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LINGUISTIC CONTRASTS IN ENGLISH-HUNGARIAN AND HUNGARIAN—ENGLISH TRANSLATION
> polysemous words with transferred meanings very close to the central
meaning,
> unmarked collocations,
> false cognates,
>» word building patterns, e.g., loan translation of transparent compounds,
> pragmatic features.
11.4 STRATEGY USE IN TRANSLATION
Strategic language use occurs whenever a communicator meets a problem and
tries to overcome it. Strategies are needed in communication in one’s native
language, communication in a foreign/second language, and in translation. As
in FLT, the strategies used in translation can be divided into two large groups:
avoidance or reduction strategies and achievement or compensatory strategies.
The causes of strategic language use, however, are different in foreign language
communication and translation. In foreign language communication strategies
are mostly used to overcome deficits in language competence. In translation,
strategies are needed and used mainly because of
> Structural and lexical differences between the SL and the TL,
> Pragmatic, sociolinguistic and text-organisational (discourse) differences
between the SL and the TL,
> Differences between the background knowledge (cultural background) of
SL and TL readers.
11.5 TRANSLATABILITY
Practically every word in every language has a different meaning from similar
words in other languages (cf. Chapter 6). Whorf’s (1956) theory of linguistic
relativity claims that reality is segmented in different ways by different lan¬
guages, therefore language determines thought.
This is a controversial theory. Although language may affect thinking to
some extent, there is not sufficient evidence to support the claim that speakers
of different languages perceive reality in completely different ways or have
different worldviews. Human languages, according to Chomsky (1981), are
built on shared, universal principles, although there are many differences in
their surface syntax and lexical items.
In addition to linguistic differences, translation is also greatly affected by
differences in the cultural background of different speech communities. This
raises the question whether, given such differences, translation is possible at
all. The answer is in the affirmative: yes, in the case of most text types,
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