Cover not available
Article published In:
Babel
Vol. 65:3 (2019) ► pp.337–354

Intercultural pragmatics and the translation of English interjections and expletives into Spanish and Chinese

| Huazhong University of Science and Technology
| Huazhong University of Science and Technology | University of Oviedo | University of the Free State

This article aims to discuss the importance of pragmatics in translation, paying particular attention to the difficulties posed by two non-clausal units or inserts (Biber et al. 1999). These elements have been classified into nine categories, namely interjections, greetings and farewells, discourse markers, attention signals, response elicitors, response forms, hesitators, polite formulae and expletives. In this article we will discuss two of them, interjections and expletives, both of which express stance. We will consider the possible renderings of these elements in Spanish and Chinese and the difficulties they pose in the translation of fictional dialogue in connection with previous research into this issue in order to identify future lines of enquiry. As regards the translation of expletives, it seems that recent publications point towards a greater presence of swearwords in Spanish dubbed versions than in the past, referred to in this article as a “vulgarization hypothesis”.

Keywords: pragmatics, translation of inserts, interjections, expletives, Spanish, Chinese
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Aims of the article
  • 3.Translating English inserts into Spanish and Chinese
    • 3.1Interjections
    • 3.2Expletives and taboo language
  • 4.Concluding discussion
  • References
Published online: 12 July 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/babel.00098.qin
References
Baños, Rocío; Silvia Bruti; and Serenella Zanotti
2013 “Corpus Linguistics and Audiovisual Translation: In Search on an Integrated Approach”. Perspectives 21 (4): 483–490. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Biber, Douglas; Stig Johansson; Geoffrey Leech; Susan Conrad; and Edward Finegan
1999 Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Boase-Beier, Jean
2014 “Using translation to read literature”. In Literary Translation. Redrawing the Boundaries, ed. by Jean Boase-Beier; Antoinette Fawcett; and Philip Wilson, 241–252. Houndmills Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Bruti, Silvia; and Maria Pavesi
2008 “Interjections in Translated Italian: Looking for Traces of Dubbed Language”. In Investigating English with Corpora, ed. by Aurelia Martelli; and Virginia Pulcini, 207–222. Milano: Polimetrica.Google Scholar
Bucaria, Chiara
2010 “Laughing to Death: Dubbed and Subtitled Humour in Six Feet Under ”. In Translation, Humour and the Media, ed. by Delia Chiaro, 222–237. London: Continuum.Google Scholar
Caldwell-Harris, Catherine L.; Jimmy Tong; Winvy Lung; and Sinlan Poo
2010 “Physiological Reactivity to Emotional Phrases in Mandarin-English Bilinguals”. International Journal of Bilingualism 15 (3): 329–352. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Carter, Ronald A.; Rebecca Hughes; and Michael McCarthy
2000 Exploring Grammar in Context: Grammar Reference and Practice for Upper-Intermediate and Advanced. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Carter, Ronald; and Michael McCarthy
2006 Cambridge Grammar of English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Chaume, Frederic
2004 Cine y traducción. Madrid: Cátedra.Google Scholar
2019 “Audiovisual Translation”. In Routledge Handbook of Spanish Translation Studies, ed. by Roberto A. Valdeón; and África Vidal. 311–347. London: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Chen, Chapman
2004 “On the Hong Kong Chinese Subtitling of English Swearwords”. Meta 49 (1): 135–147. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Chen, Shen-Jie
2004 “Linguistic Dimensions of Subtitling: Perspectives from Taiwan”. Meta 49 (1): 115–124. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Chiaro, Delia
2009 “Issues in Audiovisual Translation”. In The Routledge Companion to Translation Studies, ed. by Jeremy Munday, 141–165. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Chou, Isabelle C.
2017 “Dubbing from English into Chinese: A Case Study on Translation of Spoken Language”. T&I Review 71: 53–74.Google Scholar
Cuenca, Maria Josep
2006 “Interjections and Pragmatic Errors in Dubbing”. Meta 51 (1): 20–35. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dahlgren, Marta
2000 “A Relevance-based Approach to Poetry in Translation.” Perspectives 8 (2): 97–108. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dewaele, Jean Marc
2004 “Blistering Barnacles! What Language Do Multilinguals Swear in?” Estudios de sociolingüística 51: 83–105.Google Scholar
2010 Emotions in Multiple Languages. Houndmills Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fernández Dobao, Ana María
2006 “Linguistic and Cultural Aspects of the Translation of Swearing: The Spanish Version of Pulp Fiction”. Babel 52 (3): 222–242. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fernández Gavela, María Dolores
2015 The Grammar and Lexis of Conversational Informal English in Advanced Textbooks. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.Google Scholar
Fong, Gilbert C. F.
2009 “The Two Worlds of Subtitling: The Case of Vulgarisms and Sexually-oriented Language”. In Dubbing and Subtitling in a World Context, ed. by Gilbert C. F. Fong; and Kenneth L. L. Au, 39–62. Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press.Google Scholar
Gehweiler, Elke
2010 “Interjection.” In Historical Pragmatics, ed. by Andreas H. Jucker; and Irma Taavitsainen, 315–349. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Halliday, Michael A. K.
2004 An Introduction to Functional Grammar. London: Hodder Arnold.Google Scholar
Han, Chong; and Kenny Wang
2014 “Subtitling Swearwords in Reality TV Series from English into Chinese: A Corpus-Based Study of The Family”. The International Journal of Translation and Interpreting 6 (2): 1–17.Google Scholar
Han, Ziman
2008 “Sex Taboo in Literary Translations in China: A Study of the Two Chinese Versions of The Color Purple ”. Babel 51 (1): 69–85.Google Scholar
Hatim, Basil
1998 “Text Politeness: A Semiotic Regime for a More Interactive Pragmatics”. In The Pragmatics of Translation, ed. by Leo Hickey, 72–102. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Hickey, Leo
1998 “Introduction”. In The Pragmatics of Translation, 1–9. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
House, Juliane
1997 Translation Quality Assessment. A Model Revisited. Tübingen: Narr.Google Scholar
1998 “Politeness and Translation”. In The Pragmatics of Translation, ed. by Leo Hickey, 54–71. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
2013 “Quality in Translation Studies”. In Handbook of Translation Studies, ed. by Carmen Millán-Varela; and Francesca Bartrina, 534–547 London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Jay, Timothy; and Kristin Janschewitz
2008 “The Pragmatics of Swearing”. Journal of Politeness Research 41: 267–288. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jing, Yi; and Peter R. R. White
2016 “Why Audiovisual Translators Downplay the Interpersonal: The Case of “Interjections” in English-to-Chinese Movie Subtitling”. The Journal of Translation Studies 17 (4): 107–142. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kecskes, Istvan
2014 Intercultural Pragmatics. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar
Leech, Geoffrey
2014 The Pragmatics of Politeness. Oxford: OUP. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Li, David C. S.; and Elly C. Y. Tse
2002 “One Day in the Life of a “Purist””. International Journal of Bilingualism 6 (2): 147–203. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Malmkjær, Kirsten
1998 “Cooperation and Literary Translation”. In The Pragmatics of Translation, ed. by Leo Hickey, 25–40. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Mason, Ian
2009 “Dialogue Interpreting”. In Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation, ed. by Mona Baker; and Gabriela Saldahna, 81–84. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
McCarthy, Michael
1999 “What is a Basic Vocabulary?” FELT Newsletter 1 (4): 7–9.Google Scholar
Nevalainen, Sampo
2004 “Colloquialisms in Translated Text. Double Illusion?” Across Languages and Cultures 5 (1): 67–88. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Nida, Eugene A.
1964 Towards a Science of Translating. Leiden: Brill.Google Scholar
1979 “Translating Means Communicating: A Sociolinguistic Theory of Translation”. Technical Papers for the Bible Translator 30 (1): 101–107. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Nida, Eugene A.; and Taber, Charles R.
1969 The Theory and Practice of Translation. Leiden: Brill.Google Scholar
Norrick, Neal R.
2011 “Interjections”. In Pragmatics of Society, ed. by Gisle Andersen; and Karin Aijmer, 243–291. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Parker, Dorothy
1931/1999 “Here We Are”. In The Best American Short Stories of the Century, ed. by John Updike; and Katrina Kenison. 127–135. Boston: Houghton.Google Scholar
2015 Colgando de un hilo. Transl. by Jordi Fibla; Celia Filipetto; y Carmen Franci. Barcelona: Lumen.Google Scholar
Pavesi, Maria
2014 “The Pavia Corpus of Film Dialogue: A Means to Several Ends”. In The Languages of Dubbing, ed. by Maria Pavesi; Maicol Formentalli; and Elisa Ghia, 29–56. Bern: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Pearson, Raymond F.
2009 “ ‘Oh’ in Shakespeare. A Conversational Analytic Approach”. Journal of Historical Pragmatics 10 (1): 84–107. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Quaglio, Paulo
2009 Television Dialogue: The Sitcom Friends Versus Natural Conversation. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Quaglio, Paulo; and Dougles Biber
2006 “The Grammar of Conversation”. In The Handbook of English Linguistics, ed. by Bas Aarts; and April McMahon, 692–723. Oxford: Blackwell. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ramón, Noelia
2015 “The English Discourse Particle ‘oh’ in Spanish Translations: Evidence From a Parallel Corpus”. Procedia. Social and Behavioral Sciences 1751: 337–342. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Santaemilia, José
2008 “The Translation of Sex-related Language: The Danger(s) of Self-censorship(s)”. TTR: Traduction, Terminologie, Rédaction 21 (2): 221–252. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tveit, Jan-Emil
2009 “Dubbing Versus Subtitling: Old Battleground Revisited”. In Audiovisual Translation. Language Transfer on Screen, ed. by Jorge Díaz Cintas; and Gunilla Anderman, 85–96. Houndmills Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2008b “Inserts in Modern Script Writing and their Translation into Spanish”. In Between Text and Image, ed. by Delia Chiaro; Christine Heiss; and Chiara Bucaria, 117–132. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2015 “The (Ab)use of Taboo Lexis in Audiovisual Translation: Raising Awareness of Pragmatic Variation in English-Spanish”. Intercultural Pragmatics 12 (3): 363–385. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 1 other publications

Díaz Pérez, Francisco Javier
2023. Translation of interjections and subtitling: a study based on the BETA corpus of TV series and film subtitles. TRANS: Revista de Traductología :27 ► pp. 151 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 27 march 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.