Translation Studies and linguistics have been going through a love-hate relationship since the 1950s. This book assesses both sides of the relationship, tracing the very real contributions that linguists have made to translation studies and at the same time recognizing the limitations of many of their approaches. With good humour and evenhandedness, Fawcett describes detailed taxonomies of translation strategies and deals with traditional problems such as equivalence. Yet he also explains and assesses the more recent contributions of text linguistics, sociolinguistics, pragmatics and psycholinguistics. This work is exceptional in that it presents theories originally produced in Russian, German, French and Spanish as well as English. Its broad coverage and accessible treatment provide essential background reading for students of translation at all levels.

Table of Contents:
1. Introduction A troubled relationship Langue/parole Signifier/signified Paradigmatic and syntagmatic: word sets and collocations Sociolinguistics and pragmatics 2. Sub-Word Components Sound Morphemes Componential analysis 3. Semantics Semantic fields Word relations Connotation Word meaning and translation 4. Translation Techniques Russian approaches (Shveitser and Retsker) Translation as 'analogy' Translation as 'adequacy' Concretization Logical derivation Antonymic translation Compensation The view from Canada (Vinay and Darbelnet) Borrowing Calque Literal translation Transposition Modulation Équivalence Adaptation An American model (Malone) Matching: Substitution and Equation Zigzagging: Divergence and Convergence Recrescence: Amplification and Reduction Repackaging: Diffusion and Condensation Reordering Critique 5. Equivalence Catford and textual equivalence Kida and dynamic equivalence Komissarov's sharp and fuzzy equivalence 6. Beyond the Word Generative grammar Shveitser: translation and rewriting rules Malone and bridge building 7. Beyond the Sentence: Context and Register Context Communicative event and register Register Register and language user Register and language use Register in paractice 8. Text Structure Theme/rheme and functional sentence perspective Cohesion Cohesion through repetition Cohesion through ellipsis Cohesion through reference Parataxis and hypotaxis Coherence Translation as text 9. Text Functions Language functions Text functions and types Reiss and the monofunctional approach The multifunctional approach Function-altering translation Overt and covert translation 10. Sociolinguistics 11. Pragmatics Presupposition Speech acts Implicature 12. Psycholinguistics Relevance theory Translation strategies Conclusion and Perspectives