Factors Affecting Untranslability Within Written Translation Between Persian and English

 Translation per se always encounters with differentreliability.
changes from words in to larger possible units.6.1 Design of the research  
Translation is defined by Catfors (1965) as theThe collecting and gathering data, selecting sample,
replacement of textual material in one language (SL)analysis of data are based on quantitative method.
by equivalent material in other language (TL). DuringTherefore, the research is quantitative since it is data
the history, many different and various text typesbased
were translated among languages of the world.6.2 Subjects or participant
Moreover, these text types were not of the same60 Iranian senior Azad university students of Shiraz
level of translatability, rather, the range ofwill be selected to participate in the study. They are
translatability varies from one text in to other one orboth male and female. They are between 22-29
from one language in to other one. Although with theyears old. They are students who have been
theory of equivalence there might be some sort ofstudying English language translation. They passed
balance among all elements of languages, it is notvarious courses of translation both from English in to
that easy to find proper translation for any linguisticPersian and from Persian in to English.
and extra linguistic elements.6.2.1 Selecting of subjects  
Despite the fact that there are a lot of similaritiesThe population of the study is 150 students who
among languages, no body can ignore the role ofwere studying the B.A degree, then, 100 students will
main and significant differences across languages.be selected. They will be selected according to of
Hence, there are always some parts or elementstheir rank in the standardized English proficiency test
that exist in one language however they can not beof B.A Azad university entrance exam which was
seen in other languages. As a matter of fact, alladministered when they were freshman. From 100
differences across languages can be covered bystudents, 60 students will be selected randomly. They
some kinds of equivalents; however, there are manywill be divided in to two groups randomly. Each group
situations in which there is no one to onewill comprise 30 students. One group will be called
correspondence between languages. Thisexperimental group and the other will be called control
phenomenon shall be referred to as un translatability.group. The researcher will define, describe, and
This term points at any condition in one language thatexplain the cultural and linguistic factors which affect
does not exist in other languages. It is studiedthe untranslatability to the experimental group;
sometimes under the topic of lacuna theory. Tohowever, he will not tell anything to the 30 students
illustrate, there are some words, idioms, … etc. thatof control group.
exist in one language, at the same time, they do not6.3 Materials, data collection and analysis  
have any equivalent in another language.60 students will be divided in to two groups. Each
Inevitably, untranslatability involves all areas ofgroup comprises 30 people or students. The control
languages which means it can be understood by thegroup will perform the natural process of translation
comparison of various texts cross linguistically. Inwithout any prior teaching. The experimental group
spite of the fact that untranslatable items are as oldwill carry out the task or translation based on prior
as languages are, these problematic and controversialteaching of linguistic and cultural factors. The
items have not yet been studied scientifically.hypothesis will be null. No relation between variables
Translation, generally, and translation studiedwill be defined.
specifically as a field of science developed mostly inThe instrument will be two texts to be translated.
the second half of the 20th century. Consequently,One text will be based on linguistic factors and
untranslatability like any other problem in translation isanother one will be based on cultural factors. The
a new topic about which there are many things tostudents will be supposed to translate the texts the
say. Studying of factors effecting in the process oftwo texts will be written in Persian and will be
untranslatability is done under the classifications oftranslated in to English. Firstly, the cultural text will be
translation theoretition. Generally, all translators,administered among students of both control and
somehow, face the untranslatable items acrossexperimental group. Then, the linguistic text will be
languages.         administered between both experimental and control
It is obvious that there is no borderline via which thegroups. Finally, the statistical aspects of centrality
problem of untranslatability can be indicated,(mean, mode, median) and variability (range, variance,
however, it was studied by translation scholars in onestandard deviation) will be calculated. Co- relation will
way or another. The translation scholars came upalso be measured. The results will be shown in form
with various categorizations and taxonomies. Althoughof tabulation and graph.
studies are different, they have one thing in commonAfter the measuring the primary statistics, now, the
that is the existence of one of the most problematictwo- way ANOVA will be administered because of
and controversial issues within translation which is thethe fact that there will be two independent variables,
notion of un translatability. Un translatability comprisesnamely, cultural and linguistic variables and there will
areas which impede finding equivalence amongbe only one dependant variable which is the
languages. Translation is suffering fromuntranslatability. The two- way ANOVA will probably
untranslatability.reject the null hypothesis and the study will be
The purpose of this research is to investigate thedirectional. It might be either positive or negative.
nature of the notion so- called untranslatability will be6.4 Pilot study
tested in order to make sure that it influences theIn the process of research, for the sake of
translation studies. The concept of untranslatabilitypracticality and applicability of the study, there is
turns out to be developed and embroidered based onusually a pilot study which is carried out prior to real
specific principles. It is perhaps conventionalized.study. From the experimental point of view, the
Furthermore, the untranslatability is the result ofresearcher will select very limited number of students
variety of language systems and cultural system.and divide them in to control and experimental group.
Firstly, the concept of untranslatability, its definitionAfter that, the real procedures which will be used in
and types will be explained. Then the research will bethe real study would be carried out by subjects. This
conducted. Finally, in an objective way the clarificationis done only for the sake of practicality.
of untranslatability will be made.6.5 Validity
What is untranslatability?Because of the fact that the materials and
Safavi (1992) defines the concept of untranslatabilityinstruments must be valid, two texts will be selected
on the basis of principles. He defined five steps forfrom among the many books of Persian literary
finding equivalent for any part of language system.students. Since they will be parts of academic books,
He postulated that whenever there is no equivalentthere should be valid enough for measuring what will
for e.g. a word in one language, the translator willbe needed to be measured.
select the closest word in TL which is something a6.6 Reliability
little bit inferior or superior to the SL word.In order to measure reliability the students will be
Manafi Anari (2003) defined a kind of applicableasked to participate in the exam twice. It is also
definition for untranslatability. He stated that when acalled test- retest exam. Therefore, students will be
translator can not convey the meaning from onetake a part in test- retest exams. If the results will
language in to another, it is the exact place thatbe similar, therefore, the two texts, namely, cultural
untranslatability takes place. During his poetry studies,and linguistic texts will be reliable. To illustrate, the
he believed that finding total equivalence in poetry isstudents will be asked to translate cultural text twice
almost impossible.and they will also be asked to translate linguistic text
Pedro (1999) stated two kinds of views. They aretwice. Then if the results will be similar and the
universalists` view  and monadists` view. Accordingdifference will not be meaningful, therefore, the text
to universalists` view the existence of linguisticwill be reliable.  
universals makes the translation possible. In7. Review of literature
accordance with the second point of view, theUntranslatability has been approved by almost all
monadists believe that each linguistic community hastranslators and translation scholars. Unfortunately, in
its own reality; therefore, this view contradicts thethe previous centuries, the notion of unfranslatability
previous.is very unpopular. It was in the second half of the
Another important view in which untranslatability wasprevious century that untranslatability was accepted
indicated is the Catford`s view. British scholarofficially and took form. Nowadays, this topic is very
J.C.Catford proposed binary oppositions known as theintelligible and comprehensible. It contains the potential
linguistic untranslability and cultural untranslatability. Thisfor many pieces of research. As a matter of fact,
dichotomy is part of Catford`s linguistic theory ofuntranslatability is the reason of many differences
translation. Linguistic untranslatability is the failure toamong languages.
find a TL equivalent is due entirely to differencesAs it was mentioned the term untranslatability is a
between the source and target languages. He definednew notion. There are limited numbers of pieces of
cultural untranslatability as a situational feature whichresearch about it. One of the Iranian scholars which
is functionally relevant for the SL text and it isdiscussed the notion of untranslatability is Safavi. He
completely absent from the culture of which the TLsaid whenever there is no proper equivalent for a SL
is a part.part, the closest below or above equivalent should be
2. Statement of the problem  used. His view is not perfect, but it is one of the
As it was mentioned, the nation of untranslatabilityviews about the untranslatability.
was defined very recently and it is very novel andAnother scholar who is a theoretician about
new. As a matter of fact all translators anduntranslatability is Iranian scholar Manafi Anari. He
translation scholars will admit the existence ofdefined a very applicable point of view toward the
untranslatability. As above- mentioned, there areuntranslatability. His view comes from his analysis of
different points of view toward untranslatability.poetic discourse. His main and significant point of view
Some of the important views of untranslatabilityis about meaning. He considered a meaning to be
were explained in the previous part. It also includedregarded as untranslatable when it can not be
the Catford`s theory on the notion oftransferred from one language in to another one.
untranslatability.One of the main view about untranslatability is
Catford (1965) defined his theory of translationpedro`s viewpoint. He regarded two opposite notions.
based on linguistics. Later on, he explained one of theThey are the universalists`view and the
significant parts of his study which was the notion ofmonadists`view. Universalists believe that there are
untranslatability. He said that there are two kinds ofmany universal features among languages; therefore,
untranslatability and they are linguistic untranslatabilitythe translation can be done completely and properly.
versus cultured untranslatability. This study willOn the other hand, monadists believe that every
examine the untranslatability based on Catford`ssociety, every community, and every country
taxonomy. In other words, the quantitative researchdefines its own reality, therefore, they are not the
will be conducted based on Catford`s model ofsame and there are limited numbers of similarities
untranslatability. The research will be done betweenamong languages, accordingly, in most situations
Persian and English languages. The variables are theuntranslatability defeats the notion of translatability.
untranslatability (dependant variable) and linguistic andThe most important and logical theory about
cultural aspects (independent variables).untranslatability is drawn by J.C.Catford. He is a British
3. Theoretical Frameworkscholar who considered that the validity of the
It seems that one of the most significant problems indifferentiation between linguistic and cultural
translation is the untranslatability. Catford defined auntranslatability is questionable. He defined linguistic
dichotomy for untranslatability, namely linguistic andand cultural untranslatability as follows.
cultural untranslatability. Based on the Catford`s modelLinguistic untranslatability: it is a failure in finding an
and definitions, this study will examine theequivalent for target language item in view of
untranslatability between Persian and English. Thedifference between two language systems.
study is quantitative.Cultural untranslatability: It is a kind of failure which
4. Objectives of the studycomes from the lack of situational and functional
This study emphasizes on the bi dimentional aspectsabsence in the target culture. It is more crucial than
which are very significant in the translation betweenthe linguistic untranslatability.
source and target language. Some linguistic andAccording to Catford`s view, we can ignore the
cultural aspects of languages are not transforeble.previous dichotomy, only and if only, it could be
These cultural and linguistic elements will create theindicated that all cases of cultural untranslatability
cultural and linguistic untranslatability. This study is torespond to the impossibility of finding an equivalent
find out whether there is a relationship betweencollocation in the target language. In Catford`s point
untranslatability and cultural aspects in addition toof view, the impossibility is a case of linguistic
linguistic aspects. The results, implications and findinguntranslatability. In other words, it is a case of
will be discussed.collocational untranslatability which was defined by
By and large, the possible hypothesis will beCatford as: untranslatability arises from the fact that
expressed in the form of questions as follows.any possible target language near- equivalent of a
4.1     What are the linguistic aspects of agiven SL lexical item has a low probability of
language?collocation with TL equivalents of items in the SL
4.2     What are the cultural aspects of atext which collocates normally with a given SL item.
language?7.1 Probable or possible implication
4.3     What do make difference between This study will prove the close relation between
linguistic and cultural aspects?cultural and linguistic aspects with the notion of
4.4     Is there any linguistic or cultural gapuntranslatability. It will indicate the fact that some
between languages?differences among languages will cause very crucial
4.5     Does the untranslatability exist betweencases of untranslatability. On the other hand, there
languages?are some cultural notions that make a language very
4.6     Which level of language is highly culturespecific. These notions are defined and understood
bound or linguistic bound?by specific cultures. In fact, they belong to that
4.7     What kinds of strategies are used forculture. In the case of translation, these notions are
untranslatable situations in translation?highly untranslatable. There are always situations that
4.8     Which one causes more untranslatability,translators can not convey a word or item from one
linguistic aspects or cultural aspects?language in to another. These untranslatable
5. Significance of the studyconditions can be overcome by certain remedies. All
As far as translation concerned, untranslatability is itsin all, there is no doubt that the relation exists
integral part. Majority of cases of untranslatability arebetween untranslatability and linguistic and cultural
either linguistic or cultural. Accordingly, the writer offactors. These relations will cause the untranslatability
this research proposal aims at focusing on linguisticin which the item can not be conveyed to target
and cultural aspects as the most crucial factors thatlanguage. This problem can be overcome by possible
will bring the problem of untranslatability. Furthermore,solutions.
the probable variables which cause untranslatability willReference
be defined and tested. They are linguistic and culturalCatford, J.C.(1965). A Llinguistic Theory of Translation.
variables. If the existence, relationship, andLondon: Oxford University Press.   
effectiveness of above- mentioned variables proved  Manafi Anari, S.(2003). Form- Based and Meaning-
to be true, it will pave the path for carrying out theBased Strategies in Translation. Translation studies. 2,
translation very correctly and effectively.p40.
6. Method        Pedrp, R.D.(1999). The Translatability of Texts: A
This section comprises the following parts design,Historical Overview. Meta, XLIV, 4.
participants, materials, instruments, data collection,Safavi, K.(1992). Seven Articles on Translation. Tehran:
data analysis, pilot study, test- retest, validity, andMaad publications.