Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: The leaf deacayed or The water boils

Response: Both correspond to the sentence pattern Subject + Verb (SV). It is the ame in Runyakitara for sentences like: Omwana yaarira (The child has cried); and Omuti gukooma (The tree dried up). Basing on the situation-role theory, we can show the propositional form of the situations expressed by the sentences. Also, it is possible to show the sentence patters for the propositions. The propositions indicate how the situations are encoded in the mind. Below are examples of sentences from Taylor (1985) and Rubongoya (1999) which are used to illustrate propositional forms and their equivalent sentence patterns. The first line shows the sentence, while the second and the third show the propositional form (based on the symbols in Table 5.3) and sentence pattern respectively (S, V, O, A, S' in the examples represent subject, verb, object, adverbial and clause in that order). Taylor (1985, pp. 90-96) (Ry/Rk): (1) Omuntu akwaise (sic.) enkoni (Someone is holding a stick). h h holds r r; SVO (2) Omwambari naamureeba (I have seen the official). h1 h 1  has seen h2; h 2  ; SVO (3) Mpa akasente (Give me some money). h1 h 1  requests for m m from h2 h 2  ; (O)SVO → → SVOO (4) Yohaana ni omushomesa (John is a teacher). h h is q q; SVC (5) Akeeyeta omukama (He called himself a king). h1 h 1  calls h1q h 1  q; SVOC (6) Omwana akizakiza ishe (The child is different from its father). h1 h 1  is different from h2 h 2  ; SVO (7) Naashushana na ishe (He is like his father). h2 h 2  similar to h2 h 2  ; SVA (8) Wakame yaagarama obwino yaabwanika (Brer Rabbit lay down with his teeth exposed as if it was dead). z z changes to q; q; SVS' (9) (a) Akaitwa omwibi (He/she was killed by a thief). h2 h 2  causes an effect to h1 h 1  (such that h2 h 2  dies); SVO (b) Akaitwa omuze (He/she died of smallpox). b b causes an effect to h Examples: h (such that).


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Semantic Change

Response: Semantic change refers to a process by which words change in meaning. In relation to isomorphism of language, semantic change is indicative of change in phenomena. Therefore, it means that change in the real world influences a change in language. In the case of words, a change in their meaning is a result of a change in a situation or practice that exists. In the subsequent paragraphs, the content is aligned to changes in the meanings of words to illustrate changes in practices and conceptions. Byakutaga (1996) gives the following Runyoro-Rutooro examples of semantic change. Table 5.5: Runyoro-Rutooro examples of semantic change


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Causes of Semantic Change

Response: Byakutaga (1996) gives the following causes of semantic change. Development of new concepts (e.g., in the case of ebyaitu) above. The development of new practices (e.g., in the case of entomi) above. Development of new innovations (e.g., the use of computer which apparently was named kalimagezi in Luganda). It is said that originally the word kalimagezi referred to someone who is bright (oyo omwana mugezi 'that child is bright'). The meaning of kalimagezi was extended to mean computer. The examples above in Byakutaga (1996) denote meaning extension of words. Over time, words do extend in meaning. This process is called meaning widening (or broadening). Below are the different ways in which words change in meaning, as described in Murray (1996). The different ways are taken to be the types of semantic change. (i) Semantic broadening: It refers to a process by which a word gains a new sense, in addition to its previous sense or senses. For Runyakitara, the examples in Table 5.5 above, are cases of semantic broadening. A word gains a new meaning without losing its former meaning. (ii) Semantic narrowing: It is a process by which a word loses any of its senses which it used to have. In Runyankore-Rukiga, the word omwigarire which used to mean 'king's wife', today refers more to 'handmaid of God' in the religious sense (Christianity) than its former meaning. Similarly, the word omushumba which used to mean 'employee' and 'cow-herder', today refers more to 'pastor' (in Pentecostalism) than to the former meanings. The former meanings of these words are getting more obsolete, and this portrays gradual semantic narrowing. (iii) Semantic shift: It refers to the process in which a word loses its former meaning, and takes on a new, but often related meaning. For example, in Runyankore-Rukiga the word omukago meant a blood-sealed friendship, but today it means any form of close friendship. Similarly, the word okuramya meant worshipping a traditional god, but today it means Christian worship. (iv) Semantic weakening (that is, suppression of meaning): It is a process by which the meaning of a word is suppressed in terms of its actual sense. In RunyankoreRukiga, the meaning of the word omuhuuku (male slave) is relative to a captive who has been turned into a slave. Today the word is used to mean 'servant' in jocular circumstances when a person wants to tease the other, telling them that he/she is not their servant. In this case the former meaning is suppressed. Incidentally, this trend of usage of the words is steadily gaining momentum. In religious terms (Christianity), the word omuhuuku is constantly used to refer to 'servant of God' or to 'those who are humble before God'. However, this trend of change of meaning has not affected the word omuzaana (female slave) which is the direct opposite of the word omuhuuku (male slave). The latter tends to be used to collectively refer to both males and females whenever used, thus supressing its actual sense. Another example in Runyankore-Rukiga is the expression abanyabuzaare n'abanyamikago, which in its strict sense means 'relatives and friends'. It is normally used as a phrase in announcing the death of someone, but whenever it is used the sense that is carried is: 'all the people who know the deceased' other than 'relatives and friends'. (v) Semantic pejoration and amelioration: The process whereby a term acquires pejorative meaning (i.e., donates disapproval) compared to its ameliorative meaning. In the Runyankore-Rukiga religious discourse, expressions like abairu baawe (your servants) have an ameliorative sense. Traditionally among the Banyankore (Uganda), the word omwiru (a materially poor person) carried a pejorative sense. With the coming of Christianity, it is adopted in expressions like omwiru wa Ruhanga (God's son or daughter) in an ameliorative sense. (vi) Metaphorical change: It is a process by which a word with a concrete meaning takes on a more abstract sense, although without losing its original meaning. The word okuhweza (to visualise) in Runyakore-Rukiga has a concrete meaning, i.e. 'to see with one's eyes'. The speakers may use the word in constructions such as Abo bakahweza kare; baine entunguuka (Those became clever; they have developed). In this sense okuhweza means to be 'quick-witted'. This is a more abstract and recent meaning denoting metaphorical change. (vii) Loss of lexical items: This refers to words which are no longer used in a language. The words enyamuziga (bicycle), engondoore (ram) and ekizibaho (coat) are examples of Runyankore-Rukiga words that are now obsolete. New words, instead, are used to mean the same entities; i.e., egaari, empaya y'entaama and egooti/ekooti respectively. The processes of lexical change (as described above) form part of semantic change. Semantic change causes language change. Whether it is lexical change or semantic change, there is need to examine the intrinsic factors that underlie these processes. Taking an example of entomi (fist) in the examples above, the entity it refers to denotes a biotic object. It extended in meaning to 'bribe', which denotes a material object. This change is indicative of new phenomena that happen in the real world and how it is encoded in the human system of communication (that is, language). The new phenomena happen independent of language. Their encoding or conceptual existence (Namyalo, 2014) in the language is consequential with the occurrence of the phenomena. The phenomena (or situations) that take place in the real world can be new. They can also be old, or intermediary (neither old nor new). They can be positive or negative. They can be relational. The phenomena that get out of place in the real world cause a concurrent effect in the language. For instance, in the case of word loss, words are less used, and eventually get lost, leading to word loss. The theory of linguistic isomorphism as explained for language change, word classification (word domains) and sentence structure applies to other semantic features of language. These are meaning relations which include antonymy, synonymy, hyponymy/hypernymy, semantic incompatibility, among others described below.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Antonymy

Response: Antonymy is the relationship of oppositeness of meaning. Antonyms are opposite word forms in a language. Examples of antonyms in Runyakitara include omutsigazi (young man) versus empangare (grown up girl), omushaija (man) versus omukazi (woman). Antonyms therefore denote oppositeness of concepts. The concepts may be concrete or abstract objects that exist in the real world as the examples above would indicate. That is to say that there exists a pair of entities, e.g. 'girl' and 'boy' in the world. For purposes of communication, they have names in the language. The names must be opposites of each other since the entities they refer to are. Crystal (2003) identifies gradable antonyms, complementary antonyms and converse antonyms. The work goes ahead to define them as follows: Gradable antonyms show the expression of degree, e.g. small/big, wide/narrow, Complementary antonyms express binary contrast, e.g. male/female, single/married. Converse antonyms include terms whereby the meaning of one presupposes the meaning of another, such as sell/buy, parent/child. Much of these examples represent entities or ideas which are in the real world in terms of physical size ('big' or 'small'), physical binary contrast ('male' or 'female') and sequence of things ('sell' and 'buy'). In the following section, examples of antonyms in Runyakitara are listed. Their translation and categorisation show how they also lend themselves to the theory of linguistic isomorphism, i.e. that their meaning and relationship cast the entities that are in the real world and their nature of juxtaposition. Table 5.6. Examples of antonyms


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Synonymy

Response: Different from antonymy, synonymy is the relationship of sameness of meanings of words (Crystal, 2003). Hurford and Heasley (1983) define synonymy in specific terms. They render synonymy as the relationship of words in terms of the meaning(s) that they have in common. Here, the assumption is that not all meanings are the same between a pair of words. They give an example of 'hide' (v.) and 'conceal' (v.) which are not the same in all of their meanings. According to Palmer (1981) there is no perfect synonymy. Each word in a pair or group of synonyms will have a distinctive meaning from the other or others. The distinction may be in terms of dialectal differences, style, metaphoricity, among others. Runyakitara examples for synonyms based on the strict definition of synonymy are as follows: When the words in the pairs above are analysed, they are not exactly the same in meaning. Each will have a slight difference in meaning. Some of the factors that influence synonyms in Runyakitara are: (a) Word borrowing: Some words are loan words in Runyakitara. For instance, kuyamba (help) is a loan word both in Runyankore-Rukiga and Runyoro-Rutooro. (b) Dialectal differences: For instance, omugyera (river) is predominantly used in Runyankore, whereas its counterpart omurindi (river) is predominantly used in Rukiga. (c) Social usage: In Runyoro-Rutooro some words are synonyms of others as a result of the palace language. For instance, okufa (die) is synonymous with okutu uza uza (die) used in the case of the death of a king in Bunyoro and Tooro. Synonymy implies that a word has the same meaning as the other; at least one of its meanings if it is a word with multiple meanings. Even if it does not have multiple meanings, still it will have a sense in which it is similar and different to the other in meaning. Synonymy is an aspect of words (language) which originates from the realities of what is in the real world (linguistic isomorphism). We will take the meanings of 'hide' (v.) and 'conceal' (v.) (Hurford & Heasely, 1983) to illustrate this.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Sentence

Response: The fruits were hidden behind the fridge. Words can hide meaning. Some people hide the truth. The illicit consignment was concealed in boxes of textbook materials. The enemy concealed himself. Meaning of hide/conceal (1) To keep something in a place so that people do not see it (2) To make something appear less obvious (3) To cover up what is supposed to be known (1) To put something in another for purposes of hiding it (2) To keep something in a secret place to deny other people access to it From the meanings above, there is similarity between meanings (1) and (2) of 'hide' and 'conceal' respectively. Similarity and dissimilarity of meaning is a representation of the phenomena that occurs in the world (that is, the events entailed in the words are real). Therefore, this conforms to the isomorphism of language and phenomena (linguistic isomorphism).


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Hyponymy versus Hypernymy

Response: Hyponymy is the relationship of inclusion of the meaning of a word in the meaning of another. The meaning of the word 'car' is included in the meaning of the word 'vehicle', for example. The word which includes the meaning of another is a hypernym. It expresses the relationship of inclusion of the meaning of a word in the meaning of another. The objects represented by hyponyms and hypernyms exist in the real world, but their meaning is described in words. For instance, 'a car' exists as a single object 'car', and 'a vehicle' is any object that moves by the power of an engine. Much as each exists singly, it is part of the others whose collection forms a virtual form. Therefore, the word 'vehicle' represents what exists in the real world in virtual form. Like other languages, Runyakitara words denote entities that have concrete and virtual existence in terms of hyponymy and hypernymy. The word ente (cow) has the latter quality. Its hyponyms are enyana (calf), enumi (bull), ejigija (heifer), encwamutwe (new born calf) and omutavu (calf).


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Polysemy

Response: Polysemy refers to relationship of the multiple meanings of a word by extension of its basic sense. Examples of words with multiple meanings can be cited in Rubongoya (2013) as shown below. okwetumbura (v. refl.) to pride oneself, flatter oneself on, stand on tip toe; pluck up courage; abantu abamu kwetumbura kubagiza ensoni (some people regard flattering oneself as a shameful thing.) okugaba (v.i) to distribute, to give away, to contribute, give in marriage, send out (army); ebintu bye abigabira abanaku (he/she gives his/her belongings to the poor); ija ongabise ebyokulya (come and help me distribute food). okutagaarra (v.i.) to take up much space, spread out, extend; abaikaarra omumotoka bafunzire tibatagaraza maguru gaabo (those who sit in a car in excess do not spread out their legs). The relationship of multiple meanings of words lies in the conceptual sense that cuts across the set of the meanings of a polysemous word. In the examples above underlying concepts are 'stand out' for okwetumbura, 'give out' for okugaba and 'spread apart' for okutagaarra.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Homonymy and homophony

Response: While other sense relations involve the shape of the meaning of words, others involve the relationship in the shape of the words themselves. The latter sense relations are referred to as homonymy (that is, the sameness of the shape of words). Homonyms are of different types, namely, homologues and homomorphs. Homologues are of two sub-categories: homographs and homophones. Homographs are different words with the same spelling. Homophones are words of different spelling but with the same pronunciation. Crystal (2003) offers the following examples for English language: 'bank' (building) vs 'bank' (ground), and 'threw' vs. 'through' for homophones. Homomorphs are same shape of words belonging to different parts of speech, e.g. 'water' (n.) and 'water' (v.) Although different in shape, homonyms as words represent different entities in the real world. However, the language form makes them similar or different in shape. The origin of the shape for homophones may be quite clear: similar pronunciation of words. The same goes for homomorphs, which are a result of conversion. It is not clear what the origin of homographs is. Lyons (1977), Crystal (2003) and Soanes (2001) trace their origin under etymology. Lyons (1977) gives an example of 'port' 1 (harbour) and 'port' 2 (kind of fortified wine) which are distinct words. It is maintained in this work that the former is derived from Latin (portus 'port') which is a reconstruction of the form ford (Modern English), while the latter is derived from 'Oporto' the name of a city in Portugal through which wine was exported. It is also noted in this work that the name of the city came from the Portuguese expression 'o porto' which meant 'the harbour' and originated from Latin 'porto'. From this background we note that since the words in question denote unrelated concepts (harbour and drink, wine) each concept needs a different name; that is, word. Therefore, instead of having one word for both meanings (polysemy), each is denoted by a different word (homonymy). In Runyakitara, words are spelt according to how they are pronounced unlike in English, for instance, where it is not the case. There is no mismatch between phonetic and phonemic representation in Runyakitara. Runyakitara words such as omukama (king) have letters represented by the same grapheme as the sounds. But the word 'Chemistry' in English has sound /k/ /k/ which is represented by ' ch ' as the grapheme. Therefore, a language with matching phonetic and phonemic representation as Runyakitara is not expected to have homophones. Homomorphs are also not expected since they come about as a result of stress placement. Being a non tresstimed language, Runyakitara is not expected to enlist homomorphs. Runyakitara has homographs such as shown below for Runyankore-Rukiga: omuti (tree)/omuti (concentrated banana juice), engoma (drum)/engoma (throne), amahembe (horns)/amahembe (witchcraft)/amahembe (bicycle handlebars). To be noted is that homography involves words each of which represents an independent entity in the real world. Homographs are to the language, while the entities they represent are to the world. Again this equals to linguistic correspondence between language structure and phenomena (linguistic isomorphism).


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Conclusion

Response: In this chapter, various semantic perspectives of the correspondence of what is in the language and what is in the world have been explored in respect of Runyakitara. This concept of correspondence has been termed as semantic isomorphism of language. The perspectives explored include from semantic fields, noun class semantic properties, divisions of words and situations, semantic change and meaning relations. In each case, the language structure has been presented, and commented on in terms of how it is a representation of phenomena that exist in the world environment of the speaker. Several more linguistic insights have been arrived at in this chapter. They include criteria for determining linguistic meaning, approaches to compilation of thesauruses, compilation of a lexicon, encoding/expression of meaning, examples of semantic change and meaning relations in Runyakitara, among others. The chapter portrays that the occurrence of phenomena is independent of language, but language is used to express it for purposes of communication. The implication of this is that the more we study the language the more we appreciate it and use it to communicate better.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: References

Response: Byakutaga, S. C. (1996). Language corruption or change? The case of Runyakitara. Makerere Papers in Languages and Linguistics, 1(3), 12-21. Fergusson, R. (Ed.) (1986). The Penguin dictionary of English synonyms and antonyms. London: Penguin Books Ltd. Hurford, J. R. & Heasley, B. (1983). Semantics: A coursebook. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Infield, M. (2003). The names of Ankole cows. Kampala: Fountain Publishers Ltd. Klingi, K. B. (2008a). The semanticosyntactic bridge. Kampala: Unpublished paper, Makerere University Institute of Languages. Klingi, K. B. (2008b). The semanticosyntactic bridge I. Retrieved from: http://lu-ganda.ugaccommodations.com/Semanticosyntacticbridge.pdf. Klingi, K. B. (2009). The semanticosyntactic bridge II. Retrieved from: http://lu-ganda.ugaccommodations.com/The\ Semanticosyntac-tic%20Bridge%20II.pdf. Landau, S. I. (1989). Dictionaries: The art and craft of lexicography. New York: Cambridge University Press. Lyons, J. (1977). Semantics (Vol. 2.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Mubangizi, B. K. (1963). Kanyarurimi 1. Mbarara: Omuhanda gw'Okumanya. Muranga, M. J. K. (1990). Pessimistic nomenclature in south west Uganda. Makerere Papers in Languages and Linguistics (1), 64-84. Murray, R. W. (1996). Historical linguistics: The study of language change. In O'Grady, W., M. Dobrovolsky & F. Katamba (Eds.), Contemporary linguistics: An introduction ( 3rd 3 rd Edn.) (pp. 344-346). London/New York: Longman. Museveni, Y. K., Muranga, M. J. K., Gumoshabe, G., & Muhoozi, A. N. (2012). Kandondoozi y'Orunyankore-Rukiga: A thesaurus of Runyankore-Rukiga. Kampala: Fountain Publishers. Namyalo, S. (2019). Modernisation of Luganda terminology in the field of linguistics. Kampala: Makerere University press. Ndoleriire, O., Kintu, J. & Kasande, H. (2009). Runyoro-Rutooro-English dictionary. Kampala: Fountain Publishers. Ogden, C. K., & Richards, I. A. (1923, 1985). The meaning of meaning. London: AKR Paperbacks. O'Grady, W. (1996). Semantics: The analysis of meaning. In O'Grady, W., M. Dobrovolsky & F. Katamba (Eds.). Contemporary linguistics: An introduction (3rd Edn.) (pp. 268). London/New York: Longman. Oriikiriza, C. (Ed.). (2007). Kashoboorozi y'Orunyankore-Rukiga. Kampala: Fountain Publishers Limited. Palmer, F. R. (1981). Semantics (2 nd nd Edn.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Roget, P. M. (1987). Roget's Thesaurus of the English words and phrases. London: Longman. Rubongoya, L. T. (1999). A modern Runyoro-Rutooro grammar. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag. Rubongoya, L. T. (2013). Runyoro-Rutooro/English and English/Runyoro-Rutooro dictionary (1 st st Edn.). Fort Portal: Modrug Publishers. Soanes, C. (2001). The Oxford dictionary of current English. London: Oxford University Press. Taylor, C. (1985). Croom descriptive grammars: Nkore-Kiga. London: Croom Helm. van Noppen, J. P., & Dierickx, J. (2003). Crystal. The Cambridge encyclopedia of language (2 nd nd Edn.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Introduction

Response: Translation is defined by Pearsall (2001, p. 1969) as "a written or spoken rendering of the meaning of a word, speech, book, or text, in another language". On the other hand, Babcock (2002, p. 2429) defines translation in two forms: As a verb, "a rendering from one language or representational system into another". In other words, translation is to turn into one's own language or another language; to make a new version by rendering into another language. And as a noun, translation is an act, process, or instance of translating as a rendering from one language or representational system into another. Translation is an art that involves the recreation of a work in another language for readers of a different background. According to Bassnett (1991), translation is the rendering of a Source Language (SL) text into the Target Language (TL) so as to ensure that (1) the surface meaning of the two will be approximately similar and (2) the structures of the SL will be preserved as closely as possible but not so closely that the TL structures will be seriously distorted. On the other hand, Brislin (1976) defines translation as the general term referring to the transfer of thoughts and ideas from one language (source) to another (target), whether the languages are in a written or oral form; whether the languages have established orthographies or do not have such standardisation; or whether one or both languages are based on signs, as with sign language of the deaf. Venute (1995, p. 17) defines translation as "a process by which the chain of signifiers that constitutes the source-language text is replaced by a chain of signifiers in the target language, which the translator provides on the strength of an interpretation". Finally, Larson (1984) defines translation as a discipline that consists of transferring the meaning of the source language into the receptor language. This is done by going from the form of the first language to the form of the second language by way of semantic structure. It is meaning which is being transferred and must be held constant. Only the form basically changes due to the differences in the structure of different languages. The above definitions have a number of things in common. There is consensus among the different scholars mentioned above that translation involves transfer of information from one language (SL) to another (TL) and that the words used may not be the exact equivalents of what was in the SL. But there should be semantic harmony in both languages to make sure that the meaning in the SL is the same in the TL. The translator must avoid semantic shift, which would lead to misinformation. The setting of the text for translation should also be maintained, the styles, broadly speaking, must be equivalent, or comparable. The form, therefore, must be maintained in relation to the structure of a given language. Larson (1973) describes form as the actual words, phrases, clauses, sentences, paragraphs, etc., which form the surface structure of the language. The translated version should therefore, have a dynamic equivalence if it cannot get the exact equivalents. What Does the Form of the Language Include? According to Larson (1973, p. 3), the form of the language includes "the actual words, phrases, clauses, sentences, paragraphs etc.", which form the surface structure of the language. For example, in the sentence: (a) The slow cat was knocked by a fast car. The actual words are: the slow cat was knocked by a fast car; and they form a sentence. This sentence is subdivided into subject and predicate, thus: This structure (of subject and predicate) too constitutes the form of the sentence. If we take a Runyakitara sentence like: (b) Omwana mubi akaiba omuyembe. The words: Omwana mubi akaiba omuyembe make the form of the sentence. Therefore, if we were to translate the first sentence into Runyakitara and the second sentence into English, the words would change their form. The English form would not remain as English, neither would the Runyakitara form remain Runyakitara. Therefore, the translations of sentences (a) and (b) would be as follows: English: The slow cat was knocked by a fast car. Rn/Rt: Akajangu akakaba nikagenda mpora emotoka erukwiruka muno ekakatomera. Ry/Rk: Akajangu akaabaire nikagyenda mpora emotoka erikwiruka munonga ekakatomera. You will notice that the structure of the sentences in Runyakitara has changed and is not like that of English. The number of words for both sentences is different from those in the source text. Whereas in the source language there are nine (9) words, in the target languages, they are eight (8) (in Rn/Rt) and eight (8) (in Ry/Rk). It should be noted that even if the number of words had been equal with those in the source text or less, still there would be a change in form. One important point to note is that, whereas the form of the source text changes in language, the meaning does not change. This is because, if the meaning was to change, then the intended message would change. Thus, the rule to remember in translation is keeping the original meaning as original as possible, even if it means changing the form. For example, in the following translated sentences, the form and structure are maintained but the meaning drifted. For all the sentences, the form has been maintained but the meaning has shifted, which has distorted the intended message. Thus, according to Larson (1984) in Rwomushana (2004, p. xiii) Translation consists of studying the lexicon, grammatical structure, communication situation and cultural context of the source language text, analysing it in order to determine its meaning and then reconstructing this same meaning using the lexicon and grammatical structure which are appropriate in the receptor language and its cultural context. In that context, the proper translation for the above example should be as follows: i) English: The old dog bit me Ry/Rk: Embwa enkuru endumire iii) English: One by one makes a bundle Rn/Rt: Kamu kamu nigwo muganda. It should be noted that the source language is the one from which the translation is made and the receptor or target language is the language into which the translation is made. However, you may have noticed that whereas in the source language one form may be expressed by one word, in the receptor language, it may be expressed by more than one word and vice versa. For example: Ry/Rk: Ekitabo ky'omwegyesa The teacher's book The book for the teacher The book which belongs to the teacher The book owned by the teacher. All these are different forms expressing one meaning. Due to differences required in form to convey a certain meaning, the translator must choose the best form which expresses the meaning in the most natural way in the receptor language. In doing this, the appropriate vocabulary, idioms and expressions, must be chosen to put the message across.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Reasons for Translation

Response: There are various reasons that justify why documents should be translated from one language to another. These include the need for accessibility. Most innovations take place in a language the person who has innovated speaks or uses. In most cases, all that information is in that language. Unless the innovation is rendered into another language, the innovation may remain in the source language and yet the beneficiaries of the innovation speak a different language. Innovations can therefore, be accessible to other languages if there is translation. Secondly, new inventions are usually accompanied with instructions on how to use a product. However, the inventers may not speak more than one language and yet what they have invented is for usage across the globe. Such instructions can be followed if they are written in a language that is understood by many people. This is important especially when it comes to medical prescriptions. Thirdly, translation is a discipline in its own right. There are some people who have specialised in translation. At the same time, translation is one of the activities that are time consuming and require skills, knowledge and good command of both the source and target language. This exercise, therefore, cannot be offered free of charge. Those who engage in translation have to be paid. The fourth reason for translating is that some written information and knowledge can only be accessed if one knows the languages it is written in. In certain cases, some languages are dead. The only way information or knowledge of that nature can be retrieved is through translation. For example, Latin is a dead language; it has no native speakers who use it as their mother tongue; but there are documents still written in that language. It also continues to be taught in schools. Documents written in Latin can only be accessed when translated. Lastly, sharing information comes about due to diversity in languages. In Uganda alone, there are four main language groups. Within these languages, there are dialects whose level of mutual intelligibility is low. With English as the official language and yet local languages dominate social discourse, access to information can only be achieved through translation. Likewise, some information that is in international languages can be shared if translated. For example, the Bible is the most widely translated book in the world yet its source languages are Hebrew and Greek.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: History of Translation in Uganda

Response: According to Bassnett (1991), translation studies cannot be complete if not considered in a historic perspective. Translation, according to Jacobsen (1958) in Bassnett (1991, p. 43) "is a Roman invention". However, Bassnett (1991) notes that there is a conflict between the Romans and the Greeks who accused the Romans of lack of creative imagination with arguments based on whether translation is either word by word or sense by sense transfer of message. It is noted that the first widely translated works were the translation of the Bible. It initially started with St. Jerome's New Testament Version which was launched by Pope Damasus in 384AD, which followed sense by sense transfer of messages. However, a paper presented by Pardo (2013) notes that Nida and Taber (1969) place the beginning of translation to the translation of the Old Testament Bible from Hebrew to Greek that was done by seventy translators. In Uganda, the Bible has been the most widely translated book. Most of the main languages have a translated version. The Bible Society embarked on translating it into all the languages of Uganda that have an orthography. It was first translated into Luganda and its first section came out in 1887. In 1893, the New Testament was published and the complete Bible was first published in 1896. This was followed by Runyoro Bible that was published in 1913. The Runyankore-Rukiga Bible was published in three parts with the first part coming out in 1957. This was followed by the New Testament that was published in 1962 and the full version was published in 1964. In 1989, it was revised and Apocrypha books were translated and included. The Bible in Acholi was published in part for the first time in 1905. The New Testament was first published in 1933 while the whole Bible was first published in For the Lango language, part of the Bible was published in 1967. The New Testament was first published in 1974 while the complete Bible was first published in 1979. Lugbara had the first part of the Bible published for the first time in 1922. This was followed by the New Testament that was first published in 1936. In 1966, the first complete Bible was published. Ateso got the first part of the Bible published in 1910. In 1930, the New Testament was first published. The complete Ateso Bible was first published in 1961. Other languages that the Bible was translated into are Ngakarimojong, Rufumbira, Rukonjo and more recently, the New Testament was translated into Lusoga, Lumasaaba, Lugwere and Lusamia-Lugwe. Other literary works have also been translated from English into RunyankoreRukiga and Luganda. They include Washington Irving's Rip Van Winkle (1819) translated into Runyankore-Rukiga as Ruhondeeza mwene Busaasi by Ntungwerisho Yemima in 1962, Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart (1958) was translated into Luganda as Eby'edda Bisasika by B. J. Walakira in 1994, George Orwell's Animal Farm (1945) into Luganda as Amaka ga Bawansolo by C. Karinda in 1988 and Wole Soyinka's Trials of Brother Jero (1973) translated as Owooluganda Jero Wakati mu Bikemo by J. Kizza Mukasa in 1995, part of Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart (1958) into Runyankore-Rukiga as Eby'obuzaariranwa Nibihwerekyerera by Rwomushana E. in 2004, Song of Lawino Song of Ocol into Luganda as Omulanga gwa Lawino by A. Kiyimba in 2014. However, the examples show that only one genre of literature has been given a lot of attention, i.e. literary prose. This means that other genres of literature and other works of scholarship have not had a chance to share knowledge of this magnitude. The situation has possibly been so because, though RunyankoreRukiga has been written since the 1950s, it came to be established as an academic discipline in 1990 when it started to be taught as part of "Runyakitara" at Makerere University. Before this, there was no urgent need to translate works from other languages for academic purposes. As noted above, most of the works that have been translated fall within the discipline of literature. However, the current competitive global trends demand that people be adequately informed if they are to compete favourably. People must get empowered through information if they are to survive in what has been termed as a global village. People need to be empowered with basic knowledge and skills to progress. Most of the knowledge that drives the world today is not available in our indigenous languages but is in what are known as international languages. Yet, people operate in their local or indigenous languages. If the cycle of ignorance and poverty that is a burden to our people is to be broken, we must avail this knowledge to them in the languages in which they operate. This will lead to indigenisation of knowledge and may contribute to breaking the current cycle of poverty.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Types of Translation

Response: There are various types of translation in the translation exercise. Their classification is mainly governed by the purpose of the translation. According to Bassnet (1991) and Larson (1984), they are the following: The first type is referred to as Literal Translation. This type of translation is formbased. It is a word per word translation. It does not usually give the original meaning of the source text as languages do not normally have a one-to-one correspondence of forms because of the different syntactic forms. However, for purposes of linguistic analysis, one may need a literal translation. For example: English: The President of Uganda gave a table made of wood to his close friend. Rn/Rt: Mukuru w'ihanga lya Uganda akaha emeeza ekozerwe omu rubbaho ha we ali haihi munywani. Or English: What is your father's name? Ry/Rk: Ni riiha ryasho eiziina? As you have noticed, the literal translation does not make much sense in Runyakitara. The second type is Idiomatic Translation. This is a type of translation which tries to use the natural forms of the receptor language and tries to sound as natural as possible. According to Larson (1973, p. 16), "A truly idiomatic translation does not sound like a translation. It sounds like it was written originally in the receptor language". Therefore, in Runyakitara too, when we translate, we must sound as natural as possible. For example: English: No sooner had I sat down, than I was terribly attacked by thieves. Ry/Rk: Nkaba naayehuumuzaho nti, abashuma bantaahirira n'obukambwe. Rn/Rt: Nkaba nakaikarra nti, nkarora abasuma nibantaagura noobukambwe. The third type is Pragmatic Translation. This is sometimes referred to as idiomatic translation. It involves the treatment of technical documents in which information about something is transferred into another language for immediate use. Brislin (1976) cites an example of repairing a machine whereby the manual that helps in providing information can be translated from one language to another to enable the technicians repair it. In this type of translation, the translator tries to use the natural forms of the receptor language and has to be as natural as possible. For Example, while repairing an engine, it may have an instruction that is reflected in the sentence below, English: Replace with a new cup. Ry/Rk: Taho ekifundikizo ekisya. Ideally, a cup in Runyankore-Rukiga is ekikopo. However, when you are translating, pragmatism is important to get what could be its equivalent and you end up with ekifundikizo, which, in Runyankore-Rukiga is lid. The fourth type is referred to as Ethnographic Translation. This is the type used in explicating the cultural context of the source and second language versions. Brislin (1976) notes that it is used when there is a difference between the time and culture of the source and the target language. For example, while translating the Lord's Prayer, ' … ….give us our daily bread', it becomes ' … … otuheereze egabo yaitu y'obutoosha'. Bread is omugaati made out of wheat flour but egabo is simply food in RunyankoreRukiga. Because of the period when the Lord's Prayer was pronounced and having a different cultural set up, the equivalent words are of ethnographic nature. The fifth type is Aesthetic-Poetic Translation. This is a form of translation that contains heroic, couplet and dramatic dialogue. It is influenced by the effect of the poet. In other words, this form of translation puts into account the feelings and any information used by the original author and might digress quite a bit from source language. This form of translation is important when translating poems and songs where the rhythm has to be maintained. For example, Songs of Solomon: 2: 2-4, when translated, it becomes: English: Like an apple tree among the trees of the woods, Ry: Nk′oku Nk ′ oku omuti gw'omucungwa guba omu kibira, English: so is my lover among men. Ry: na nkunzi yangye nikwo aba omu batsigazi. English: In his shadow I delight to sit, Ry: Nkashutama omu kicuucu kye nshemereirwe munonga, English: and his fruit is sweet to my taste. Ry: ebijuma bye byannurira. English: He brought me to the banquet hall, Ry: Yantaasya omunju y'obugyenyi, English: and his glance at me signalled love. Ry: yandeebesa amaisho ga Rukundo. Linguistic Translation is the sixth type of translation we shall consider. This type of translation is concerned with equivalent meanings of the constituent morphemes of the target language (TL) and its grammatical form. It is the form advocated for usage in machine translation because it applies in situations where the languages undergoing translation have the same level of civilisation. It is useful in languages that have a similar grammar and sentence structure, for instance, if one was to translate from Runyankore to Rutooro in the following sentence: Rn: Omwana onu agende Ry: Omwana ogu agyende


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: The Translation Process

Response: The fact that translation involves far more than a working acquaintance with two languages is aptly summed up by Levy (1963) when he declares that a translation is not a monistic composition, but an interpenetration and conglomerate of two structures. On the one hand there are the semantic content and the formal contour of the original; on the other hand, the entire system of aesthetic features bound up with the language of the translation. The above means that translation is not just something superficial or even artificial; you need to know both the source language (SL) and the target language (TL) very well. Muranga (1992) describes the translation process even more dramatically when he says that it involves moments of real trouble, even danger and difficulty, whenever the translator has to use all the creative powers at his disposal in order to salvage a meaning from the hazards of cross-cultural transfer. He notes "... the translator is like a ferryman trying to ferry some people across a river. He must use all the paddling skills at his disposal and, in case of trouble, all his creative energy and wisdom in order to bring his passengers safely across" (p.3). Nida and Taber (1969) provide a model that sums up the translation process with an illustration in Bassnett (1991, p. 16) as shown below. Figure 6.1: The translation process The process of translation is explained in the flow chart above. To execute the process, one needs the relevant linguistic and aesthetic, ethnographic, pragmatic skills. It shows that the SL text should be comprehended before any actual translation work begins. Thereafter, the text should be analysed in order to determine how it should be translated. After that, the process of transferring the message from the SL to the TL follows. This is accompanied by transfer of the message to the TL, without distorting it. The message in the TL must be at least approximate to that of the SL. This approximate dimension is emphasized by Bassnett (1991, p. 2) when she says that translation must ensure that "(1) the surface meaning of the two will be approximately similar, and (2) the structures of the SL will be preserved as closely as possible but not so closely that the TL structures will be seriously distorted". Larson (1984), for her part, explains that in translation, the translator needs to study and analyse the lexicon, grammatical structure, communication situation and the cultural context. This is done in order to determine the meaning, which is reconstructed using the lexicon and grammatical structure that are appropriate in the receptor language and its cultural context. On the other hand, Venute (1995) believes that a translated text is deemed acceptable when it reads fluently and when there are no linguistic or stylistic peculiarities that are not natural to the target language. The translated text must be transparent. In translation the final text should not reflect that it has been translated, it should sound natural and feel original. According to Hillaire (1931), the translator should consider the work to be translated as an integral unit and translate it in sections, asking him/herself before each section what the whole sense is that he has to render. He should render idiom-by-idiom and intention-by-intention, bearing in mind that the intention of a phrase in one language may be more or less emphatic than the form of the phrase in another language. This, therefore, shows that the translator of literary prose, for example, has the right to ignore some of the stylistic aspects of the SL text in order to conform to the stylistics and idiomatic norms of the receptor language that are most natural and acceptable in the TL. To sum it up, the process of translating should involve: i) Ability to understand the source language. ii) Knowledge of the receptor language. iii) Reading through the document identified for translation. iv) Identifying the language register. v) Identifying the intention of the author. vi) Identifying the level of understanding of the intended users of the translated version. vii) Identifying the hard-to-translate concepts. viii) Selection of the most appropriate terms/vocabulary to use. ix) Translation of the text into the recipient language. x) Proofreading the translated text. xi) Submission of the text. We should note that from experience, translation can be effective if the translator follows the following steps: Begin by reading through the text to be translated. This involves reading of the text so that you become familiar with it. The second step is identifying the language register. You should always endeavour to establish if the source text is legal, medical, religious, etc. This helps in choosing the appropriate vocabulary to be used. The third step is to knowing the target beneficiaries of the translation. This is important because it gives an idea of what type of language one should use. If the target is readers whose formal education is limited to primary level, there may be need to use simple language. The fourth step is identifying the required reference materials. Some translations require wider consultations. When a translator gets the text to be translated, it is important to identify the different resources that may be required to use during the process. It is imperative that the translator identifies the human resource that may be useful and contacts them. For example, if the text is legal, it is good to have a lawyer within reach. This also applies to medical texts. As a fifth step, it advisable to seek to know the likely consequences of your actions. As a translator, it is important to know the risks involved in misrepresenting facts. This is because a mistake can cost life or lead to imprisonment of an innocent person. For every document to be translated, ensure that it does not move an inch away from the original meaning. You are now ready for the sixth step, which is translating the work. If you are sure that all the above have been appropriately addressed, you should embark on the translation. This is followed by back-translation as the seventh step. This is the process of re-translating the work back into the source language. It is done by an independent person that has not accessed the original work whose text is what has been translated. It is usually a source of conflict. The back-translator may write a different text. When the back-translation is done, the most important aspect should be to establish that the texts are closely related. This is because it is impossible to get the original document as it was written initially; no two persons can think alike. Secondly, the structure of the SL and the TL vary from one another. The eighth and final stage is to harmonise the translation. After back-translation has been finished, it is important to get all the three texts together and harmonize the work to come up with a single working document. The translation and back-translation should be harmonised to reflect what was in the initial text. It is at this stage that translation is considered complete. After all that has been done, you should then ask yourself the following questions: i) Is the translation in the target language equivalent or similar to the text in the source language? ii) Will the intended beneficiaries understand the text? iii) Would they respond the same way if it was in the source language? iv) Would the translation have the same meaning if the text is back-translated? If the answers to the questions above are in the affirmative, then, the translation will have been accomplished.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Challenges in Translation

Response: The process of translation has its own challenges that are experienced. Various factors are responsible for this phenomenon. These include the following: a) Lack of concept in receptor language b) Translation of Figurative Language c) Existence of untranslatabilities d) Emotional torture The lack of concept in receptor language is the first major challenge. Although it has been said that a translator must try to sound as natural as possible, it is quite difficult to come up with the appropriate expressions because there is no one-to-one lexical equivalence across languages. There are times when the source text talks about a concept or object that does not exist in the receptor language. What does one do in such a case? For example: ST: The robot was talking like a human being. Which of the three sentences below translates the above sentence to the satisfaction of the speaker of Runyankore? Why? i) Erobboti ekaba neegamba nk'omuntu. ii) Ekyoma kikaba nikigamba nk'omuntu iii) Ekyoma ekimanywa nka robboti, kikaba nikigambira kimwe nk'omuntu. Beekman and Callow (1974) suggest three possible ways of dealing with the problem of lexical equivalence: Usage of a generic word with a phrase; Usage of a loan-word; or Usage of a cultural substitute. a) Usage of a generic word with a phrase There are times when a translator has to translate a concept or idea which does not exist in his/her language. He/she needs to understand clearly the words and their meaning in the source language and how they are used in the different contexts. He/she needs to know the form and functions of the different lexical items in the language. The form of a word includes the physical attributes of the object being talked about. For example, the form of the car includes its size, colour, shape and its parts. But the function is to transport people and things. A translator needs to know well the functions and forms of words as they might differ from language to language. For one to come up with such a descriptive phrase of 'robot', he/she must know how the robot looks like and what it does. Thus, a translator needs to be widely read and very knowledgeable in various disciplines. At this stage, we need to note that even when the form and function of the lexical items are very much similar, they might have different associations in the two languages. For example, bread may be the same in both languages but with different functions. Whereas in Runyakitara bread may be a special treat for breakfast, in English it may be taken as daily food. If one chooses the generic term with a descriptive phrase to cater for the new concept being translated, there are various ways in which the generic term can be dealt with. As explained by Larson (1973), in the modification of form approach, the translator describes the generic form of the word to be translated. For example, if translated into Runyankore, it is: Another way in which a word could be translated is by making explicit its function. For example: In other instances, one may decide to use both the form and the function to describe a new concept in the receptor language. Thus, robot ekyoma ekikozirwe nk'omuntu ekirikukora buli karimo nk'omuntu. aeroplane ekyoma ky'amapapa ekirikugendera omu mwanya, ekitwara abantu n′ n ′ ebintu. The translator can also use a comparison of something in the receptor language to that in the source language. For example: ekitiiho tonto Or muha something like a big spoon a wine-like brew a dog-like animal. b) Usage of a loan-word There are times when a loan-word may be used to bring about lexical equivalence. When this is done, the word is usually modified to fit into the linguistic structure of the receptor language. Also, when the word is introduced, it is usually described. If you consider our first translation of 'robot', we used a loan-word with a RunyankoreRukiga description, thus: Ekyoma ekimanywa nka robboti, kikaba nikigambira kimwe nk'omuntu. After the introduction of such a word in the language, it is later assimilated as a borrowed word. In the translation of the Draft Constitution (1993), many loan-words were adopted as Runyakitara words and they are now being used. Words like Konsitityusoni (Runyoro-Rutooro), Konsitityushoni (Runyankore-Rukiga) have since been incorporated into the vocabulary of the receptor dialects. c) Usage of a cultural substitute There are times when any of the above-mentioned possibilities does not seem appropriate. Here, the translator may choose a cultural substitute from the receptor lan- guage. However, the translator must be very careful as sometimes the cultural substitute may not give the near equivalent, especially if the term does not exist. Thus, Larson's (1973, pp. 163-176) guidelines should be taken into consideration: i) How similar are the two things or events? If there is no similarity between the events and things, the translator must be very careful about the terms he/she chooses. For example, "a red-carpet welcome" - cannot be translated as: Okutangirira kw'ekirago kirikutukura. Rather, it is translated as: Okutangirira okw'ekitiinisa ky'amaani. ii) Could a descriptive equivalent be used without distorting the text? In this case, if a descriptive equivalent suits the situation better, it is advisable that it is used rather than the cultural substitute. iii) How culturally isolated are the speakers from the receptor language? The speakers from the receptor language may be living in a very remote area and have had very little interaction with the outside world. Even when an object is described by its function, it may be difficult for the speakers to understand what is being described. In this case, it would be better to use a cultural substitute. However, the translator is cautioned to be faithful to historical events. He/she should not change the truth of a historical fact because he/she wants to use a cultural substitute. For example, these are some of the cultural substitutes. The second major challenge faced by translators is associated with figurative language. This can be explained as a language that uses words, groups of words or expressions that exaggerate or alter the usual meanings with a meaning that is different from the literal interpretation. Figurative language can also bring about difficulties in translation. This is because the figures of speech such as metaphors, similes, idioms, allusions, hyperboles or puns may not always have corresponding equivalents in the source language and receptor/target language. For example, it may not be easy to translate an expression like "it rained cats and dogs" or "I smell a rat". Larson (1973, p. 254) suggests five ways of dealing with similes and metaphors, which are figures of speech: Keeping the metaphor if it sounds natural in the receptor language. Translating the metaphor as a simile using 'like' or 'as'. Substituting an equivalent metaphor from the receptor language. Keeping the metaphor and explaining the meaning. Translating the meaning of the metaphor without keeping the metaphorical imagery. The existence of untranslatable words is the third challenge that is faced during translation. Untranslatable words do not have an equivalent in the target language. This is because of the cultural uniqueness that exists. As a result, some words or expressions are in one language while they are not in another. When such a situation arises, it is imperative to get an expression that is equivalent. In case that is not possible, the translator has no option other than naturalising the word or expression. This means that the person writes the word as it is pronounced in the source language but follows the rules of orthography of the target language. The other alternative is to borrow from a neighbouring language. The fourth challenge to translation is emotional torture. This occurs when a translator, in the process of translation, has to translate texts that have emotional attachment. It may happen that one is hired to translate a document that may result in loss of life or property and the information is not yet published. The challenge would be whether to report such a situation to authorities yet it is against the ethics of translation where confidentiality is important.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Specialised Terminology

Response: From your daily experience of language usage, you must have noticed that different areas of specialisation use specialised terminology in their work. These include science, agriculture, economics, law, religion, medicine, biology, linguistics, et cetera. As a translator, one may be asked to translate texts from specialised disciplines. In this case, one needs to be well equipped with the vocabulary and meanings of the source text. And when translating the specialised terminology, there is need to keep it specialised in the receptor language. So, the translator needs to be precise and economical, at the same time relaying the original meaning of the term. The major problem arises when the terms to be translated are abstract in nature and are objects. For example, if a translator is given the following economics terms as extracted from Basic Economics for East Africa by Ddumba (2004), the likely equivalents in Runyankore-Rukiga identified for translation are as follows: a) Advantages (ebirungi): This term can be translated as ebirungi. However, the meaning is not as close to L1 as it should be. Ebirungi is basically "good things" and this is not the exact equivalent of "advantages". Another term would be ebirikuganyurwamu, from the verb okuganyurwa, which means payment for what you have done. The payment can either be monetary or benefits out of the activity. b) "Economics" as a term can be translated as Eby'obutungi. However, it does not come out in a natural way. Economics, when translated as ebyobutungi becomes synonymous with wealth, which is obutungi or eitungo. The term "economics" comes from Greek for oikos (house) and nomos (custom or law), hence "rules of the house(hold)." Its equivalent obutungi comes from the verb okutunga [o-ku- tunga] that could be explained to mean 'to get'. In Runyankore-Rukiga, the noun derived from okutunga is obutungi or eitungo, which is ownership of assets both movable and immovable. This form of wealth is for either an individual or a group of people or a country. Judging from the origin of the word economics, obutungi is more informative and extensive. A challenge, however, emerges between resources and economics where the two are polysymous in RunyankoreRukiga and the meaning is almost the same. c) Consumer (omukozesa): In Runyankore-Rukiga, this would literally mean 'the user' not 'the consumer'; but it is the only word that has the nearest meaning. 'Consume', in Ry/Rk would be okurya which is similar to 'eating' but the word consumer, which WebFinance Inc. defines as 'An individual who buys products or services for personal use and not for manufacture or resale' would contradict it since okurya, which in this case would be omuri has no relationship with consumption of services. Omukozesa still remains with another challenge as it may also refer to the one who has used something to do a particular work. A noun that would be used and fits well by embodying the consumption of goods and services is not available in the language. This would make the word being translated according to the context, and would not have a uniform translation, not even its immediate equivalent. d) Firm is translated as kampuni yet that would be the translation for 'company' which was naturalised. This is because 'firm' is a synonym of 'company'. In Runyankore-Rukiga, it is not possible to differentiate the two especially when they are serving the same purpose. Form and content do not change at all, as both remain nouns. e) Micro and Macro are free morphemes. Micro is a prefix in the International System of Units abbreviated as SI from the French Le Système International d'Unités and other systems of units denoting a factor of 106 10 6 (one millionth). 'Macro' on the other hand is the opposite denoting something big. In Runyankore-Rukiga, 'micro' does not have an equivalent term. It can best be translated as akakye. However, this does not suit the term as akakye is translated as 'small'. Akakye is not a prefix but an independent adjective. Likewise, 'macro' does not also have an equivalent but can be translated as ekihango. This, however, does not also suit the term. f) Poverty (Obworo) has a number of equivalents. In Economics, the term is used to refer to a situation of dire need. However, further description of poverty in Economics brings about concepts such as 'relative poverty' and 'absolute poverty'. Relative poverty does not have an equivalent and there would be a problem translating it. Its closest translation is obworo obutarengyesereize. This translation does not sound natural. On the other hand, 'absolute poverty', which is a noun phrase, has an equivalent in form of obukyene. This is just a noun. g) Products and Goods: These are different in English but in Runyankore-Rukiga, they are homophones. Both can be translated as ebintu. However, the products and goods have a monetary attachment to them and can be disposed of at any time while ebintu may not always attract a price tag on them. In other words, they may not easily be converted into money. h) Profits (Amagoba) is a straight forward term, as it has its counterpart word in L2. i) Aid (obuhwezi) stands out as 'help'. In Economics, aid is loan money. If one is to translate aid as loan money, the difference becomes obvious, as obuhwezi is not necessarily 'help' that requires a refund. In most cases, obuhwezi is free, whether it is in form of goods or services. j) Allowances (empeera): Whereas allowance is specific in English and means an extra pay that may not be tagged to a salary, empeera is payment for any work done. Although it is meaningful, it does not cater for payment of an allowance. k) Amount (omuhendo): The translation is direct and would apply in all circumstances related to transactions. Assets (eitungo): This idiomatic translation. However, it is not as straight as omuhendo. Eitungo in most cases refers to what a person owns in form of cows. Whereas the word 'asset' involves both movable and non-movable, eitungo does not go that far. m) Balance of Payments (Obwingane bw'entaatsya n'enshohoza y'ebitunziibwe aheeru n'ebiguzirweyo): This is a clear example of a definition turned a terminology. There is no word that can be used to describe balance of payments and is understood by a local person unless it is explained. n) Bank (banka): As a naturalised word, banka is understood by everyone. It is a new term that people had to learn. This is a recent naturalised term that would otherwise be eibiiko ry'esente. However, the maintenance of the English version in all places where banks exist has enabled the naturalisation. o) Bill (ekishare): The translation presupposes the amount of money that is being asked. Its back-translation in English would be similar to 'expected charges' or 'fees'. This is a clear equivalent word that works. It should be noted that whenever such terms have equivalents in the receptor language, it is advisable to naturalise them. That way, ambiguity would be avoided, since the user will be forced to read about the term from the source language. However, in a situation where the target language user does not understand the Source Language at all, he/she will be forced to inquire from those who know. It leaves no room for guesswork. The following could be the dynamic equivalents when translated into Runyankore-Rukiga.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Conclusion

Response: Translation, as a discipline, can be successfully accomplished depending on the language register, the intended beneficiary and the purpose it is aimed at achieving. As a translator, one must ensure that he or she is as close to the original text as possible regardless of the language structure. The translator must, at times, consider the language being used within the locality. Thus, issues of borrowing concepts and ideas from other languages should be looked at as avenues for the enrichment of a language, especially where there are new concepts, inventions and innovations.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: References

Response: Babcock, P. (Ed.). (2002). Webster's third new international dictionary of the English language. Springfield: Merriam-Webster Inc. Publishers. Bassnett, S. (1991). Translation studies. London: Routledge. Beekman, J. & Callow, J. (1974). Translating the word of God. Michigan: Zondervan Publishers. Brislin, R. W. (1976). Translation. New York: Garden Press. Ddumba, S. J. (2004). Basic economics for East Africa. Kampala: Fountain Publishers. Larson, M. L. (1984). Meaning-based translation: A guide to cross-language equivalence (Vol. 366). Lanham, MD: University Press of America. Levy, J. U. P. (1963). The art of translation. In J. Holmes (Ed.). The nature of translation. The Hague: Mouton. Muranga, M. J. K. (1992). Translation as a means of developing and enriching the target language. Makerere Papers in Languages and Linguistics, 1(2), 3-23. Nida, E. A. & Taber, C. (1969). The theory and practice of translation. Leiden: E. J. Brill. Pearsall, J. (Ed.). (2001). The new Oxford dictionary of English. London: Oxford University Press. Rwomushana, E. (2004). The challenges of translating literary prose fiction from English into Runyankore-Rukiga based on 'Things fall apart' (Unpublished MA Dissertation, Makerere University). Venute, L. (1995). The translator's invisibility: A history of translation. London: Routledge. Walakira, B. J. (1994). Eby'edda bisasika (Luganda Translation of Things fall apart by C. Achebe). Nairobi: East African Educational Publishers Ltd. WebFinance Inc. (2019). Customer. Retrieved from http://www.investorwords.com/1055/consumer.html


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Chapter 7

Response: TRANSLATION AND INTERPRETATION IN RUNYAKITARA: LINKING THEORY TO PRACTICE Edith Ruth Natukunda-Togboa


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Introduction

Response: Do we, as Banyakitara, need translation? It is estimated that more than 6,000 languages are spoken globally. Without translation, we can only communicate with those people who share with us a common language. Unfortunately, since the space for every language is limited on the world scene, some of the minority voices, which are less developed, with poor media access and are under-documented, would simply not be heard without this critical function. Africa has the highest language density in the world; more than 2,000 languages are used on the continent and more than 60% 60% of the population uses indigenous languages. These languages have remained mainly oral, informal in usage and under-published. Without translation, the creativity of African oral literature, its cultural novelty, and unique indigenous knowledge base will remain unamplified. Translation, in this case presents an opportunity to boost the image of African Languages and salvage the traditional wisdom, like that of the Banyakitara that is getting lost over generations. This work of preservation of the homogeneity of African thought has especially been effected through what Bandia (1993) terms the "transference" of African literature. He states that translating African creative works is a double "transposition" process, from the primary level of translation, that is the expression of African thought in a European language by an African writer; to the secondary level of translation, or the "transfer" of African thought from one European language to another by the translator" (Badia, 1993). This is a practical way of demonstrating how translation theory embodies important values for our society. These are some of the applications of translation and interpretation that will be discussed in this chapter. The preceding chapter dealt with definitional issues, translation processes and professional registers in Runyakitara. This follow-up chapter will further investigate the relevance of translation in Runyakitara, the evolution of the discipline and its theories, translation and interpretation strategies, as well as recent developments in the field like audio-visual translation, in an attempt to link theory to application. In a study conducted in several African countries, 97.4% 97.4% of the respondents stated that greater access to translated information would help individuals to understand their legal rights, 95.18% 95.18% said it would improve the overall quality of life; 88.78% 88.78% of respondents said it would help prevent international, civil, ethnic, or communal conflict in Africa; and 63.7% 63.7% said it could have prevented the death of someone in their family or circle of friends. (Kelly et al., 2012). Indeed, not until Africa has access to such information can we say that we have emerged from the "information famine" and like the wealthy nations, we have got to the "global information age". This study suggests that "it is only through translation that this disparity can eventually be eliminated" (Kelly et al., 2012). In Uganda, the conditions to help us emerge from the prevailing "information famine" are far from being conducive. A case study on translation in Uganda that was conducted on the translation of fiction books from 2001 to 2008 showed that:


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Translation of Fiction Books from nine Ugandan publishers from 2001-2008

Response: Source: Adapted from MA thesis findings (Lapajian, 2010) These are very low translation ratios over many years and they are heavily fluctuating from one year to another. Translated fiction accounts for 6.3% 6.3% of total fiction book supplies. Therefore, although we consider access to translated information as a motor of development, translation in itself as a feature is a rare phenomenon in Uganda, if we are to go by the findings on fiction books. A closer look also reveals that most of these translations are produced by foreign publishing houses: 77.0% 77.0% of all these translations have been published by British publishers, 10.3% 10.3% by Kenyan and 2.3% 2.3% by American publishers. Only 10.3% 10.3% of all translations has been published by Ugandan publishers (Lapajian, 2010). The distribution of the languages of translation is presented in the following tables:


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Distribution of target languages of translated fiction titles in four Ugandan bookshops

Response: Source: Adapted from MA thesis findings (Lapajian, 2010)


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Distribution of source languages of translated fiction titles in four bookshops in Uganda

Response: Source: Adapted from MA thesis findings (Lapajian, 2010) The tables show that in Uganda, English is dominant both as a target and as a source language in translation. The relatively high proportion of fiction books translated into Ugandan languages can be explained in terms of the newly introduced education policy requiring the use of indigenous languages as media of instruction in the early classes. Hence, the translations into Ugandan languages are for the most part translations of English school readers into Luganda, Runyankore-Rukiga and Ateso (Lapajian, 2010). These school readers are printed in large numbers, thus driving up the ratios of both English as a source language and Ugandan languages as target languages. The lesson to pick from this study is that the more the national and regional language policies go beyond discussions and speeches and get into practical application, the better it will be for the growth of translation studies in Runyakitara. Such suggestions on best practices to adopt for the future are best analysed when one knows the history of a discipline. The preceding chapter traced the history of Bible translation in Uganda as one of the beginnings of translation in Runyakitara. How does this link up with the global history of translation? Translation and Interpretation: A Historical Perspective Contemporary scholars in translation studies like, George Steiner, have now become more specific on the history of translation by distinguishing the discipline from the history of language. George Steiner (1975) for instance has divided the chronology of the discipline into four periods which we are going to adapt as our base for analysis in this chapter with adjustments: The first period refers to the time of the great Roman translators like Horace and extends for 1,700 years; The second period dates from the 1900s to the 1940s; The third one extends from the 1950s to the 1960s; and The fourth one dates from the 1960s to 2000;


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: The fifth period from 2000 to the present

Response: 3 3 . 1


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: The First Period in the History of Translation

Response: This period, according to the scholar As-Safi (2011), from the University of Petra, starts with the Romans translators but should extend to ancient translated documents that have been found in Egypt and Iraq. This period was specifically documented in Fraser Tyler's essay on the "Principles of Translation" in 1791 and it is the longest in translation history. It is characterised by its word-for-word and sense-for-sense translations. It emphasises the aesthetic criteria of the target language (TL) rather than the "rigid notions of fidelity". Early translators like Horace in his Art of Poetry, warn against the "over-cautious imitation of the source model and slavish literalism" (cited in As-Safi, 2011). This period concludes with the discussion of good translation as that "in which the merit of the original work is so completely transfused into another language" (Bell, 1991). From the above discussions, Tyler deduces three laws that are characteristic of this first period: The translations should give a complete transcript of the ideas of the original work; The style and manner of writing should be of the same character with that of the original work; The translation should have all the ease of the original composition (Cited in As-Safi, 2011).


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: The Second Period

Response: This period, according to Steiner (1975), runs up to the forties of the twentieth century. It is characterised by the focus on the theory of hermeneutic inquiry (from the Greek - to understand) and the development of a vocabulary and methodology of approaching translation. One theorist who was pronounced during this period is the French humanist Etienne Dolet who proposed the early principles of translation in "La Manière de bien traduire d'une langue à l'autre" ("How to translate well from one language to another"): The translator must fully understand the sense and meaning of the original author; The translator should have perfect knowledge of the both the source language (SL) and the target language (TL); The translator should avoid word-for-word renderings; The translator should use forms of speech in common use; The translator's words should choose and order appropriately words to produce the correct tone. These five principles were further summarized by John Dryden (1631-1700) in his "Preface to Ovide's Epitsle" into three categories of translation: Meta phrase, or turning on an author word-by-word, and line-by-line, from one language to another; Paraphrase or a translation with latitude, the Cicerian "sense for sense" view of translation; Imitation, where the translator can abandon the text of the original as he sees fit, "between the two extremes of paraphrase and literal translation" (in AsSafi, 2011).


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: The Third Period

Response: This is the shortest of all the periods in translation history. It starts with the first papers on machine translation in the 1940s and extends for less than three decades. It is characterised by the introduction of structural and applied linguistics as well as contrastive studies in morphology and syntax. These new studies help the translator to "identify similarities and differences between native language (NL) and foreign language (FL) and integrate the communication theory into the study of translation" (Steiner, 1975, in As-Safi, 2011, pp. 297-413).


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: The Fourth Period

Response: This period has its beginning in the 1960s and according to Steiner, it is still running up to the present date. It is characterised by the translator's recourse to the use of hermeneutic inquiry in translating and interpreting. Translators in this period revised their approaches in order to include other disciplines in translation. This contemporary period has witnessed the emergence of a lot of new theories such as "polysystem theory", from a group of Russian literary theorists, offering a general model for understanding, analysing and describing the functions and evolution of literary systems and its application to the study of translated literature. The period also includes the "skopos theory" (from Greek purpose) developed in Germany in the late 1970s, reflecting a shift from mainly linguistic theories to a more functionality and socioculturally oriented conceptualisation of translation. Unlike the preceding periods where one school of thought was pronounced, in this contemporary period we notice the diversification of the theorists' orientation. This period also has experienced a marked increase in translation needs in the second half of the 20th 20 th century: the political, business, scientific, tourist, academic educational, religious and other needs that have increased significantly and they continue to increase as communication with "the other" gets faster, wider and more sophisticated. This is why this period privileges the principle of internationality in translation.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: The Fifth Period

Response: The fifth period which is hereby proposed is the era of translation computerisation. This fifth period also coexisted with the fourth since advanced work by translation theorists, linguists, engineers, researchers, evaluators of end-user groups, professional translators, trainers and translation companies started to bear fruits in the 1940s. From that time, improvement of automatic machine translation of source text (ST) into target language has been on-going. It was improved with the assistance of man providing a post-editing semantically equivalent and well-formed text in the target language (TL). From the "direct translation" (morpho-syntactic replacements) of the 1950s, computerised translation has advanced to "rule based approaches" (rules of transfer for the particular pair of languages being handled) and "corpus based approaches" (using algorithms to match the new TL segments with the built-in SL segments) (Quah, 2006 cited in As-Safi, 2011). The early Runyakitara translations were mainly from the third and fourth period in the history of translation and as noted in the introduction, these were unfortunately not many. But the fifth period which is bringing with it a lot of open source materials and virtually translated "documents" is fast increasing space for minorities in the translation world. This is increasing the hopes of the unheard and "untranslated" voices.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Translation Theories

Response: From the existing literature, for almost two thousand years, translation theory had been merely concentrating on outstanding translated works of art. The science of translation, earlier on known as "translatology", did not emerge until the 1940s (AsSafi, 2011). In the actual sense of the discipline, however, the history of translation deals with: "what translators say about their art/craft at different periods: what kinds of recommendations translators have made and how translation science has been taught" (Baker, 2005). Translation theory is of importance to translators because it helps them to determine the appropriate translation method for the text or text-category in question. It is also important in providing "a framework of principles, restricted rules and hints for translating texts and criticising translations, a background for problem solving" (As-Safi, 2011). A rigorous theory of translation, in the case of Runyakitara, provides a practical evaluation procedure, with specific criteria, which indicates a certain level of accomplishment of the task under study. Eugene Nida (1976) seems to offer a good summary of translation theories when he observes that "due to the fact that translation is an activity involving language, there is a sense in which any and all theories of translation are linguistic" (Nida, 1976, p. 66). He goes on to classify these theories into three sub-categories which we will use in our analysis: philological theories, linguistic theories, and socio-linguistic theories. This classification depends upon the perspectives and approaches applied to the principles and procedures of translation discussed in the preceding chapter.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Philological Theories

Response: These rely on philology as the study of the development of language, a concept linked to the classical literary studies (As-Sifa, 2011). In the case of Runyakitara, they will be mainly concerned with the comparisons of Runyakitara structures and those of other indigenous and foreign languages into which one is translating or interpreting. They will dwell on the functional correspondence, literary genre, stylistics and rhetoric. As Nida (1976) explains, instead of "treating the form in which the text was first composed, they deal with corresponding structures in the source and receptor languages and attempt to evaluate their equivalences" (Nida, 1976, p. 69). Such translation theories will be found useful in assessing translation procedures that are used for translating classical Runyankore recitations (Ebyevugo) and transcribing traditional songs (Ebyeshongoro) into English and other foreign languages.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Philosophical Theories

Response: Proponents of philosophical theories like George Steiner (1975) emphasise "the psychological and intellectual functioning of the mind of the translator" (p. 249). He explains that such a theory of translation is essentially "a theory of semantic transfer from source language (SL) into target language (TL)" (p. 249). This is what has been termed the "hermeneutic approach" aiming at understanding a piece of oral speech or written text and the attempt to diagnose the [translation] process in terms of a general model of meaning (Steiner, 1975). Steiner approaches the act of literary translation "in the context of human communication across barriers of language, culture, time and personality" (Steiner, 1975, in As-Safi, 2011, pp. 297-413). He thus sub-divides the [hermeneutic] motion into four stages of: Assuring and determining the sense in ST, that has to be extracted; Invading, extracting the meaning and bringing it home; Incorporating new elements into the target linguistic and cultural system; and finally, Compensating or restoring in the target text what the translator failed to recover from the original text (Steiner, 1975). The translation of proverbs and sayings from the Runyakitara languages into English and other languages, may find good use of these philosophical theories.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Linguistic Theories

Response: Unlike the philological theories which compare genre, stylistic, and features of the ST and TT, the linguistic theories are based on the comparison of linguistic features, their development, mainly due to the application of linguistic fields such as semantics (meaning), pragmatics and the teaching of translation/interpretation. These theories view translation as "simply a question of replacing the linguistic units of the ST with the 'equivalent' TL units without reference to factors like context or connotation" (As -Safi, 2011, p. 35). According to Nida and Taber (1969), linguistic translation contains elements which can be directly derived from ST wording. In this model, the surface elements of ST (grammar, meaning, connotations) are analysed as linguistic structures that can be transferred to the TL and restructured to form TL surface elements.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Functional Theories

Response: The 1970s and 1980s witnessed a shift from the static linguistic typologies of translation to communicative approaches for the analysis of translation (As-Safi, 2011). The functional theories focus on the use of text type and language functions (Baker, 2005; Shuttleworth & Moiro, 2007). In the text type argument, it is at the level of the text rather than the words, that equivalence and communication are effected. In the informative text for instance, the purpose is to communicate facts. Hence, when analysing an informative translation in Runyankore, one should check whether the translator has transmitted the full referential of conceptual content. In the example of "Instructions" translated by Natukunda and Asiimwe (2012a) for the non-governmental organisation, ACCLAIM, our interest as translators was to ensure that the text was fully informative and contained no ambiguity as demonstrated in the box below ( Ry/Rk Ry/Rk ):


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Instructions

Response: This interview should be started only once informed consent has been obtained from the participant. Read all of the questions and all of the information that is in bold print aloud to the participant. Please read all information as it is written. Interviewer instructions are in italic print these are for your use and should not be read aloud.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Please mark an

Response: X X in the box that corresponds to the reply by the participant. Note that some questions have multiple responses possible. Please mark an X in the box next to each reply. Do not read the list of possible responses to the participant, unless noted in the instructions for a specific question. If someone replies "I don't know" this should be the only response indicated. For the "Other" responses, mark an X in the box and then write the response on the line provided. Please record participants' comments as directly and carefully as possible. At this time, mark start time of interview below and then proceed with the interview.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Endagiiiiro

Response: Ekigaaniiro eki kitakaatandikwa otakatungire okwikiriza kw'orikugarukamu ebibuuzo. Banza waayaturira orikugarukamu ebibuuzo byona n'ebyokushoboorora ebihandilkire omuri bwino ekwasire. Nitukushaba ngu oshome ebibuuzo byona n'ebyokushoboorora nk'oku biri. Endagiiiiro z'orikubuиza zihandiikire omu bunyuguta bukye - ebyo n'ebyawe kukoresa, otakaabishomera orikubuuzibwa ('yagarukamu?). Ijuka ngu ebibuuzo ebimwe biine ebyokugarukamu by'emiringo mingi. Nitukushaba ngu oyorekye n'akabonero ka X buri kyagarukwamu kyona. Otakaashomera ou orikubuиza eby'okugarukamu ebi arikubaasa kweyambisa kwihaho baaba baakikuragiira omu ndagiiriro y 'ekibuuzo ekyo kyonyini. Omuntu yaagarukamu ati: "Tindikumanya" kibe eky'okugarukamu kyonka eki oraayorekye. Ku araagarukemu "Ekindi", yoreka akabonero ka X omu kashanduuko akari omumaisho g'ekyo ky'okugarukwamu, reeru ohandiikye eki yaagamba kyonyini aha runyerere ru baakuha. Nitukushaba ngu ohandiikye eki baakugarukamu nk'oku baakigamba kwonyini. Orikugarukamu ebibuuzo yaagira eki yaarengyeza, kihandiikye kurungi n'obwegyendesereza bwingi. Mbwenu hati handiika obwire bwonyini obu waatandikiraho ekigaaniiro kyawe. Source: Edith Natukunda-Togboa & Allen Asiimwe: ACCLAIM Men's Questionnaire Translated Oct 3-2012 In the expressive text which favours creative composition, one would check to see whether the aesthetic and artistic form of the ST has been transmitted. In an operative text, the translation should create an equivalent of a behavioural response. The audio-medial texts require a "supplementary method"; that is supplementing adequately with visual images, sound, music and action. In the words of Munday (2001, p. 16), "the text type approach moved translation theory beyond the effect they create among the readers; going towards the consideration of the communicative purpose of translation". Nord (2007, p. 8) goes on to add that translation, under this perspective is uplifted "to a form of mediated intercultural communication".


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: The Socio-linguistic Theories

Response: These theories, according to As-Safi (2011), endeavour to link translation to the communicative theory and the information theory with a special emphasis on the receptor's role in the translation process. We hasten to add that the sociolinguistic theories do not disband language structures, but rather, deal with them at a higher level, in accordance to their functions in the communication process. These structures may include rhetorical devices, or figures of speech such as simile, metaphor, irony, hyperbole, etc. These theories require the translator to exhibit a high level of language performance.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: The Interpretative Theory

Response: The interpretative theory is also known as the theory of sense and is part of the socio-linguistic theories. Originally, it was designed to reflect the process involved in conference interpretation. The proponents of this theory argue that: ... interpreters do not work merely with linguistic meaning, but also need to take into account such factors as the cognitive context of what has already been said, the setting in which the interpreting is taking place and the interpreter's own world knowledge" (Lavault, 1966, cited in Shuttlewoth & Cowrie, 2007, p. 85). The focus, in this case of interpretation, is on the intended meaning, or the sense, than the words of the speaker on the floor, which is the oral source text. We note also that the target text that is relayed to the receptor in the interpretation process is also in the oral form.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: The Systems Theory

Response: It promotes a general model for understanding, analysing and describing the functioning and evolution of literary systems with special emphasis on the study of translated literature. Followers of this theory give priority to the requirements of the target language, stressing readability and accessibility, employing a pleasant and easy style. An example of the systems' theory is Baker's polysystem theory.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: The Manipulation Theory

Response: This is also associated with the translation of literature. According to Hermans, under this theory, translation implies a degree of manipulation of the ST for a certain purpose, because its process aligns "the target text (TT) with a particular model which should secure social acceptance in the target culture. This theory is descriptive, target oriented, functional and systemic" (Hermans 1985, p. 11). In contrast to the linguistic theories, this one approaches translation not as science, but rather as an art which permits manipulation rather than rigid equivalences. Accordingly, translation is deemed a "re-writing process and the translator a re-writer who can alter or manipulate the ST in such a way as to be acceptable in the target language and culture" (As-Safi, 2011, p. 41).


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: The Aesthetic Communication Theory

Response: This theory propounds the creativity-orientation, especially for literature, which is essentially an aesthetic communication between the translator and the target reader. This theory caters for the arousing of the reader's suspense, interest and pleasure. To this end, according to As-Safi, "it employs fore-grounded structure, a highly elevated style and literary diction" (Steiner, 1975, in As-Safi, 2011, pp. 297-413).


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: The Relevancy Theory

Response: This is associated with pragmatics which deals with the use of language in communication. More specifically, it deals with the way meaning is conveyed and manipulated by the participants in a communicative situation. In other words, pragmatics deals with the speaker's meaning and the way it is interpreted by the hearers through what is known as "implicature". The theory emphasizes "the interpretative use of language as distinct from the descriptive use" (Palumbo, 2009, cited by Allot 2003, p. 51). Baker (2005), points out that human communication is based on the ability of human beings to infer what is meant that may be accounted for through the principle of relevance, defined as achieving maximum benefit at minimum processing cost. The relevance theory tries to account for the way the information processing faculties of the mind enable us to communicate with one another. "Its domain is therefore with the mental faculties rather than texts or processes of text production" (Gutt, 2000, p. 21). From the foregoing, one can observe that each translation theory has its way of trying to balance the semantic content and the literary values of the original text. They represent sets of options for assessing whether the right word was chosen or the appropriate modification was effected. The correct application of these theories on Runyakitara consists of mastering the art of choosing the appropriate set of options available for a multi-dimensional assessment of the processes and product of translation.


Instruction: Explain the following grammar rule in Runyoro/Rutooro: Translation and Interpretation Strategies

Response: The preceding sections dealt with the theoretical base of translation and how it has evolved with the science of language and communication. This section links the science and art of translation to the strategies adopted for the different text types. From the onset, it is noted that some scholars of interpretation refer to strategies as techniques or methods of translation. In this chapter, a strategy of translation is considered like a procedure that helps to solve a problem encountered in translating a text or its segment (Baker, 2005). There are local strategies which deal with text segments and global ones which deal with whole texts. In both cases, when one is translating, a strategy or technique needs to be selected to tap into the translator's background knowledge, his/her awareness of the register, content, the relevant linguistic conventions and his/her mastery of the language. Below are some strategies that can be used for tackling different text types or dealing with a specific function/purpose of translation.