Translation- unit 7b

Unit 7b
Grammatical Voids
Gridding grammar

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1) Translate the following sentences. Pay special attention
to the underlined verbs.

1. "If I quack like the others," said the ugly duckling to himself,
"maybe mother duck will love me too".

2. "If I quacked like them, maybe mother duck would love me too".

3. Later, he understood that even if he had quacked like the others,
mother duck would still not have loved him.

Some linguistic background - 1
In English, there are three types of conditional sentences, one
refers to the future (text 1: if he quacks, she will love him), the
second refers to the present (text 2: but he doesn't quack and
so she doesn't love him), and the third refers to the past (text 3:
but he didn't quack and so she didn't love him). In Hebrew,
conditional sentences have different gridding - there is no
distinction between the second and the third type. The two are
differentiated only through the context.

2) Translate the passage below. Pay special attention
to the conditional sentences.

The Ugly Duckling
"These are handsome children you have," said the old duck. "They're
all so good-looking except this one. He is not a good specimen. He
will never be like the others, unless you make him over again."
"How big and ugly I am," thought the ugly duckling to himself.
"If mother made me over again, perhaps I would really be like them,
and then perhaps they would not chase me around and peck my
neck. If I were like them, maybe mother duck would love me, too."
If the ugly duckling had known then that he would one day be a
beautiful swan, he would not have felt so miserable.
Happy end.

3) Write an item analysis for one conditional sentence of type 2 or 3.

4) Translate the following dialogue. Pay special attention
to the underlined items.

- Knowing how harmful cigarettes are to your health, you should really try
very hard to quit.
- I know. I've been trying to stop for months now, but being what I am,
I have always taken it up again.
- Having tried to stop so many times, you must be discouraged. Don't give
up. They say it's easy.
- I know it's easy. I've done it so many times.

Some linguistic background - 2
In English, the present participle ('Knowing', 'being', 'Having tried')
sometimes introduces a subordinate clause which serves as the
reason for the main clause ('you should try', 'I have taken it up', 'you
must be'). Lacking (present participle!) this means of subordination,
Hebrew uses conjunctions:
1. in a subordinate structure, introducing the subordinate
clause by a conjunction (...ש ןווכמ ,יכ ,ללגב ,רשאכ).
2. in a co-ordinate structure, combining the two main clauses
by a conjunction ...ו / זא / ןכל(ו). In Hebrew this structure is
quite common.

Example: 'Having no cash, I stopped at the bank.'
Subordinate structure: קנבב יתרבע , ףסכ ילע היה אלש ןוויכמ
Co-ordinate structure: קנבב יתרבע (ןכל)ו / זא ףסכ ילע היה אל

Note
The present participle is not to be confused with the Gerund, which
is a verbal noun (לעופה םש), e.g. Seeing is believing.

5) Read the passage below.

a) Translate the passage.

b) Pay special attention to the translation of the tenses, the
conditional sentences and the present participle.

Too Late
- I really want to buy a new hi-fi system, but a good one is so expensive. Unless
I get a job, I won't be able to afford one.
- But didn't you say you were going to the States next summer? You could
buy one there and bring it with you. They are much cheaper over there.
- Well, if I were sure I was going I would wait, but it is not at all certain.
- What a pity you didn't tell me before. My brother has just come back. If I had
known, I would have asked him to get it for you.
- Knowing your brother, I'm not so sure he would have got it for me. I'll just
have to work hard and get one here.

6) Read 'Too Late' (ex.5) again. Write an item analysis for

a) one conditional sentence of type 2 or 3.

b) one of the underlined verbs.

c) the present participle ('knowing').

Note: In each analysis the first sentence has been written for you.

Item

This is a problem of gridding. (Explain why and continue the analysis)

Item

This is a problem of grammatical gridding, or grammatical voids.
(Explain why and continue the analysis)

Item : Knowing
This is a syntactic problem. (Explain why and discuss possible solutions in
terms of subordination and co-ordination. Which is more appropriate here?)

To sum up
The gridding of conditional sentences differs in English and
Hebrew. English makes an additional time distinction - it has a
finer grid. In this unit you have also seen that Hebrew sometimes
uses co-ordination where English uses a subordinate clause
introduced by a present participle. When making a translation,
the translator has to be aware of these differences.

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