The grammatical elements

The evaluation of a translation with regard to the grammatical com-ponents of a source text must be governed by the criterion of correctness, and this in two respects. Due to the fact that the differ-ences between the grammatical systems of languages are frequently quite great, it is the morphology and syntax of the target language that clearly deserve priority unless there is some overriding factor either in the nature of the text ⁸⁷ or some special circumstan ce.⁸⁸ Otherwise grammatical correctness is satisfied if the transla tion conforms to usage of the target language and if the relevant seman-tic and stylisseman-tic aspects of the grammaseman-tical structure of the source language have been understood and adequately rendered.

“Adequately” does not mean simply a similarity of expressions, although in closely related languages among the Western cultures this is frequently the case. Stylistic considerations or the status of a grammatical element in popular usage may often permit a simple substitution (the literal adoption of a grammatical form) in the tar-get language as a potential equivalent, the optimal equivalent will frequently require a transposition (a change of the formal gram-matical and syntactical elements).

With regard to verbal aspects, Spanish, and also French and English, have developed a rich variety of periphrastic forms that illustrate both perspectives.

1. The stylistic factor

In translating the Spanish sentence “Solía madrugar” (soler + in-finitive for frequent action) it would be quite correct in German to say “Er pflegte sich sehr früh zu erheben” (“It was his custom to get

87 For example, when translating a work in which grammatical standards are ignored and the lines of tolerance are extremely permissive.

88 For example, the purpose of the translation, as in an interlinear gloss for students.

up early”), and equally correct to say “Er stand immer sehr früh auf” (“He always got up early”). The first equivalent would be the optimal equivalent in a formal style, but the second in a normal style.

It is the same with the sentence “Las rosas comenzaron a florecer”

(comenzar a + infinitive for ingressive action). The equivalents in German would be “Die Rosen erblühten” (“The roses burgeoned;”

formal style); “Die Rosen begannen zu blühen” (“The roses were starting to bloom;” normal style).

Similarly with “Elle ne cessait de poser des questions” (Wan-druszka, 1969, p. 346). A correct German translation would be “Sie hörte nicht auf, Fragen zu stellen” (“She did not stop asking ques-tions”). An equally correct translation would be “Sie fragte unaufhörlich” (“She asked incessantly”). The first solution reflects spoken usage, and the second a written style.

The English sentence “The German Empire has ceased to exist”

(W. Friedrich, 1969, p. 57) can be rendered “Das Reich hat auf-gehört zu bestehen” (a literal rendering), but also equally correctly

“Das Reich besteht nicht mehr” (“The Empire is no more”). Doubt-less the verbal periphrasis resounds like a proclamation, reflecting a higher style than the pedestrian adverbial phrase.

2. The idiomatic factor

Finally it is not a striking lack of common adverbs in Spanish that has led to the extraordinarily developed system of verbal periphra-sis (Criado de Val, 1962, p. 103). Universally, that is, in most languages – as well as in Spanish basically – the adverb is used to define the action of a verb (Dietrich, 1955, p. 25). While Spanish tends to show a preference for periphrasis, the greater tendency of German is towards adverbs (Bausch, 1963, p. 208). From the per-spective of language usage the optimal equivalent for the Spanish sentence “Continuó buscando el libro” would not be “Er fuhr fort, das Buch zu suchen” (“He continued to hunt for the book”), but “Er suchte weiter nach dem Buch” (“He kept on hunting for the book”).

The same holds for Spanish periphrastic constructions repr e-senting incomplete actions. A potential equivalent of the Spanish

“Don Pascual se contenta con preguntarle por el camino” would be

“Don Pascual begnügt sich damit, ihn nach dem Weg zu fragen”

(“Don Pascual is content to ask him about the way”). But the more idiomatic and therefore optimal equivalent would be “Don Pascual fragt ihn lediglich nach dem Weg” (“Don Pascual asked him only about the way”).

The factor of idiomatic usage becomes even more importan t for translation when no convenient and comparable expression is available to serve as a potential equivalent, and some form of struc-tural adaptation is necessary to avoid an undue strain in the target language, as in the following German equivalents of English and French expressions: “Lach nicht andauernd” (literally “Don’t laugh continually”) for “Don’t keep laughing;” “Er erschien nicht” (“he did not appear”) for “He failed to appear;” “Du brauchst unbedingt Hilfe” (“You need help unconditionally”) for “You are certain to need help” (examples from W. Friedrich, 1969, p. 57 f.); “Mein Bruder ist eben ausgegangen” (“My brother has just gone out”) for “mon frère vient de sortir” (“my brother has just left;” literally

“... comes from leaving”); “ Beinahe wäre ich nicht zurück-gekommen” (“I nearly didn’t come back”) for “j’ ai failli ne pas revenir” (literally “I missed not returning”); “Du wirst es bald genug sehen” (“You will see it soon enough”) for “tu ne tarderas pas à le découvrir” (literally “you will not delay to discover it”) (Wan-druszka, 1969, p. 336 f.).

Here ag ain we must give due recognition to the deman ds of language usage, as we have noted before. Correspondingly when translating from German into French or Spanish not every passive construction has to be retained, because these languages also have a passive construction. As often as possible active constructions should be employed, because French and Spanish prefer acti ve constructions.⁸⁹

89 See A. Malblanc (1961, p. 230), “En premier lieu l’allemand fait un emploi plus grand de la voix passive que le français, qui préfère la voix active.” Also M. Criado de Val (1962, p. 102 f.), “... lo verdaderamente peculiar de la passiva

The examples we have considered demonstrate that it is impor-tant, if not absolutely essential, to be aware of the status and subtle overtones of grammatical components in the source language. As Lessing (1879, p. 11) remarked, “too meticulous a fidelity will make a translation awkwardly affected, because not everything that is natu-ral in one language will be equally natunatu-ral in another.”