Università degli Studi di Padova Dipartimento di Studi Linguistici e Letterari Corso di Laurea Magistrale in Lingue e Letterature Europee e Americane Classe LM-37 Tesi di Laurea Revision and Self-Revision in Medical Translation Relatrice Laureanda Prof. Maria Teresa Musacchio Costanza Mangano n° matr.1059556 / LMLLA Anno Accademico 2015 / 2016 Table of Contents ABBREVIATIONS…………………………………………………………………………..v 1. Introduction………………………………………………………………………………1 2. Theory Part I: Revision…………………………………………………………………..3 2.1 Upon the notion of revision………………………………………………………….3 2.1.1 An ambiguous term…………………………………………………………..3 2.1.2 Revision………………………………………………………………………5 2.1.3 Types of revision……………………………………………………………,,8 2.1.3.1 Classification based on the text to be revised………………………...8 2.1.3.2 Classification based on the function of the revision………………….9 2.1.4 Classification based on the number of subjects involved……………...……10 2.1.4.1 Being a reviser………………………………………………………12 2.1.4.2 Qualification and status……………………………………………..12 2.1.4.3 Competence and skills………………………………………………13 2.1.4.4 Practical aspects……………………………………………………..15 2.1.4.5 Ethics of revising……………………………………………………16 2.2 Quality in translation……………………………………………………………….19 2.2.1 Translation Quality Assessment (TQA)……………………………………..19 2.2.2 Approaches to translation quality assessment………………………………20 2.2.2.1 Subjective, response-oriented and text based approaches…………..20 2.2.2.2 The functional pragmatic model: Juliane House……………………22 2.2.2.3 Recent approaches: quality assurance………………………………29 2.3 Revision as a process……………………………………………………………….31 2.3.1 A metacognitive process within a metacognitive process…………………..31 2.3.1.1 Translation models…………..………………………………………31 2.3.1.2 Revision: different phases for problem solving……………………..32 2.3.2 Strategies for revision……………………………………………………….34 2.3.3 How to check a text…………………………………………………………36 2.3.3.1 Revision parameters………………………………………………...37 2.3.3.2 Error types and consequent changes………………………………...40 2.3.3.3 Mossop’s principles for correcting………………………………….44 3. Theory Part II: Medical translation……………………………………………………..45 3.1 Scientific and technical translation…………………………………………………45 3.1.1 Text types……………………………………………………………………45 3.1.2 The Sci-tech continuum……………………………………………………..45 3.1.2.1 Language for Specific Purposes (LSP)……………………………...46 3.1.3 Medical writing usage register……………………………………………...48 3.1.3.1 Scientific text functions ………………………………………………...49 3.1.3.2 Text structures…………………………………………………………...50 3.1.4 Medical writing…………………………………………………………..…50 3.1.4.1 The importance of lexis in LSP…………………………………..…50 3.1.4.1.1 Term formation……………………………………………….…52 3.1.4.1.2 Specific (sT) and Collateral Terms (CT)………………………..54 3.1.4.1.3 Etymology of sT………………………………………………...56 3.1.5 English as the hegemonic language of science……………………………...56 3.1.5.1 English influences on Italian…………………………………………….57 3.1.6 Grammar in medical writing………………………………………………..58 3.1.6.1 Nominalisation in scientific writing……………………………………..59 3.1.6.2 De-personalisation of medical texts…………………………………………61 i 3.1.7 Coherence and cohesion in medical texts…………………………………..…62 3.2 Scientific translation………………………………………………………………..…63 3.2.1 Medical translation……………………………………………………….……63 3.2.1.1 Medical translation: myth-busters…………………………...………64 3.2.2 Criteria for Sci-tech translation……………………………………….……….65 3.2.3 General principles for medical translation…………………………….………66 3.2.4 Translation: a commercial activity…………………………………….………67 4. Practice, self-revision of medical translations: an example……………………….……69 4.1 Text and translation………………………………………………………………...69 4.1.1 Text presentation……………………………………………………………69 4.1.2 Translation brief…………………………………………………………….70 4.2 Draft translation…………………………………………………………………….71 4.3 TT…………………………………………………………………………………..85 4.4 Revision with comments…………………………………………………………...99 4.5 Statistics…………………………………………………………………………...127 5. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………..133 REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………………….135 Appendix A………………………………………………………………………………...141 Appendix B………………………………………………………………………………...143 Appendix C………………………………………………………………………………...145 Appendix D………………………………………………………………………………..155 SINTESI…………………………………………………………………………………...168 ii Quaeris quemadmodum in secessu, quo iam diu frueris, putem te studere oportere. Utile in primis, et multi praecipiunt, vel ex Graeco in Latinum vel ex Latino vertere in Graecum. Quo genere exercitationis proprietas splendorque verborum, copia figurarum, vis explicandi, praeterea imitatione optimorum similia inveniendi facultas paratur; simul quae legentem fefellissent, transferentem fugere non possunt. Intelligentia ex hoc et iudicium adquiritur. (Pliny the Younger to Fuscus, Epistulae VII, 9, 1-3)1 1 You desire my sentiments concerning the method of study you should pursue, in that retirement which you have long enjoyed. It is a very advantageous practice (and what many recommend) to translate either from Greek into Latin, or from Latin into Greek. By this sort of exercise one acquires noble and proper expressions, variety of figures, and a forcible turn of exposition. Besides, to imitate the most approved authors, gives one aptitude to invent after their manner, and at the same time, things which you might have overlooked in reading cannot escape you in translating: and this method will open your understanding and improve your judgement. (Pliny the Younger Letters. With an English translation by William Melmoth, rev. by W.M.L. Hutchinson (1927) The Loeb Classical Library: London) iii iv ABBREVIATIONS This dissertation adopts the In-text Citation Style. As a consequence, both source and reference items are quoted in the main text and in the footnotes by author and page number only. A complete reference list will be found at the end of the dissertation. In addition, a series of acronyms are made use of in order to be more concise. Please found below a list in alphabetical order of such abbreviated forms: CR Collective Revision CT Collateral Term DR Didactic Revision FR Formative Revision IR Inter-Revision OED Oxford English Dictionary PM Project Manager PrR Pragmatic Revision SL Source Language SR Self-revision sT Specific Term ST Source Text TCLP Mossop’s principle for revision: Transfer, Content, Language and Presentation TL Target Language TQA Translation Quality Assessment TSP Translation Service Provider TT Target Text v 1. Introduction This Dissertation deals with revision and self-revision in medical translation. It aims to describe the process of revision and its main characteristics and investigates the language of medicine in depth. In practice, the Dissertation strives to associate, where possible, the theoretical information explained in the first part with the results to be obtained in the second hopefully bringing to light some valuable discoveries. The first part is divided into two theoretical chapters. The first one describes the revision process in general, while the second presents all the peculiarities of medical writing and its translation. Revision is a means of achieving quality in translation: it is the activity that follows the transfer of a source text to be translated. Thus, it means reviewing the draft text a translator has produced. The general principle of revision and self-revision as well is very simple and clear: check what you have done to be sure it is good. A good translator should never call a translation finished without first checking it, as a cook would never serve a raw meal. Moreover, revision can be carried out by the translator him/herself (known as self-revision), or there may be a reviser checking someone else’s translation. Revision and translation share a lot of characteristics: some facts that can be said about translation generally are naturally true for revision as it is its subordinate process. However, revision also has its own peculiarities. After all, this essential process of translation has not been greatly investigated, neither is that of reviser an established position in translation training. However, revision plays a fundamental role in the professional process of translation and knowing more about it can help increase the quality of translation. That is why this dissertation deals with the profession of reviser, the revision process, the reviser’s role in a translation company, and the strategies and techniques of revision. As will be seen, this Dissertation is both product- and process-oriented as it investigates in depth both the procedure accompanying self-revision in medical translation and the actual result obtained, namely the Target Text. Process and product must be treated together because the quality of the process generally ensures the quality of the product. The second chapter of the theoretical part draws on the available literature and several studies concerning medical texts and medical translation, offering a deep description of the main features connected to this type of writing and its translation from English into Italian. First, it defines the main concepts related to LSP languages in general and then it goes deeper in the subject by directly focusing on medical writing and, in particular, by offering an insight in what the main characteristics belonging specifically to the medical language are and how these can be transposed into Italian. The practical part, on the other hand, proposes an example of self-revision applied to medical 1 translation which I carried out. Bearing in mind how a medical text is structured both in English and Italian, this example attempts