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An Investigation of Strategies Used by Ndebele Translators in Zimbabwe in Translating Hiv/Aids Texts: a Corpus-Based Approach

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An Investigation of Strategies Used by Ndebele Translators in Zimbabwe in Translating Hiv/Aids Texts: a Corpus-Based Approach AN INVESTIGATION OF STRATEGIES USED BY NDEBELE TRANSLATORS IN ZIMBABWE IN TRANSLATING HIV/AIDS TEXTS: A CORPUS-BASED APPROACH by KETIWE NDHLOVU submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF LITERATURE AND PHILOSOPHY in the subject African Languages (Translation Studies) in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities at the UNIVERSITY OF FORT HARE PROMOTERS : PROF C.R. BOTHA : PROF A. KRUGER March 2012 Declaration I, Ketiwe Ndhlovu, student number 200604827 declare that this thesis, entitled: AN INVESTIGATION OF STRATEGIES USED BY NDEBELE TRANSLATORS IN ZIMBABWE IN TRANSLATING HIV/AIDS TEXTS: A CORPUS-BASED APPROACH is my own work and that all sources that I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by means of complete references. ......................................... .............................................. K. Ndhlovu Date ii Acknowledgements To my promoters, Prof C.R. Botha and Prof Alet Kruger, for their invaluable guidance and support; Thank you very much for believing in me. To my brother, Mqondisi Ndhlovu and his family, for making this journey bearable. To my mother for her support, love and unwavering belief in my abilities. To my father and sisters for all the invaluable lessons I have learnt in life. To Scott for believing in me, and finally to my friends, Khanyile, Liqhwa, Esrina, Cynthia Formson and Patricia (Trish) for the laughter and great moments. iii Acronyms and abbreviations ST : Source Text TT : Target Text BT : Back Translation DTS : Descriptive Translation Studies CTS : Corpus Translation Studies ENPC : English-Ndebele Parallel Corpus ISN : ISiChazamazwi SesiNdebele SAfAIDS : Southern Africa HIV/AIDS Information Dissemination Service MIWA : Meaningful Involvement of Women Affected /infected by HIV/AIDS GIPA : Greater Involvement of People Living with HIV/AIDS AIDS : Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome HIV : Human Immunodeficiency Virus ARV : Antiretroviral ART : Antiretroviral Treatment OIs : Opportunistic infections HAART : Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy STIs : Sexually Transmitted Infections MTCT : Mother to Child Transmission PTCT : Parent to Child Transmission PPTCT : Prevention of Parent-to-Child Transmission VCT : Voluntary Counselling and Testing PEP : Post Exposure Prophylaxis iv Abstract In Zimbabwe, translation studies is yet to be recognized as a discipline worthy of study in its own right, hence, not much research has been carried out into the theory and practice of translation. Furthermore, there is no tertiary institution that offers professional translation courses. In light of this information most translations are carried out by untrained/partially trained translators with only a few translators who have gained experience over time. The aim of this study was to investigate strategies used by Ndebele translators in the translation of specialized terms and cultural taboos in selected HIV/AIDS texts, as well as factors that can be used to improve the translation situation of Zimbabwe. Three main theoretical approaches were used in a complementary fashion, namely Descriptive Translation Studies (DTS), Cultural Studies and Corpus-based Translation Studies (CTS). DTS provided the researcher with a theory to understand the Ndebele translations in their wider environment; Cultural Studies provided the researcher with the means by which to understand Ndebele culture and taboos; Corpus-based Translation Studies (CTS) provided the researcher with the methodological tools and analytical techniques to analyse the corpus of texts. An English-Ndebele Parallel Corpus (ENPC) was created using fourteen English source texts and their corresponding Ndebele translations. The ENPC was interrogated by means of ParaConc, a parallel concordancing program. The study found that when translating specialised terms, Ndebele translators used strategies such as a general or neutral word, cultural substitution, paraphrasing and omission. The strategy of omission was misused in most cases because Ndebele translators omitted valuable information which did not reach the target readers. With regards to translation strategies that contributed to term creation, it was found that Ndebele translators relied on external as well as internal resources. The translators used strategies such as pure loan words; pure loan words preceeded by an explanation and indigenised loan words. From the Ndebele language itself, the translators resorted to semantic shift, compounding, coinage and paraphrasing, among others. From the ENPC it is clear that Ndebele translators did manage to transfer the message from English to Ndebele to an extent. However, the ENPC has to be used with caution by other researchers since the translations included in the corpus are full of errors such as misinterpretations of the source texts, mistranslations, incorrect terms and incorrect orthography. This factor points to a dire need to establish translation as an academic discipline and profession in Zimbabwe so as to elevate the quality of translations and offer better translation services to all users. Key terms: translation, descriptive translation studies, corpus, parallel corpus, corpus-based translation studies, corpus linguistics, specialised terms, cultural taboos, cultural studies, translation strategies, parallel concordancing v Indikimba EZimbabwe, izifundo eziphathelane lokuguqulwa kolwazi lusiwa kwezinye indimi azikafiki ezingeni lokubekwa njengogatsha olungazimela lodwa ekufundweni, ngokunjalo balutshwana abantu asebeke baphenya bekhangela isisekelo semibono (theory) kanye lendlela okuqhutshwa ngayo lumsebenzi. Ngaphezu kwalokhu, akulamakholeji kumbe amayunivesithi afundisa ubuciko bokuguqula izindimi ngezinga eliphezulu. Uma kukhangelwa lokhu, umsebenzi wokuguqula izindimi EZimbabwe, uqhutshwa ngabantu abangawufundelanga kumbe abangawufundelanga ngokupheleleyo lumsebenzi. Kukanti bakhona abalutshwana abawuqhuba kuhle lumsebenzi ngoba sebelolwazi abaluthole ngokwenza lumsebenzi okwesikhathi eside. Injongo yalesi sifundo bekuyikuphenya amanyathela athathwa ngabaguqula ulwazi belususa esilungwini belusa esiNdebeleni, ukuba, balandela aphi amanyathelo uma beguqula amagama agxile kusayensi kanye lendlela abaguqula ngayo amagama ahloniphisayo atholakala kumibhalo ephathelane leHIV le AIDS. Ngaphezu kwalokhu, lolu phenyo belujonje ukudingisisa amanyathelo angalandelwa ukuze kuthuthukiswe izifundo kanye lomsebenzi wokuguqula izindimi. Ngesikhathi umfundi eqhuba lolu phenyo ube ekhokhelelwe yizisekelo zemibono (theoretical approaches) ezinthathu ezisetshenziswe ngendlela yokuthi imibono le iyathuthukisana. Umfundi usebenzise imibono evela kuqembu elichaza okwenzakala ngesikhathi kuguqulwa ulwazi lokumumethwe kumibhalo eguqulelwe kwezinye indimi (Descriptive Translation Studies)(DTS), usebenzise njalo imibono yezifundo ezigxile kwezamasiko (Cultural Studies), kanye lemibono yezifundo ezikhangelane lokwakhiwa kwamakhophasi kuzifundo zokuguqula indimi (Corpus-based Translation Studies)(CTS). Imibono ye DTS iphathise umfundi ngesisekelo sokuzwisisa indlela okuguqulwe ngayo ulwazi lusiya esiNdebeleni, imibono egxile kwezamasiko yona iphathise umfundi ukuzwisisa amasiko kanye lamazilo esiNdebele. Imibono evela kuzifundo ezikhangelane lokwakhiwa kwamakhophasi (CTS) iphathise umfundi ngamanyathela angalandelwa ukuhlaziya ikhophasi. Kulesi sifundo, umfundi ubumbe ikhophasi endimi-mbili yesilungu- lesiNdebele (English-Ndebele Parallel Corpus)(ENPC). Likhophasi ibunjwe kusetshenziswa imibhalo elitshumi lane eyesilungu kanye lelitshumi lane eyesiNdebele eguqulwe isuka kweyesilingu. Ikhophasi le, yesilungu-lesiNdebele yacubungulwa kusetshenziswa i-ParaConc, uhlelo olwabunjelwa ukucubungula amakhophasi andimi-mbili. Impumela yaloluphenyo kube yikuthi, abaguqula ulwazi belusa esiNdebeleni basebenzise amanyathelo alandelayo ngesikhathi beguqula amagama agxile kusayensi: basesenzise amagama nje ansukuzonke, amagama angelasisindo esifanayo lawesilungu, amagama athathelwe kumasiko esiNdebele, bachaze amagama kabanzi, kanye lokutshiya ngaphandle amanye amagama kumbe imitsho. Inyathelo lokutshiya ngaphandle amagama lisetshenziswe butshapha, ngoba ezikhathini ezinengi abaguqulela ulwazi esiNdebeleni bebetshiya ngaphandle ulwazi olumqoka oludingwa ngababali bale imibhalo. Uma kukhangelwa amanyathelo abangele ukubunjwa kwamagama, kutholakale ukuba abaguqulela ulwazi esiNdebeleni bathaphe elimini lwesiNdebele kanye lakwezinye indimi zangaphandle. Abaguquleli bolimi lwesiNdebele, basebenzise amanyathela agoqela; vi ukusebenzisa amagama esilungu, ukusebenzisa amagama esilungu ehamba elengcazelo zesiNdebele, kanye lokuguqula amagama esilungu ebhalwe ngesiNdebele. Elimini lwesiNdebele basebensize amanyathelo agoqela: ukusebenzisa amagama amadala ngendlela entsha, ukuxhumanisa amagama, ukubumba amagama amatsha, kanye lokuchaza amagama kabanzi. Uma kukhangelwa loluphenyo lwekhophasi yesilungu-lesiNdebele endimi-mbili, kuyabonakala ukuba abaguqulela ulwazi esiNdebeleni, bayenelisa ukwenza lumsebenzi, kodwa kusiya ezingeni elithile nje. Imibhalo esetshenziswe ukubumba likhophasi, ilamaphutha amanengi, agoqela, ulwazi oluguqulwe ngendlela engesiyo, amagama asetshenziswe ngendlela engaqondanga, izipele ezingaqondanga kanye lamabala akilizayo. Ngokunjalo, abantu abazasebenzisa ikhophasi le kumele bayisebenzise ngonanzelelo. Amaphutha la aveza ukuthi kuyadingakala ukuba izifundo kanye lomsebenzi wokuguqula ulwazi lusiwa kwezinye indimi zisungulwe emakholeji lemayunivesithi njengogatsha oluzimele lodwa ukuze kuthuthukiswe imibhalo eguqulelwa
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