TRANSLATING LINGUISTIC AND CULTURAL ASPECTS IN SWAHILI HEALTHCARE TEXTS: A DESCRIPTIVE TRANSLATION STUDIES APPROACH by DOUGLAS ONDARA ORANG’I submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF LITERATURE AND PHILOSOPHY in the subject LINGUISTICS at the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA SUPERVISOR: DR. MANQOBA VICTOR NDLOVU MAY 2020 ii DECLARATION I, DOUGLAS ONDARA ORANG’I, student number 6134-398-6 declare that this thesis, entitled: TRANSLATING CULTURAL AND LINGUISTIC ASPECTS IN SWAHILI HEALTHCARE TEXTS: A DESCRIPTIVE TRANSLATION STUDIES APPROACH is my work and that all sources that I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by means of complete references. ________________________________________ _______________________ DO ORANG’I DATE iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To my supervisor, Dr. Manqoba Victor Ndlovu: - for your unlimited intellectual support and guidance. To my parents, Ibrahim Orang’i and Jenes Moraa, my wife, Josephine, sons, Kelvin and Allan: -for your abundant love and blessings. To Joel Omari and Lilliane Oloo: -for being my readers. To Edinah Mose: -for editing the thesis. To Lameck Mariita: -for your support. To Daudi Rotich: -for provoking thoughts in the course of this study. iv ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS AIDS : Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome DTS : Descriptive Translation Studies HIV : Human Immunodeficiency Virus IFAS : Iron and Folic Acid Supplements IPA : International Phonetic Alphabet KCPE : Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education KCSE : Kenya Certificate of Primary Education SL : Source Language ST : Source Text TC : Tertium Comparationis Tdap : Tetanus, Diphtheria and Pertussis TL : Target Language TT : Target Text UKIMWI : Upungufu wa Kinga Mwilini VVU : Virusi Vya Ukimwi v KEY TERMS Healthcare translation; Descriptive Translation Studies; Linguistic aspects; Cultural aspects; Cohesive devices; Descriptive terms; Text titles; Tertium comparationis; Taboos; Illustrations; Translation strategies; Swahili; Norms; Division of texts; Healthcare communication; Text linguistics vi ABSTRACT Underpinned by the premise that any text can be studied as a translation provided it is identified as such, this study theoretically uses Descriptive Translation Studies (DTS) to investigate English-Swahili healthcare texts. The aim of the study was to: identify, describe and analyse linguistic and cultural aspects in the texts; identify, describe, and analyse translation strategies used in the texts; and describe and analyse the use of illustrations in the texts. The study made use of Kruger and Wallmach’s (1997) analytical framework. The Tertium Comparationis of the study was descriptive terms, cohesive devices, translation strategies, division of texts, illustrations, text titles, and taboo words. On the linguistic aspects, the study’s main findings were: that the English texts use more descriptive terms than the Swahili texts; Swahili texts have a higher frequency use of references because it contains a number of derivational and inflectional morphemes; substitution is sparingly used whereas ellipsis is almost non-existent in Swahili texts in spite of its presence in the source texts; additive and causal conjunctions were the most prevalent in the texts; and inasmuch as there were no significant differences in the use of lexical cohesion in the ST and TT, Swahili texts were found to be more cohesive due to the slightly higher number of lexical items. Regarding the cultural aspects, it was found that translators use euphemism in the translation of words considered taboo and this informed the conclusion that there reigns the euphemism norm in Swahili texts. It equally emerged that strategies used to overcome non-lexicalisation include: use of pure loan words, use of pure loan words preceded by explanation, use of indigenised loan words, use of omission and translation by a more general word. On the other hand, translators used strategies of substitution, use of general words, paraphrasing and cultural substitution to translate words considered taboo. In addition, the study found that illustrations are used in more less the same way both in the ST and TT save for some slight modifications that are done in order to align them with the target culture expectations. Furthermore, the study theoretically effectuated four norms: explicitation norm, explicitness norm, euphemism norm, and illustration norm. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ..................................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................................... iv ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS .................................................................................. v KEY TERMS ............................................................................................................................ vi ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ....................................................................................................... viii LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES...................................................................................... xiii CHAPTER 1 .............................................................................................................................. 1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background to the Study .................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Statement of the Problem ................................................................................................. 3 1.3 Aim and Objectives of the Research ................................................................................ 4 1.3.1 Aim of the Research .................................................................................................. 4 1.3.2 Objectives of the Research ........................................................................................ 4 1.4 Rationale of the Study ...................................................................................................... 5 1.5 Method of Research ......................................................................................................... 6 1.6 Corpus .............................................................................................................................. 8 1.7 Organisation of the Study ............................................................................................... 10 CHAPTER 2 ............................................................................................................................ 11 LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................................................ 11 2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 11 2.2 Studies on Equivalence .................................................................................................. 11 2.3 Studies on Healthcare Translation.................................................................................. 14 2.4 Studies on Language and Culture................................................................................... 16 2.5 Translation in East Africa and Africa ............................................................................ 19 2.6 Summary ........................................................................................................................ 23 CHAPTER 3 ............................................................................................................................ 25 THEORETICAL, ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK AND RESEARCH PROCEDURES . 25 3.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 25 3.2 Theoretical Framework .................................................................................................. 26 3.2.1 Descriptive Translation Studies ............................................................................... 27 3.2.1.1 Translation Norms ............................................................................................ 30 3.2.1.2 Translation Universals ...................................................................................... 33 viii 3.2.1.3 Foreignisation and Domestication Strategies .................................................... 39 3.2.2 Text Linguistics and Healthcare Translation ........................................................... 40 3.2.2.1 Standards of Textuality ..................................................................................... 42 3.2.2.1.1 Cohesion ..................................................................................................... 42 3.2.2.1.2 Coherence ................................................................................................... 47 3.2.2.1.3 Intentionality .............................................................................................. 47 3.2.2.1.4 Acceptability .............................................................................................. 48 3.2.2.1.5 Informativity............................................................................................... 48 3.2.2.1.6 Situationality