6533b860fe1ef96bd12c2e9b

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Semantic Models and Translating

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Abstract: This paper examines the relevance of three semantic models for translation. Structural semantics, more specifically semantic feature analysis, has given rise to the maxim that we should translate "bundles of semantic features". Prototype semantics suggests that word-meanings have cores and fuzzy edges which are influenced by culture. For translation this means that we do not necessarily translate bundles of features but have to decide whether to focus on the core or the fuzzy edges of the meaning of a particular word. Scenes-and-frames semantics suggests that word meaning is influenced by context and the situation we are in. Word-meaning is thus not static but dynamic, and it is this dynamism which should govern our decisions as translators.Resume: Le present article examine l'importance de trois modeles semantiques pour la traduction. La semantique structurale, plus precisement l'analyse semique des lexemes, propose de traduire un ensemble de semes. Suivant la semantique des prototypes, le sens d'un mot se compose d'un noyau et de zones aux contours imprecis qui subissent l'influence de facteurs culturels. On ne traduit donc pas un ensemble de semes: on mettra l'accent soit sur le noyau, soit sur les zones imprecises du sens d'un mot. La semantique des "scenes-and-frames" fait dependre le sens d'un mot du contexte et du type de communication. Aussi la signification n'est pas une donnee statique, mais le fruit d'un processus dynamique. Cette dynamique devrait guider nos decisions de traducteur.