive terms

One matter in technical translation is to distinguish technical and descriptive terms According to Newmark (1988), the original SL writer may use a descriptive terms for atechnical object for three reasons:

o The object is new, and has not yet got a name

o The descriptive term is being used as a familiar alternative, to avoid repetition;

o The descriptive term is being used to make a contrast with another one

Also, he suggests that technical terms and descriptive terms should be translated by theircounterparts, and the translator should resist the temptation of translating a descriptive terms

by a technical terms for the purpose of showing off his/ her knowledge However, he pointsout that if the SL descriptive term is being used either because of the SL writer’s ignorance, orbecause the appropriate technical term does not exist in the SL, and if an object strange to the

SL but not to the TL culture is being referred to, the translator is justified in translating adescriptive term by a technical term

Further to technical and descriptive terms, Newmark (1988) claims it is a trend thatprofessional translators make “a mystique out of their craft” by denying any descriptive termswhere a TL technical term exists He points out the reason that because technical terms arestandardized language and more precise (narrower in semantic range) whereas, descriptiveterms are non-standardized language

5.4 Translation method

5.4.1 Beginning technical translation

Idiom says that “practice makes perfect” Technical translation is similar The more thetranslator get practice, the better he/ she translates However, the challenge or the difficultthing for the technical translator is that the translator is not well – informed about the topic ofthe technical text, is lack of knowledge about technicality And as Newmark (1988) advises

the translator is “more interested in understanding the description, the function and the effect

of a concept such as entropy rather than in learning laws, particularly axioms, theorems, theories, systems in some of which entropy is involved” Or to put it more clearly, “to translate

a text you so not have to be an expert in its technology or its topic; but you have to understand that text and temporarily know the vocabulary it uses”.

He suggests as a translator working in technical translation, when translating a text, thetranslator has to be able to stand back and understand roughly what is happening in the real

life or he/ she has to convince himself/ herself that the sentence which has just been translatedmakes sense Although many technical terms can be translated “literally”, the translator has tocheck the present validity with the register and dialect.

Thus, in order to begin a technical text, according to him, the translator should, at first,read it to understand what the text is about (underline difficult words) and then assess itsnature ( proportion of persuasion to information), its degree of formality, its intention (attitude

to topic), the possible cultural and professional differences between the readership and theoriginal one Next, the translator should give the translation a framework of recognized house-style The translator has to take into account everything, every word, every figure, letter, everypunctuation mark…

5.4.2 Translating the title

Newmark (1988) classifies title either is descriptive or allusive According to him, adescriptive title names the subject succinctly while allusive title is suitable for someimaginative literature and popular journalism and may be changed

The title states the subject but it does not always mention the purpose or intention of theprocess which is described

Besides, Newmark (1988) also states two other points of title Firstly, the title of the SLtext is often two long by English standards Secondly, the title has a transparent collocation.And according to him, almost errors in technical translation are caused by misleadingadjective plus noun collocations for standardized terms And for non-standardized terms, theerrors can be caused by transparent or motivated verb plus object, or subject plus verbcollocations

5.4.3 Going through the text

It is suggested by Newmark (1988) that The translator, then, should read the text through

to get the gist of the main idea and underline all words and structures that appear to containproblems: new technical terms, special expressions, syntactic ambiguity… After that, the

translator can translate sentence by sentence, making grammatical shifts to for naturallanguage In technical translation, the translator can be as bold and free in recasting grammar(cutting up sentences, transposing clauses, converting verbs to nouns, etc.) as in any type ofinformative text, provided the original is defective Lexically, the main characteristic oftechnical language is its actual richness and its potential infinity The translator has to ensurethe equivalent level of register to TL (he/ she may separate new terms and compare to thecontext, sometimes actual practice to deal with the meaning) And last, the translator has toadjust the translated sentence as per the technical style.

Chapter 2: An investigation into translation of technical texts in shipbuilding

1 Text characteristic in shipbuilding

1.1 Kinds of texts

Texts, as many other fields, are the main way to connect the builder, the engineers andthe owner Through the texts, all the necessary written information is transferred Thus, theyare very important And in shipbuilding, texts are shown in the followings types:

1.1.1 Specification

For the vessel, specification is the thing that introduces, describes the main particulars,equipment as well as necessary related matters the vessels must have when going in service.Outline specification of 260 TEU container vessel is an example

General descriptionType of ship Single crew, slow speed diesel engine driven container vessel with

bulbous bow, transom stern and five (5) box-shaped cargo holds fortransportation of container in holds with cell guides, and on deck with

1.1.3 Procedures

Another kind of text the translator must deal with is the procedures In terms of itsnature, the procedures are the working sequences when we carry out any testing, installation,assembly onboard, in site, etc…

1.1.4 Fly sheet

This kind of document is the short, concise text which is used to discuss a problemsoccurring during any stages in shipbuilding It can be the working modification in which thereason and measure are pointed out

Let us take an example:

technical information Job No (Signal) : F56/NT01

Hull No (Signal) : 5092Part (Signal) :HULL

BM-TKCN-02

NT01

No:R032\F56-Date: 27/4/2009P/Ps: 1/4

Nội dung thông báo:

Cắt và thay bản thành , bản cánh tại chân nẹp L10S , L10P của sờn F32

Cắt và thay bản thành , bản cánh tại mép đấu đà của nẹp L7S,L7P (phần đấu với Block T31L.)

Cắt và thay một phần nẹp đứng gia cờng cửa thoát hiểm buồng máy tại sờn F28

1.1.5 Comments from Class, Owner

This kind of document is often written by hand and transferred either through email or directly

to engineers These are comments on specific parts during inspection like welding line,shortcomings,…

1.2 Shipbuilding terms

Technical shipbuilding terms are the most typical features in shipbuilding industry

….The vessel shall be designed and constructed as a single screw, diesel driven bulk carrier with machinery space and all accommodations including navigation bridge located aft ….

The vessel shall have a single continuous freeboard deck with forecastle and five tiers

of deck house, and shall form bulbous bow, raked stem and mariner stern with L V Fin

(Low Viscous resistance Fin)

…

(Specification of hull part – Future 56,200 DWT)

….Type: DIESEL UNITED – WARTSILA 2 stroke, single acting, crosshead type, solid injection, exhaust turbocharged, direct reversible, marine diesel engine 6RT-flex 50 type

Height from foundation 8,840 mm to top of exhaust

valve

…

(Specification of machinery part – Future 56,200 DWT)

… Remove the skirt, heating to eliminate stress of welding line and fair the deformation

(Side ramp procedure)

1.3 Language in use

Language used in shipbuilding is technical language, thus:

- It is usually free from emotive language, connotations, …

- It uses mostly present tenses, passives, nominalizations, third person, empty subject,and noun phrases, imperative …

For example:

Accommodation ladder is a portable set of steps on a ship’s side for people boarding from small boats or from a pier

(Rec 82 – IACS, p4)

…Turn over floor plate to weld the back side

Weld the back side of seam lines: similar to the welding of front side

Heating to eliminate welding line stress and fair the deformation

(Side ramp procedure, p.9)

… Thoroughly cleaning will be made and the dirt remaining on the crane will be swept

in the area of testing A plate with conspicuous color will be fitted to prevent no-relative people or other cars from entering this place

(Appendix CQ1225 floating dock crane outline test –running YMC 2006)

2 Some aspects in translating a text in shipbuilding

Translation is a very complicated process, it is complicated because it involves manyaspects that need to be solved and decided by the translator during the translating process Thetranslator will have to create in the target language the equivalent context Concerning totranslation of technical text, in general, and technical text in shipbuilding, in specific, whatseems to be one of the most difficult problems for the translator is the technical document iswritten for the expert(the engineer and the ones take part in building a ship) not for the laypeople That causes so many problems for the translator Let us consider the following extractfrom D411101000-R1- Main engine specification:

The specification of the electric three-phase motor is continuous rating, 3600 min -1 , AC

60 Hz, 449V x 2P, totally enclosed fan cooled type, with class F insulation The starter of the automatic start/ stop is of a drip proof, walled hanging type, with a line start system, a thermal overload relay and ammeters.

3 Air cooler

1 set of air cooler, with pipes Air cooler tube is round tube

The water cover is made of cast iron

4 1 set of exhaust gas manifold with insulated lagging between the cylinder and turbocharger

5 1 set of protecting grid before turbocharger

6 1 flywheel with a barring rim, without a flywheel cover (fly wheel cover is supplied by shipyard)

7 Turning gear, built on the engine

1 cyclo- reducer type turning gear with electric motor (1 kW), built on the engine The specification of the electric three-phase motor is; totally enclosed type, 1 hour rating, 1,800min -1 , AC 60 Hz, 440V x 4P, class F insulation, one speed, direct reversible and with electromagnetic brake The starter is of a drip-proof, wall hanging type, with a line start, thermal overload relay and an ammeter.

The portable switch box is fitted with cabtyre cable (20m) and with an emergency stop button.

8 1 set of cylinder lubricators and driving by electric motor

Japanese make, sealed and self – feeding type

The lubricators are fitted with flow indicator

9 1 set of common rail system controlled electrically fuel injection parameter.