A Semiotic Approach to the Theory of Translation: - Bruno Osimo ...
A Semiotic Approach to the Theory of Translation: - Bruno Osimo ...
A Semiotic Approach to the Theory of Translation: - Bruno Osimo ...
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
Substantive understanding is <strong>the</strong> identification (=<br />
categorization) <strong>of</strong> a new piece <strong>of</strong> information by means <strong>of</strong><br />
information already s<strong>to</strong>red.<br />
Linguistic understanding (in <strong>the</strong> broadest sense <strong>of</strong> L) is a<br />
prerequisite <strong>of</strong> substantive identification, and amounts <strong>to</strong><br />
choice between significations <strong>of</strong> units <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> entry language<br />
in a given context.<br />
Take, as an example, La masse était grande. It is not fully<br />
understandable because <strong>the</strong>re are two significations (actually<br />
more than two): ‘physical mass’, ‘mass <strong>of</strong> people’. The<br />
polysemy <strong>of</strong> linguistic units hampers understanding and obliges<br />
a choice in context.<br />
So translation requires linguistic understanding, which<br />
requires choices, and <strong>the</strong> choices must be based on certain<br />
information which I call ‘information necessary for translation’<br />
(I TN ). This is information which transla<strong>to</strong>rs must already possess<br />
or be able <strong>to</strong> acquire in order <strong>to</strong> make coherent choices. The<br />
composition <strong>of</strong> I TN is:<br />
I TN = I TN B + I TN S<br />
Necessary Information = Basic Information + Supplementary Information<br />
I TN is information in <strong>the</strong> language unit itself. I TN S is that part <strong>of</strong><br />
I TN not in I TN B. It is, for example, <strong>the</strong> information needed <strong>to</strong><br />
decide between <strong>the</strong> several significations <strong>of</strong> masse listed in <strong>the</strong><br />
dictionary.<br />
35