Klaudy Kinga, Professor of Linguistics and Translation Studies at the Department of Translation and Interpreting, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary. Doctor of Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Founder and editor in chief of two scientific journals: Across Languages and Cultures (in English), Fordítástudomány (in Hungarian). Main research areas: Translation Studies, Applied Linguistics, Text-linguistics, Contrastive Linguistics. She has published more than 200 titles (books and articles in Hungarian, English and Russian).
A dinamikus kontrasztok és a fordítás magyar nyelvhelyességi problémái. In: Klaudy K., Robin E., Seidl-Péch O. (szerk.) Bevezetés a fordítás és a tolmácsolás kutatásmódszertanába. II. Speciális rész. Budapest: ELTE FTT–MANYE Fordítástudományi Szakosztály. 113–139. , 2024
In: Bárdosi V. (szerk.) A szótól a szövegig. Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó. 153–161. 2012.
Abstract: This paper aims to describe the text-level effects of word-level operations in the proc... more Abstract: This paper aims to describe the text-level effects of word-level operations in the process of translation as secondary text production. Translation can be regarded as secondary text production because vocabulary is more limited and syntax is more constrained than in the case of primary text production. The result is a special kind of text which is different from authentic target language texts. These differences can be investigated under different headings, such as " quasi-correctness " , " translationese " or " translation universals ". The research focuses on the unique item hypothesis (Tirkkonen-Condit, 2002: 209), which claims that " translated texts would manifest lower frequencies of linguistic elements that lack linguistic counterparts in the source language ". The present paper describes two 0 0 1 F 0 0 1 F transfer operations in English – Hungarian translation whereby target language specific items are added to the translated text: (1) increased use of discourse markers in the target text, and (2) semantic enrichment of target text lexical items. These operations may help to reduce the gap between translated and non-translated texts.
In: Bárdosi V. (szerk.) Reáliák – A lexikológiától a frazeológiáig. Értelmezések és fordítási kérdések. Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó. 86–91., 2013
Abstract: In the present paper the concept of linguistic and cultural asymmetry between languages... more Abstract: In the present paper the concept of linguistic and cultural asymmetry between languages is related to the domestication/ foreignization dichotomy introduced by Venuti in 1995. Domestication means translation strategies which result in transparent, natural-sounding, fluent TL style, and minimize the strangeness of TT by the removal of SL realia (cultural words). Foreignization means using translation strategies which retain the foreign flavour of the original. It may be assumed that translation from less widely spoken languages into more widely spoken languages (from Hungarian into English) involves domestication, and translation from more widely spoken languages into less widely spoken languages (from English into Hungarian) involves foreignization. The paper examines domesticating and foreignizing strategies applied by Bernard Adams in the translation of Hungarian novel of Zsigmond Móricz Rokonok into English, and on the basis of Translator’s Notes claims that foreignizing strategies are also can be characteristic for translation of Hungarian realia into English.
Abstract: Word-order shifts take place in the course of the translation of almost every sentence ... more Abstract: Word-order shifts take place in the course of the translation of almost every sentence of translated texts, regardless of language-pair and direction of translation. Some of these shifts are obligatory, since without them we would not get a grammatically correct TL sentence. Another class of word order shifts is not obligatory but optional. Optional word-order shifts are performed in order to ensure the cohesion of the TL text. Obligatory word-order shifts which lead to a grammatically correct TL sentence may distort the communicative structure: cohesive ties get loose, unimportant elements get highlighted and important elements are blurred. Many optional word-order changes are performed in order to preserve the communicative structure of the sentences, and thus the cohesion of the text. The present paper will discuss the different types of optional word-order shifts in translation from Hungarian to IE languages and vice versa. Keywords: optional word-order shifts, fronting time and place adverbials, fronting the subject, shift of interruptions, shift of reporting clauses
In: Dimitriu, R., Shlesinger, M. (eds) Translators and their readers. In Homage to Eugene A. Nida. Brussels: Les Editions du Hazard. 283–303., 2009
Abstract: The study aims to further develop the well-known explicitation hypothesis of Blum-Kulka... more Abstract: The study aims to further develop the well-known explicitation hypothesis of Blum-Kulka (1986), whose starting point is that explicitation is not just one of the transfer operations, as previously proposed (e.g., by Vinay and Darbelnet, 1958, 1985), but an overarching category which includes several transfer operations, all of which have something to do with explicitation. Using the method of bidirectional analysis and exploring semi-obligatory and optional language-specific operations in both directions, the present author proposed the asymmetry hypothesis, claiming that explicitation and implicitation are not always symmetric operations, as translators, when they have a choice, prefer operations involving explicitation (concretization, division, addition and upgrading) over operations involving implicitation (generalisation, contraction, omission and downgrading). The asymmetry hypothesis, if verified, would provide indirect proof for the hypothesis that explicitation is a universal strategy of translation, independent of language-pair and direction of translation.
In: Dollerup, C. et al. (eds) New Horizons. Proceedings of the III. Third Language International Conference on Teaching Translation and Interpreting. Amsterdam: Benjamins. 198‒204. , 1996
Across Languages and Cultures. Vol. 6. No. 1. 13‒29. , 2005
Abstract: This study focuses on the notions of explicitation and implicitation in translation and... more Abstract: This study focuses on the notions of explicitation and implicitation in translation and aims to provide empirical evidence for operational asymmetry (Klaudy 2001). Bi-directional (SL=L1→TL=L2 and SL=L2→TL=L1) comparisons show that when explicitation takes place in the L1→L2 direction, implicitation can be observed in the L2→L1 direction. This phenomenon is referred to as symmetric explicitation. It may also happen, however, that when explicitation is carried out in the L1→L2 direction, no implici-tation occurs in the L2→L1 direction. This phenomenon is referred to as asymmetric ex-plicitation. It would be logical to suppose that all cases of language-specific explicitation in the L1→L2 direction are symmetrical (i.e., matched by implicitation in the L2→L1 direction), but this does not seem to be the case. The present paper reports on the findings of an empirical study designed to investigate the validity of the asymmetry hypothesis in the translation of reporting verbs in literary texts translated from English into Hungarian and from Hungarian into English. Using the method of two-way qualitative translation analysis, the study demonstrates that translators tend to prefer the more explicit forms to the more implicit ones in both directions and often fail to perform implicitation. The study may thus provide further evidence for the assumption that semantic explicitation is in fact a universal translation strategy.
In: Nagy S.I. (szerk.) Új kihívások, új módszerek. Filológia egy változó világban, Budapest: MTA Modern Filológiai Társaság.131–145., 2023
The study reviews the eight year activity of the Translation Theory Section of the Society for Mo... more The study reviews the eight year activity of the Translation Theory Section of the Society for Modern Philology, founded in 1983. Available documents are the following: the minutes of the inaugural meeting, the topics of the monthly meetings, the attendance sheets of meetings, the list of members, etc. Based on these hitherto unpublished documents, the author evaluates the role the Translation Theory Section played in the development of Hungarian Translation Studies.
In: Klaudy K., Robin E., Seidl-Péch O, (szerk.) Bevezetés a fordítás és a tolmácsolás kutatásmódszertanába I. Általános rész. Budapest: ELTE FTT–MANYE. Fordításelméleti Szakosztály. 181–207., 2022
In: Klaudy K., Robin E., Seidl-Péch O. (szerk.) Bevezetés a fordítás és a tolmácsolás kutatásmódszertanába I. Általános rész. Budapest: ELTE FTT–MANYE. Fordításelméleti Szakosztály. 13–25., 2022
A tanulmány témája az intertextuális utalások fordítása David Lodge Helycserés támadás (Changing ... more A tanulmány témája az intertextuális utalások fordítása David Lodge Helycserés támadás (Changing Places) című regényének magyar és horvát fordításában. Egy cseh kutató, Petr Anténe (2016) már megvizsgálta, hogy az először 1980-ban megjelent cseh fordítás készítője (Antonin Přidal), hogyan vette figyelembe az irodalmi művekre való utalások fordításakor a cseh olvasók háttérismereteit. A tanulmány ugyanezt a témát vizsgálja meg David Lodge regényének magyar (Barabás András 1992) és horvát (Giga Gračan 2001) fordításában.
A dinamikus kontrasztok és a fordítás magyar nyelvhelyességi problémái. In: Klaudy K., Robin E., Seidl-Péch O. (szerk.) Bevezetés a fordítás és a tolmácsolás kutatásmódszertanába. II. Speciális rész. Budapest: ELTE FTT–MANYE Fordítástudományi Szakosztály. 113–139. , 2024
In: Bárdosi V. (szerk.) A szótól a szövegig. Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó. 153–161. 2012.
Abstract: This paper aims to describe the text-level effects of word-level operations in the proc... more Abstract: This paper aims to describe the text-level effects of word-level operations in the process of translation as secondary text production. Translation can be regarded as secondary text production because vocabulary is more limited and syntax is more constrained than in the case of primary text production. The result is a special kind of text which is different from authentic target language texts. These differences can be investigated under different headings, such as " quasi-correctness " , " translationese " or " translation universals ". The research focuses on the unique item hypothesis (Tirkkonen-Condit, 2002: 209), which claims that " translated texts would manifest lower frequencies of linguistic elements that lack linguistic counterparts in the source language ". The present paper describes two 0 0 1 F 0 0 1 F transfer operations in English – Hungarian translation whereby target language specific items are added to the translated text: (1) increased use of discourse markers in the target text, and (2) semantic enrichment of target text lexical items. These operations may help to reduce the gap between translated and non-translated texts.
In: Bárdosi V. (szerk.) Reáliák – A lexikológiától a frazeológiáig. Értelmezések és fordítási kérdések. Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó. 86–91., 2013
Abstract: In the present paper the concept of linguistic and cultural asymmetry between languages... more Abstract: In the present paper the concept of linguistic and cultural asymmetry between languages is related to the domestication/ foreignization dichotomy introduced by Venuti in 1995. Domestication means translation strategies which result in transparent, natural-sounding, fluent TL style, and minimize the strangeness of TT by the removal of SL realia (cultural words). Foreignization means using translation strategies which retain the foreign flavour of the original. It may be assumed that translation from less widely spoken languages into more widely spoken languages (from Hungarian into English) involves domestication, and translation from more widely spoken languages into less widely spoken languages (from English into Hungarian) involves foreignization. The paper examines domesticating and foreignizing strategies applied by Bernard Adams in the translation of Hungarian novel of Zsigmond Móricz Rokonok into English, and on the basis of Translator’s Notes claims that foreignizing strategies are also can be characteristic for translation of Hungarian realia into English.
Abstract: Word-order shifts take place in the course of the translation of almost every sentence ... more Abstract: Word-order shifts take place in the course of the translation of almost every sentence of translated texts, regardless of language-pair and direction of translation. Some of these shifts are obligatory, since without them we would not get a grammatically correct TL sentence. Another class of word order shifts is not obligatory but optional. Optional word-order shifts are performed in order to ensure the cohesion of the TL text. Obligatory word-order shifts which lead to a grammatically correct TL sentence may distort the communicative structure: cohesive ties get loose, unimportant elements get highlighted and important elements are blurred. Many optional word-order changes are performed in order to preserve the communicative structure of the sentences, and thus the cohesion of the text. The present paper will discuss the different types of optional word-order shifts in translation from Hungarian to IE languages and vice versa. Keywords: optional word-order shifts, fronting time and place adverbials, fronting the subject, shift of interruptions, shift of reporting clauses
In: Dimitriu, R., Shlesinger, M. (eds) Translators and their readers. In Homage to Eugene A. Nida. Brussels: Les Editions du Hazard. 283–303., 2009
Abstract: The study aims to further develop the well-known explicitation hypothesis of Blum-Kulka... more Abstract: The study aims to further develop the well-known explicitation hypothesis of Blum-Kulka (1986), whose starting point is that explicitation is not just one of the transfer operations, as previously proposed (e.g., by Vinay and Darbelnet, 1958, 1985), but an overarching category which includes several transfer operations, all of which have something to do with explicitation. Using the method of bidirectional analysis and exploring semi-obligatory and optional language-specific operations in both directions, the present author proposed the asymmetry hypothesis, claiming that explicitation and implicitation are not always symmetric operations, as translators, when they have a choice, prefer operations involving explicitation (concretization, division, addition and upgrading) over operations involving implicitation (generalisation, contraction, omission and downgrading). The asymmetry hypothesis, if verified, would provide indirect proof for the hypothesis that explicitation is a universal strategy of translation, independent of language-pair and direction of translation.
In: Dollerup, C. et al. (eds) New Horizons. Proceedings of the III. Third Language International Conference on Teaching Translation and Interpreting. Amsterdam: Benjamins. 198‒204. , 1996
Across Languages and Cultures. Vol. 6. No. 1. 13‒29. , 2005
Abstract: This study focuses on the notions of explicitation and implicitation in translation and... more Abstract: This study focuses on the notions of explicitation and implicitation in translation and aims to provide empirical evidence for operational asymmetry (Klaudy 2001). Bi-directional (SL=L1→TL=L2 and SL=L2→TL=L1) comparisons show that when explicitation takes place in the L1→L2 direction, implicitation can be observed in the L2→L1 direction. This phenomenon is referred to as symmetric explicitation. It may also happen, however, that when explicitation is carried out in the L1→L2 direction, no implici-tation occurs in the L2→L1 direction. This phenomenon is referred to as asymmetric ex-plicitation. It would be logical to suppose that all cases of language-specific explicitation in the L1→L2 direction are symmetrical (i.e., matched by implicitation in the L2→L1 direction), but this does not seem to be the case. The present paper reports on the findings of an empirical study designed to investigate the validity of the asymmetry hypothesis in the translation of reporting verbs in literary texts translated from English into Hungarian and from Hungarian into English. Using the method of two-way qualitative translation analysis, the study demonstrates that translators tend to prefer the more explicit forms to the more implicit ones in both directions and often fail to perform implicitation. The study may thus provide further evidence for the assumption that semantic explicitation is in fact a universal translation strategy.
In: Nagy S.I. (szerk.) Új kihívások, új módszerek. Filológia egy változó világban, Budapest: MTA Modern Filológiai Társaság.131–145., 2023
The study reviews the eight year activity of the Translation Theory Section of the Society for Mo... more The study reviews the eight year activity of the Translation Theory Section of the Society for Modern Philology, founded in 1983. Available documents are the following: the minutes of the inaugural meeting, the topics of the monthly meetings, the attendance sheets of meetings, the list of members, etc. Based on these hitherto unpublished documents, the author evaluates the role the Translation Theory Section played in the development of Hungarian Translation Studies.
In: Klaudy K., Robin E., Seidl-Péch O, (szerk.) Bevezetés a fordítás és a tolmácsolás kutatásmódszertanába I. Általános rész. Budapest: ELTE FTT–MANYE. Fordításelméleti Szakosztály. 181–207., 2022
In: Klaudy K., Robin E., Seidl-Péch O. (szerk.) Bevezetés a fordítás és a tolmácsolás kutatásmódszertanába I. Általános rész. Budapest: ELTE FTT–MANYE. Fordításelméleti Szakosztály. 13–25., 2022
A tanulmány témája az intertextuális utalások fordítása David Lodge Helycserés támadás (Changing ... more A tanulmány témája az intertextuális utalások fordítása David Lodge Helycserés támadás (Changing Places) című regényének magyar és horvát fordításában. Egy cseh kutató, Petr Anténe (2016) már megvizsgálta, hogy az először 1980-ban megjelent cseh fordítás készítője (Antonin Přidal), hogyan vette figyelembe az irodalmi művekre való utalások fordításakor a cseh olvasók háttérismereteit. A tanulmány ugyanezt a témát vizsgálja meg David Lodge regényének magyar (Barabás András 1992) és horvát (Giga Gračan 2001) fordításában.
Languages in Translation. Lectures on the Theory, Teaching and Practice of Translation. With Illustrations in English, French, German, Russian and Hungarian. Budapest: Scholastica. 2003. 473 pp. ISBN 963 206839 4 , 2003
Languages in Translation is based on my lectures on the theory, practice and teaching of trans... more Languages in Translation is based on my lectures on the theory, practice and teaching of translation delivered over the last twenty years at the Interpreter and Translator Training Centre of Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest and at the University of Miskolc. The approach I developed in this book is novel in the field of translation-specific comparison of languages in three respects: (1) it is a multilingual comparison, involving five languages, (2) it has a dynamic character, and (3) the emphasis is on the operational aspects of the translator’s activity. The procedure I followed started with data collection: I amassed a large body of multilingual translational data, and then analysed it to discover the rules, regularities and principles governing the seemingly subjective decisions of translators by describing, classifying and explaining the transfer operations behind them.
In: Klaudy K.: Languages in Translation. Lectures on theory, teaching and practice of translation. With illustrations in English, French, German Russian and Hungarian. Budapest: Scholastica. 473 pp. Part III. 153-183.
Abstract: Is there, or can there be any systematicity in the numerous multi-level and multi-natur... more Abstract: Is there, or can there be any systematicity in the numerous multi-level and multi-natured operations performed partly consciously and partly instinctively/intuitively by translators in the course of translation? And if there is, is it possible to describe it? And if it can be described, can a linguistic description go beyond a mere recording of the transfer operations triggered by differences between languages? This is exactly what this part of the book attempts to accomplish.
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Papers by Kinga Klaudy
The approach I developed in this book is novel in the field of translation-specific comparison of languages in three respects: (1) it is a multilingual comparison, involving five languages, (2) it has a dynamic character, and (3) the emphasis is on the operational aspects of the translator’s activity. The procedure I followed started with data collection: I amassed a large body of multilingual translational data, and then analysed it to discover the rules, regularities and principles governing the seemingly subjective decisions of translators by describing, classifying and explaining the transfer operations behind them.