��������

Section 2. Meaning Transfer

• The following errors affect (distort) the reader’s understanding of facts/ideas in the source text and/or the original author’s evaluation of them.
• For errors that do not affect understanding but “sound wrong,” see Section 3 (Writing Quality).

Transfer Errors at the Word/Phrase Level

Addition (A):
An addition error occurs when the translator introduces superfluous elements of meaning, including aspects of tone (irony, intensification, etc.). Candidates should generally resist the tendency to insert “clarifying” material. Explicitation is permissible. Explicitation is defined as “A translation procedure where the translator introduces precise semantic details into the target text for clarification or due to constraints imposed by the target language that were not expressed in the source text, but which are available from contextual knowledge or the situation described in the source text” (Jean Delisle,��Translation Terminology, Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 1991, p. 139).

Omission (O):
An omission error occurs when one or more elements of meaning in the ST are left out of the TT. This covers not only textual information but also the author's tone (irony, intensification, etc.). Implicitation is permissible. Implicitation is defined as “A translation procedure intended to increase the economy of the TT and achieved by not explicitly rendering elements of information from the ST in the TT when they are evident from the context or the described situation and can be readily inferred by speakers of the TL” (Translation Terminology, p. 145). For more substantial omissions, see below under Unfinished (UNF) in this section.

Terminology (T):
A terminology error occurs in a general text when the candidate chooses a content word or phrase (noun, verb, modifier) with an incorrect or inappropriate meaning in relation to the source text. The T error also applies when a term appropriate to a specific subject field is not used when the corresponding term is used in the source text.

NOTES:
(a) If the erroneous word or term is based on the choice of a target-language cognate that has a different meaning, the subcategory��Faux Ami��(FA) may be used; see below.

(b) If the word choice violates conventions of collocation (e.g., subject-verb or adjective-noun combinations that are specific to the target language), then a usage (U) error may be marked. See Section 3 (Writing Quality).

Faux Ami��(FA):
A faux ami error occurs when words of similar form but dissimilar meaning across the language pair are confused.��Faux amis, also known as false friends, are words in two or more languages that probably are derived from similar roots and that have very similar or identical forms, but that have different meanings, at least in some contexts.

Verb Form (VF):
A verb form error occurs when the translation includes a verb in a grammatically possible form (as to person, number, gender, tense, mood, aspect, etc.) that conveys a meaning different from that of the source text.

Examples:
(a) “I lived here for 20 years” instead of “I have lived here for 20 years.” (b) “When he arrived, she made tea,” where “When he arrived, she was making tea” is meant.
(c) “It is difficult to succeed,” for “It would be difficult to succeed.”

NOTE: If a verb is incorrectly inflected (for person, number, gender, etc.), the error G (Grammar) should be marked; see Section 1.

Transfer Errors That Can Apply to Various Levels

Ambiguity (AMB):
An ambiguity error occurs when either the source or target text segment allows for more than one semantic interpretation, where its counterpart in the other language does not.

Cohesion (COH):
The term “cohesion” refers to the way meanings and ideas link to each other in a logical chain or sequence within or across sentences or through a longer text. It is an overarching term that covers a dozen different devices by which this logical linking is achieved and maintained, usually grouped under four main types of grammatical cohesion: reference, substitution, ellipsis, and conjunction, and a fifth category, named lexical cohesion. A��cohesion��error occurs when a text is hard to follow because of the inappropriate or incorrect use of any of these devices.�� For the purposes of the present document, cohesion is best explained by reference to a brief series of examples that illustrate each of the five types and their sub-types (see Appendix).

Faithfulness (F):
A faithfulness error occurs when the target text does not respect the meaning of the source text as much as possible. Candidates are asked to translate the meaning and intent of the source text, not to rewrite it or improve upon it. The grader will carefully compare the translation to the source text. If a “creative” rendition changes the meaning, an error will be marked. If recasting a sentence or paragraph—i.e., altering the order of its major elements—destroys the flow, changes the emphasis, or obscures the author’s intent, an error may be marked.

Example:

• Acceptable translation: It is relatively common for right-wing extremists in Switzerland to come in conflict with the federal law on guns, gun accessories and ammunition.
• Translation with F error (“too free”): It is relatively common for right-wing extremists in Switzerland to violate federal gun control laws

Literalness (L):
A��literalness��error occurs when a translation that follows the source text word for word results in an unclear or incorrect rendition—for example, “the subsequent best alternative” instead of “the next-best alternative.”

NOTES:
A “literal” translation of a single word that results in incorrect meaning (e.g., “actually” for French��actuellement) is a��terminology��error, optional subcategory��FA��(see above).

A word-for-word rendition that sounds awkward but does not change meaning—e.g., “reductions of taxes on income” instead of “income tax reductions”—is a��usage error (see Section 3).

Misunderstanding (MU):
A misunderstanding error occurs when the translation clearly results from a misinterpreted word or idiom, or the incorrectly parsed structure of a phrase or sentence.

Indecision (IND):
An indecision error occurs when the candidate gives more than one option for a given translation unit. Graders will not choose the right word for the candidate. Even if both options are correct, an error will be marked. More points will be deducted if one or both options are incorrect. NOTE: Inconsistent translations of a term or phrase at different points in the passage may constitute a cohesion error (see above).

Unfinished (UNF):
A substantially unfinished passage (more than a full sentence missing at the end) is not graded. Missing titles, headings, or sentences within a passage may be marked as one or more errors of omission, depending on how much is missing (see Omission in this section).

Other Meaning Transfer Errors (OTH-MT):
Use this category only if meaning is affected��and��only if no other descriptions above apply. If meaning is not affected, see Section 3 (Writing Quality).