Slang is a nonstandard informal vocabulary peculiar to a group. In this digital age, the reproduction and evolution of slang words has become faster due to the digital platforms that they are often...Show moreSlang is a nonstandard informal vocabulary peculiar to a group. In this digital age, the reproduction and evolution of slang words has become faster due to the digital platforms that they are often used in. Research has been done on the lexical aspects of slang and slang in general (Sornig (1981); Metcalf (2002)), and on forms of digital slang (McCulloch (2019)), but none view slang as a mode of translation and applied it to to other types of text besides messages on social media. This thesis will address where digital slang terms come from, and if their origins can help explain how likely they are to be understood by someone who speaks regular English. To do so I will annotate a slang translation of Harry Potter, and research the etymological origins of the slang to try to discover - using Metcalf’s (2002) FUDGE theory - which slang terms are more likely to be understood. I expect to find that the slang terms that more closely resemble regular English words are more likely to be understood.Show less
This thesis focuses on idiolect translation when certain features of the idiolect are not present in the target language. The protagonist in Alan Bennett’s “The Uncommon Reader” is based on Queen...Show moreThis thesis focuses on idiolect translation when certain features of the idiolect are not present in the target language. The protagonist in Alan Bennett’s “The Uncommon Reader” is based on Queen Elizabeth II and contains features that are not present in Dutch. In order to investigate how the idiolect of the protagonist has been translated into Dutch, the research question for this thesis is the following: “How is the royal idiolect in ‘The Uncommon Reader’ by Alan Bennett translated into Dutch?” This was researched by determining the features of the idiolect of Queen Elizabeth II; which of these features were used by Bennett; and how they were translated into Dutch. The royal idiolect in “The Uncommon Reader” was analysed and compared to the Dutch translation. In order to determine how the idiolect was translated, the translation strategies used by the translators were determined based on the analysis. The results of the analysis show that the translators stayed close to the source text by maintaining the linguistic variation that is used in the source text. They also used several translation strategies to maintain the sense of the source text, while changing some features of the royal idiolect that were not present in the target language. The translation strategies that the translators used the most are: clause structure change; sentence structure change; changes in schemes and tropes; explication; and paraphrasing.Show less
In this thesis I set out to describe and subsequently compile a terminology of the prosecution of financial crime in the Netherlands in its entirety, from the initial reporting to the final...Show moreIn this thesis I set out to describe and subsequently compile a terminology of the prosecution of financial crime in the Netherlands in its entirety, from the initial reporting to the final sentence. I will discuss the legal system of the Netherlands with the help of various legal scholarly sources and other descriptive sources. By situating the uniquely system-bound language of the prosecution of financial crime in the Netherlands within Dutch legal language, I uncover the challenges of producing an English language terminology for this particular subfield. The subfield, which touches on multiple areas of law and policy and is regulated by multiple institutions, results from governments’ and supranational organizations’ increased attention for crimes with a significant financial component and high societal impact in recent years. By giving an overview of the field of translation studies – and in particular theory of legal translation – such as theories by Deborah Cao and Susan Šarčević I will provide a foundation for overcoming terminological and translation challenges. My proposed methodology suggests an approach to translating Dutch legal terminology which consists of presenting micro-evaluation and macro-evaluation of concepts, assessing both conceptual relations and origins, and illustrating the found relations and definitions in the end product.Show less
This research is a literature and jurisprudence study into the effect of the differences in legal interpretation between the EU legal system and the US legal system regarding competition law on the...Show moreThis research is a literature and jurisprudence study into the effect of the differences in legal interpretation between the EU legal system and the US legal system regarding competition law on the translation of competition law terminology into Dutch. Both EU and US competition law addresses broadly the same categories of anticompetitive behaviour - agreements, monopolisation, mergers - but the wording and interpretation of the legislative provisions varies. EU competition law is originally based upon US antitrust law, and therefore shares a lot of the same terminology. The US antitrust law has undergone some fundamental changes in its interpretation, which has in turn driven EU and US terminology further apart. Nowadays, there are vast differences in economic interpretation, political interpretation and legal interpretation. These differences in interpretation have influence on the translation of competition law terminology from US English and EU English, respectively, into Dutch. In the jurisprudence it is shown that the ECJ interprets textually and teleologically, where the US Supreme Court uses conservative purposivism. This leads to differences in the meaning of the same term. Generally, the US Supreme Court find an additional proof of inefficiency necessary in order to establish a competition violation. Both EU competition law and Dutch competition law do not need this additional proof. Therefore, the semantic meaning of competition law terminology is narrower in the US than in the EU. For translation into Dutch it must be assessed on a case-to-case basis whether it is necessary to add ‘inefficiënte’ before a US term so that the target text reader has the same understanding of the legal term as the source text reader.Show less
This thesis aims to find out whether or not the procedures mentioned in Byrne’s Scientific and Technical Translation Explained (2014) are applicable to animal names and scientific nomenclature. A...Show moreThis thesis aims to find out whether or not the procedures mentioned in Byrne’s Scientific and Technical Translation Explained (2014) are applicable to animal names and scientific nomenclature. A secondary goal is to create a list of Dutch names for animals in the Gekkonidae family, following the naming guidelines set by Linnaeus (1758) and the International Code for Zoological Nomenclature (1999). After translating the names for 58 genera and 609 species, it was found that the retaining procedure mentioned by Byrne was highly applicable to zoological nomenclature, and a list of animal names for all species in 21 genera in the Gekkonidae family has been made.Show less
This thesis examines whether the conditions are right for a codification of a Euro-English. English has emerged as Europe’s undisputed lingua franca (ELF), and much earlier research on ELF...Show moreThis thesis examines whether the conditions are right for a codification of a Euro-English. English has emerged as Europe’s undisputed lingua franca (ELF), and much earlier research on ELF primarily revolved around identifying salient features for the purpose of a codification of ELF. Even though several salient features have been found in ELF, there is also increasing evidence of fluidity and flexibility, which brings the viability of a codification into question. Therefore, this thesis includes a case study, comprised of a corpus-based comparative analysis of English as a Lingua Franca in the professional organizational (PO) and leisure (LE) domains, in order to determine whether there is variability in salient ELF features. The results of the case study did not show any significant variability in the supposed salient ELF features in either domain. However, the features did not appear frequently enough in order to be considered as salient. Nevertheless, some evidence of variation was found in the features used by speakers of different lingual backgrounds, which could indicate that linguistic background plays a role in which particular forms are utilized at a particular point in a given ELF interaction. These findings, even though unexplored, support the observation that there are different ‘local Englishes’ in Europe, which makes the viability of attempting a description of ELF questionable. It can thus be concluded that a codification of Euro-English is unlikely at this point and that it makes more sense for English to continue as a lingua franca or to argue for a multiglossic recognition of Euro-Englishes.Show less
An exploration of lexical dialectology within the state of Maine in the Eastern United States. Discussed are regional lexical distinctions within the state, lists a glossary of regional words, and...Show moreAn exploration of lexical dialectology within the state of Maine in the Eastern United States. Discussed are regional lexical distinctions within the state, lists a glossary of regional words, and examines whether words specifically linked to the Maine region are disappearing or simply shifting to the larger New England variational words or Standard American words.Show less
This thesis deals with legal translation in the area of intellectual property and specifically with the terminology of copyright rules. Book 9 of the Dutch Civil Code was intended to lay down rules...Show moreThis thesis deals with legal translation in the area of intellectual property and specifically with the terminology of copyright rules. Book 9 of the Dutch Civil Code was intended to lay down rules of intellectual property. However, due to the increased international nature of the legal area, this book has not been realised. This thesis researches to what extent copyright terminology is specific to legal systems and whether harmonisation of copyright rules has affected this system-specificity. By drawing on the principles of equivalence and translation strategies of De Groot (1993), De Groot & Van Laer (2006) and Cabré and Sager (1999) and Šarčević (1997) and taking the criteria for a terminology of NedTerm and the Conference of Translation Services of European States (COTSOES) into account, this thesis provides a comprehensive terminology for the area of copyright as an area within intellectual property rights.Show less
Automotive Customer Facing Literature is increasingly responsible for enticing customers to a car brand or car model. Low translation quality in this documentation can have a detrimental effect on...Show moreAutomotive Customer Facing Literature is increasingly responsible for enticing customers to a car brand or car model. Low translation quality in this documentation can have a detrimental effect on the quality perception of the brands by potential customers. This thesis examines the Automotive Customer Facing Literature, such as brochures, specification and price guides, and website texts, for the premium car brands Jaguar and Land Rover (JLR) and can be positioned within the fields of Terminology, Translation and Translation Quality Assessment. Since the involvement of the new communication agency Spark44, two years ago, the translation quality of ACFL texts has decreased due to mistranslations, incorrect language use and polluted translation memories and term bases. This is a serious problem that an increasing number of markets complain about. Therefore, this study has examined the translation process for JLR Nederland and provides a Translation Quality Assessment (TQA) utilizing the Multidoc adaptation of the SAE J2450 model, which was specially designed for assessing automotive translations. Based on the results from both the mathematical and observational TQA, the main problems have been identified and solution/advices for these problems have been presented. The aim of this thesis is to present solutions and advice to the involved companies to help them improve the translation quality of their target texts in the Netherlands and other European markets, and eventually all markets worldwide. This has been done in cooperation with the Dutch Product Manager and the in-house transcreator of Jaguar Land Rover Nederland (JLR NL), who, thanks to extensive translation reviews, is responsible for the high quality of the translated texts for the Dutch market, and the Product Manager of JLR NL. Therefore, this thesis will be presented to the Dutch Product manager of JLR NL, the in-house transcreator of JLR NL, Spark44, and the translation agency responsible for all the translations of Automotive Customer Facing Literature (above the line) for both brands.Show less
In this thesis, an in depth analysis of the terms mishandeling in Dutch law and assault in British and American law is drawn, to ascertain whether these terms could function as translations for...Show moreIn this thesis, an in depth analysis of the terms mishandeling in Dutch law and assault in British and American law is drawn, to ascertain whether these terms could function as translations for each other. The hypothesis is that these terms may be significantly different, and are therefore not suitable as translations for each other. Studies on equivalence and the componential analysis by Nida and the prototype analysis by Rosch serve as a theoretical framework for the comparison, as well as the legal context of the terminology. It may be concluded from the analysis that Dutch mishandeling and American assault may be used as translations for each other, but British assault is significantly different from these terms. Other translations are offered to solve this issue.Show less
While swearing is a type of linguistic behavior we exhibit ourselves and experience with others in daily life on regular basis, it has received fairly little attention in relation to Dutch so far....Show moreWhile swearing is a type of linguistic behavior we exhibit ourselves and experience with others in daily life on regular basis, it has received fairly little attention in relation to Dutch so far. Though it is noted by various researchers that the influx of English-borrowed swearwords is continuously growing and gaining popularity (Rassin & Muris, 2005; Zenner, Speelman & Geeraerts, 2014; van Sterkenburg, 2008a, 2008b; Hindriks & van Hofwegen, 2014), little to no research has been conducted on its current role and proportion within the current Dutch swearing lexicon. This thesis seeks to provide an insight on the current swearing lexicon in Dutch with special regards to the role of native Dutch swearwords and Englishborrowed swearwords within this lexicon. The data for this research have been obtained through a survey that was filled in by 153 native speakers of Dutch who were born and raised in the Netherlands and raised monolingually. The main findings of this thesis showed that native Dutch swearwords are still preferred to Englishborrowed ones but also that their use is context-bound and situation-bound; in more serious situations, speakers preferred the use of Dutch swearwords, while in less serious situations they were more inclined to use an English-borrowed swearword. Furthermore, sociolinguistic factors such as age and gender influence a speaker’s swearing while regional background, educational background, religiosity and level of English do not. Though this study provides a small-scale insight on the current swearing lexicon and swearing behavior in Dutch, a larger-scaled study on swearing in Dutch with a broad variety of participants would definitely prove useful and interesting.Show less
This thesis researches the figurative language aspects of George Carlin’s language. It presents a grammar of humor for comedians who wish to copy his style of comedy. It aims to find out whether...Show moreThis thesis researches the figurative language aspects of George Carlin’s language. It presents a grammar of humor for comedians who wish to copy his style of comedy. It aims to find out whether written and spoken humorous language adheres to humor theories as proposed by Walter Nash and Salvatore Attardo. The questions whether Carlin was a typical American comedian and whether the figurative language he uses adds to the persuasiveness of his message are answered by a discussion of Nash and Attardo’s theories, a discussion of the iconic features of American humor, and a figurative language research adhering to the MIP and MIPVU methods of metaphor research and Nash and Attardo’s figurative language theories. Carlin deviates from the American humor standard and uses a considerable amount of figurative language in his writings and stand-up material. This thesis shows that this language adds to the persuasiveness of the underlying message. Ultimately, this thesis explains the importance of humor in everyday life.Show less
Legal language, the language of law, has its own characteristics which are not only expressed in different languages of different legal systems but also in different languages in the same legal...Show moreLegal language, the language of law, has its own characteristics which are not only expressed in different languages of different legal systems but also in different languages in the same legal system (e.g. French and English in the Canada). In the Netherlands and Suriname, the official language and the legal language is Dutch. However, there are differences in the Dutch used in these countries. The legal systems of the Netherlands and Suriname have gone their own way since 1975. This is expected to show in the Legal Dutch of both countries. This research investigates how the Legal Dutch of Suriname and the Netherlands, respectively, have developed. The aim of this study is to compare the legal language of these two legal systems and detect differences in the usage of Dutch legal language. As claimed by Marckwardt in 1958, (post)colonial varieties of a language change less than the variety spoken in the (former) mother country. This theory is referred to as the ‘colonial lag’. This research will be limited to criminal law. Within this area of law, legal texts will be compared. The expected outcome is that Surinamese Legal Dutch will be more conservative than the Legal Dutch in the Netherlands.Show less
In this research I have investigated the application of request strategies and application of force-mitigating or -strengthening constructions in requests for any kind of action performed in...Show moreIn this research I have investigated the application of request strategies and application of force-mitigating or -strengthening constructions in requests for any kind of action performed in English by Dutch and Israeli institutions towards their clients. In this setting, these non-native English speakers need to pragmatically adapt their linguistic performances to the untrained hierarchical setting of polite requesting towards subordinate addressees. It challenges them to conceal threats to the addressee’s face (Watts, 2005) even though no actual warmth of bond (positive politeness) or freedom to reject (negative politeness) is given. Due to the lack of formal language-training in this hierarchical setting I expected the Dutch and Israeli performances of the speech act to be influenced pragmatically by their linguistic and cultural backgrounds. The analytic approach was inspired from different fields of research: Second Language Acquisition, Linguistic Anthropology, Interlanguage and Intercultural Pragmatics. The analysed data is a collection of official letters sent out by different large institutions (universities, embassies and a hotel), of which I collected 32 letters (50 pages) in total, of which 14 letters were from Dutch sources (25 pages) and 18 letters were Israeli ones (25 pages). The letters were written solely for purposes in the work-environment and were sent in at a later moment in time, therefore the language was not affected by the speakers’ awareness of being linguistically analysed. I made use of Critical Discourse Analysis in order to investigate which linguistic features are variable in the pragmatic (illocutionary) force of requests, focussing on different request strategies (Blum-Kulka, 1987), mitigating efforts, coercives and types of reference to the interlocutors. The variations were validated by means of a statistical test for significance (z-test) and explained against the countries’ cultural backgrounds, making use of Hofstede’s method for cultural profiling with regard to power distance and uncertainty avoidance. The analysis showed that overall, the Dutch and Israeli use of request strategies and efforts in force-mitigation were surprisingly similar. The predominantly used strategy is characterised by the use of an imperative verb. Most other request utterances showed very explicit but variably less forceful strategies. Mitigators were used in relatively equal frequency, although less by the Dutch in the imperative construction. Remarkable differences were found in the overtness of speaker-reference among the Israelis, especially in more commercial settings (evoking higher politeness). In especially face-threatening situations, for instance in requesting the addressee for money without certainty the product/service being delivered, the Dutch showed a deviating strategy which converted the request into a construction of the addressee’s acceptation. The underlying processes which caused relative directness were primarily related to linguistic borrowings for the Dutch. The predominantly used strategy to request showed application of an imperative force with less mitigation efforts than the Israelis did. This suggests that the Dutch were not strongly aware of the force of their requests, which supports the idea that they adopted the imperative strategy as a direct translation (with strong syntactic similarity) of the Dutch standard question- formation, based on the verb’s stem in the clause-initial position. For the Israelis the larger variety in request strategies and lack of similarity between the predominantly encountered constructions and the Hebrew request constructions revealed no strong tendency for linguistic transfer in this untrained pragmatically-challenging setting. Although linguistic transfers are found rarely, the Israelis do demonstrate higher transfer of their cultural values, by which they strongly cherish unambiguity (by adopting relatively direct strategies) and prefer an approach of social connectedness over hierarchical deference in contexts of increased necessity for politeness.Show less
In this thesis I explore several translation theories and strategies in the context of a translation of parts of volume IV of the English Atlas into the modern Dutch language. This volume of the...Show moreIn this thesis I explore several translation theories and strategies in the context of a translation of parts of volume IV of the English Atlas into the modern Dutch language. This volume of the English Atlas concerns the Low Countries, which provides an interesting cultural and historical angle for translation into the Dutch languageShow less
Literary translation is a separate field within translation studies demanding its own approaches. This argument is supported in Part I by an assessment of the "Hermeneutical approach" to...Show moreLiterary translation is a separate field within translation studies demanding its own approaches. This argument is supported in Part I by an assessment of the "Hermeneutical approach" to Translation Studies, as represented in the thought of Jakobson, Benjamin, Derrida, Ricoeur, Jiri Levy, and George Steiner, which offers a strong foundation. Their thinking falls together in considering translation and interpretation to be full equivalents, entailing never-ending processes; in appreciating the holistic quality of the literary work of art and translation's relationship to it, as well as translation's role in the Nachleben of the work of literature; and in demanding creative language use and linguistic hospitality as part of the translator's labor. Part II of the thesis places the tasks of the literary translator as editor/redactor, particularly in consideration of the use of paratexts, on this foundation as one way of limiting hermeneutical activity. The translator redactor must act as a book compiler, a scholar-annotator, and an analyst commentator, or at least consider these roles. In this way, the thesis unites theory and practice while promoting the positive utility of hermeneutics for translation and yet setting limits for the translator's interventions, particularly in helping the reader's own process of interpretation by providing paratextual guides and aids.Show less
For persuasion, attitudes are targeted through the transmission of a message. This message is usually transmitted through the medium of language, with all its cultural meanings. Additionally,...Show moreFor persuasion, attitudes are targeted through the transmission of a message. This message is usually transmitted through the medium of language, with all its cultural meanings. Additionally, attitudes are also connected to culture, and thus persuasion is culture specific. This has implications for translation, as the translator finds him- or herself in the perfect spot for intercultural mediation. If we want the persuasive message to have the same effect on the target audience as it does on the source audience, then the message needs to be adapted to the target culture. There is still a debate on how much translators should be allowed to intervene in these persuasive messages, and the commissioner seems to have the biggest influence on the way the message is translated. In practice, we don’t see much cultural colouring in speeches by Mark Rutte and David Cameron, rendering these speeches relatively culture neutral.Show less
