An Appraisal of News Translation in Mass Communication

Article Citation: Muhammad Aliyu SAJO, Shittu Fatai and Umar Ahmed (2023). An Appraisal of News Translation in Mass Communication. DEGEL: The Journal of the Faculty of Arts and Islamic Studies, Vol. 20, No. 1 & 2. ISSN 0794-9316

AN APPRAISAL OF NEWS TRANSLATION IN MASS COMMUNICATION

By

Muhammad Aliyu SAJO, Shittu Fatai and Umar Ahmed

Abstract

This paper is an appraisal of news translation in the communication of radio news messages to the people. The aim of the paper is to study radio news translations from English to Hausa. The objectives are to: Investigate the types of translation employed in the translated texts, and examine the quality of the translation with a view to commenting on the competence or otherwise of the translators. Qualitative research method was employed via descriptive and analytical approaches in the analysis of 10 extracts which form the data for the research. The paper employed the framework of translation notations in Nida and Taber (1974) as well as Yakasai (1994) which focused on various approaches to translation involving figurative language and non-figurative language. Among the findings of the study are that, explanatory method of translation was employed by the translators in the translation of all the news items from English to Hausa; the nature of translation is found to be one with display of expertise through systematic use of figurative language alongside literal language when translating messages from the source language English to the receptor language Hausa and that there is frequent use of figurative language in the radio news translations. It can be concluded that the application of selected theoretical framework in radio news translation is effective as it portrays how translators excessively use figurative language in news translation to communicate messages effectively and systematically. The study also showed that use of figurative language is not only peculiar to literary works such as prose, drama and poetry but also the radio news translations.

Introduction

The relevance of translation in mass communication is seen to be enormous especially in a multilingual society where audiences with diverse ethnic and linguistic backgrounds rely on the translated messages to respond to certain issues bordering on their social and economic wellbeing. This paper attempts an appraisal of the use of language in the media, specifically the radio. It explores how figurative language is utilised alongside literal language in English to Hausa translation. The study highlights translation as a concept, its types and relevance particularly in a bilingual/multilingual speech community majority of which rely heavily on the translated versions of the news to comprehend some relevant information. Ten data were purposively sampled from existing radio news items in English which were written and translated into Hausa by reporters and translators. Most of the data were extracted from Rima Radio Sokoto news bulletins. Qualitative method of research was employed through description and analysis of the 10 extracts used for the research.

Review of Related Literature

Translation

Rufa’i (1983) posits that translation is the process of conveying accurately the message from one language to another. It involves at least two languages. Abdullahi (1997) describes translation as mainly transferring what one says in one language to another language. The process of Translation therefore requires linguistic competence and knowledge of linguistic culture of the languages involved by translators. This implies that a translator should know the grammar, vocabulary and culture of the languages in question. In this context, translation of English news to Hausa news must be sound enough to adequately communicate or transfer messages from the Source language (SL) English to the Receptor Language (RL) i.e. Hausa. The following proposition in Bargery (1993) emphasises the role and relevance of translation in the media:

Undoubtedly there is today a great need for deep understanding and effective communication between different communities of the world in order to preserve world peace and enhance the progress of mankind. To be able to communicate effectively, it is essential to develop the art of translation.

Bargery (1993) argues that translation is interpretation of a word or expression. It can also be decoding of a statement from one language to another. Bunza (2006) highlights that translation is the process of conveying meaning from one language to another in spoken or written form. From the aforementioned, Bunza’s (2006) view on translation corresponds with ours here because, his definition covers both the written and spoken aspect of the translation particularly the media aspect of it.

Bunza (2006) also lists seven conditions translators should consider in the process of translation. They are:

i.  The type of translation to be used.

ii.  Who is doing the translation

iii. The source language (SL).

iv. The receptor language (RL)

v.  The message (to be translated)

vi. The audience (i.e. listeners) and

vii. Effectiveness of the translated text.

It is the view of this work that all the above conditions are in agreement with what really obtains when embarking on translation as observed in the translated texts in this study. Challenges before the task of translation as enumerated by Jarrett (1982) are: Firstly, the message (i.e. meaning) has to be formulated in the terms and structure of the original or source language. The translators or interpreters therefore have to understand or decipher the meaning. Secondly, the message has to be put into the forms and structures of the receptor language.

Translation Types

Bunza (2006) submits that there are basically three types of translation, thus:

i. On-the-spot translation (Fassarar nan take)

ii. Word-to-word translation (Fassarar kalma-da-kalma)

iii. Free or interpretative translation (Fassara mai 'yanci).

i. On-the-spot (or Instant) Translation

This is the type of translation in use since time immemorial. As cited in Sajo (2010), on-the-spot translation is one in which as the speaker of the source language speaks, the translator or interpreter translates the message directly. It is often used at conferences which involve people speaking different languages e.g. United Nations conferences, court sessions, sermons and religious gatherings.

ii. Word-to-word translation

As the name implies, word-to-word translation is used to transfer written message from one language to a written text in another language. In Northern Nigeria, it is frequently used in Koran schools where scholars translate wordings of expressions from Arabic language to a local language for their students during a study session.

iii. Explanatory/Interpretative Translation

This covers the two types discussed above. In Bunza (2006), interpretative or explanatory translation enables translators to employ the basic principles of creativity by taking into consideration, verbal elements and linguistic culture of the two languages involved in the translation process. It is the type used by both the print and the electronic media. Explanatory translation gives translators opportunity to freely explore the nearest forms in meaning to the form in the source language so that the listener or reader can easily understand the message. This is necessary in order to avoid distorting the message. Birniwa (2008) emphasises that the essence of translation is to convey the message as it is, into another language, without distortion. The simplest and comprehensible phrases and words should therefore be chosen.

Challenges in the task of translation as enumerated by Jarrett in Rufa’i (1983) are: Firstly, the message (i.e. meaning) has to be formulated in the terms and structure of the original or source language. The translators or interpreters therefore have to understand or decipher the meaning. Secondly, the message has to be put into the forms and structures of the receptor language.

Figurative Language

Figurative language has been defined in various angles by various scholars. Ogungbesan and Woolger (1978) opine that figurative expressions are statements which say something in an indirect way and are not to be taken at a literal level. Wierhadt (2005) defines figurative language as a word or phrase that departs from everyday literal language for the sake of comparison, emphasis, clarity or freshness. Relating the two definitions above with the subject of this research i.e. news translation on the media, it can be said that figurative expressions are used in a way different from the usual literal expressions as in the following examples:

English: ‘Sokoto state pilgrims have been urged to safeguard their basic traveling allowance while performing the hajj’. (Rima Radio, Jan. 2009).

The above statement which was written in the source language, English in literal form, was translated figuratively as:

Hausa: An yi kira ga mahajjatan Jihar Sakkwato da su yikaffa-kaffa da guzurinsu sa’ilin da suke aikin hajji.

In this case, the verb “safeguard” which literally means tanadi or tattali in Hausa was translated figuratively as kaffa-kaffa. Nordquist (2009) describes figure of speech as a rhetorical device that achieves a special effect by using words in distinctive ways. The distinctive way here means use of words or phrases in a special way as against the literal expressions. Harris (2005) in his view describes figurative language as rhetorical devices used to improve the effectiveness, clarity and enjoyment of one’s writing. According to the freedictionary.com (2009), figurative language is any expression that goes beyond the literal meaning of a word in order to furnish new effects or fresh insights into an idea or a subject. Dictionary.com defines figurative expression or figure of speech as a use of a word or phrase that diverges from its normal meaning. This implies that while a word in literal expressions denotes what it means according to common or dictionary usage, words in figurative expressions add layers of meaning to convert an utterance into meaning; in this case, the human mind requires a cognitive framework that would enable the translator to memorise all possible meanings available to apply to particular words in their context. This in our view is to say that a translator should have understanding of the two languages involved in the translation. Competence in the two languages would enable the translator to manipulate the languages through the use of appropriate connotations from the source language to the receptor language.

Example:

English: The ground is thirsty.’

The sentence above denotes the nature of land when there is no rainfall. That is to say, the nature of dryness of the ground surface during the absence of rainfall especially in the arid areas. The above sentence is a figurative expression in a metaphorical form which can be interpreted literally as ‘the ground is dry’. It can also be translated literally in Hausa as ƙasa ta bushe.

Types of Figurative Expression

According to Ogungbesan and Woolger (1978), there are many types of figurative expressions but the most important are similes and metaphors. In our view, emphasis will be given to the four figurative expressions namely, simile, metaphor, personification and alliteration because they are more relevant to this paper and are observed to be used in the media particularly the electronic media. This review shows that although use of figurative language is prevalent in literary texts, the media whose writings mostly fall under nonliterary texts category also exploit figures of speech in their reportage as certain examples will show in the review as well as in the data under study.

Simile

Examples of simile as seen in Achebe (1958, p.78) are: “Obierika’s compound was as busy as an ant hill”. In this case, a compound was compared to a very busy place that houses the ants. Another example of simile in Achebe (1958, p.35) is: “The drummers took up their sticks again and the air shivered and grew tense like a tightened bow”. In this sentence, the inanimate object air is likened to a bow. Personification is another figure of speech used in the sentence as in ‘the air shivered and grew tense’. The expression was as if the air is a living thing that could even shiver as human beings do. In the broadcast news, simile is not commonly used. Instead, personification and metaphorical expressions are commonly used alongside literal expressions.

Metaphor

This is usually differentiated with simile. According to Ogungbesan and Woolger (1978), the writer or poet does not announce the comparison with words such as “like”, “as”, and “similar to” as it happens when using simile. Also in Achebe (ibid), there are series of metaphorical expressions as in the following:“The earth had decreed that they were an offence on the land and must be destroyed”. (Achebe, 1958, p.87)

In the sentence above, there is direct comparison of the personal pronoun “they” with “an offence”. The other part of the sentence contains personification as in “The earth had decreed that…” Here, the earth was given the feature of humans, as if it is capable of enacting a law or decree. Also in Achebe (1958, p.91) is another metaphorical expression as:

“For two or three moons the sun had been gathering strength till it seemed to breathe a breath of fire on the earth”.

In the sentence above, the sun is also given the features of humans because only living things can breath. Another example of metaphor in the work is:

 “Okonkwo was popularly called...he was a flaming fire”

In this sentence, the subject of the expression “Okonkwo” was equated with “flaming fire” as seen in the second sentence where he was represented by a pronoun “He”.

Wierhadt (2005) has similar views with Ogungbesan and Woolger (1978) by describing simile and metaphor as the most common figures of speech. However, Wierhadt (2005) submitted that, terms such as hyperbole, synecdoche, puns and personification are also figures of speech. The scholar stressed that figurative language is also known as figure of speech, rhetorical figure or metaphorical language.

Alliteration

Alliteration is repeated consonant sound occurring at the beginning of words or within words. It is used to create melody, establish mood, call .attention to important words, and point out similarities and contrasts. Example:

“From Kano to Kabbah, Yola to Yelwa, Minna to Maiduguri, all gathered for one man, Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto”. (NTA, 2006).

Personification

Harris (2005) submits that personification is a kind of figurative expression which gives the qualities of a person to an object or idea. It is also another type of figurative expression commonly used in the electronic media. Example:

“Sokoto State government expresses displeasure over the resurfacing of illegal structures at the Sokoto Central Market”. (Rima Radio, 24/4/2009).

Another example is:

“Kebbi State government is to partner with Israeli government in the control of desert encroachment”. (Rima Radio, 24/04/2009).

Literal Language (Literal Expression)

Words in literal expression denote what they mean according to dictionary usage, hence, literal translation is one in which the translated version of a word or phrase is the basic or usual meaning of such word or phrase. Example:

English: “The Commissioner of police cautions people against hiding criminals in their domains”. (Cited in Yakasai, 1994)

The above sentence, in clear term, is not a figurative expression. However, it was translated literally and figuratively into the receptor language Hausa as follows:

Komishinan ‘yansanda ya gargaɗi mutane da kada su ajiye miyagun ɗiya a gidajensu. (Cited in Yakasai, 1994)

It can be added here that the use of figurative language by a speaker tells the speaker’s competence in the language. This is so because, only those who exhibit high proficiency in the language (or languages) can manipulate such language(s) to communicate messages.

Approaches to Translation

This paper employed the theoretical framework of translation notations in Yakasai (1994) which were initiated by Nida and Taber (1974) in an effort to overcome the problems of translating figurative language. Nida and Taber as cited in Yakasai (1994) came up with the following ideas:

(a) Shift from figurative to non figurative.

(b) Shift from one type of figurative expression to another one.

(c) Non-figurative expression changed to figurative one.

Yakasai (1994) built on that and came up with the following notations to classify them (as in a, b, and c above)

 i. +Fg +Fg

 ii. –Fg +Fg

iii. +Fg  - -Fg

The above notations are highly applied in the day-to-day translations particularly English-Hausa. Use of figurative expression is seen to feature significantly in the broadcast media translations. However strict adherence to the notations depends on the translator’s competence. This study therefore explores numerous instances of translation from English to Hausa on the Rima Radio medium where literal and figurative language are used interchangeably as the following data illustrate.

Data Presentation and Analysis

Here are some instances of use of figurative expressions in translation as highlighted in Yakasai (1994). Eleven (11) extracts are purposively sampled for illustration and analysis.

Shift from figurative expression to Figurative Expression

 +Fg +Fg

This holds in a situation where figurative expressions in SL are translated with a corresponding figurative expression in the RL.

Extract 1

English	“Sokoto State Teachers Service Board has vowed to deal with any teacher found wanting in the discharge of his duty”.
Hausa	Hausa: Hukumar Kula da AyukkanMalanta ta Jihar Sakkwato ta lashi takobin sanya ƙafar wando guda da duk malamin da ta sama yana sakaci da aikinsa.

Source: Rima Radio, 20/5/2009

In the above example, the figurative expression in the source language “found wanting” was translated with a corresponding figurative expression in Hausa sanya ƙafar wando guda.

Extract 2

English	“The Leader of Sokoto state government delegation to this year’s hajj, Alhaji Abdullahi Balarabe Salame, has called on all stakeholders in the hajj operations to work hand-in-hand with the committee for the success of the hajj”.
Hausa	Shugaban ayarin mahajjatan Sakkwato da gwamnati ta kafa don aikin hajjin bana Alhaji Abdullahi Balarabe Salame yayi kira ga dukkan masu hannu ga lamarin aikin hajjin da suyi aiki kafaɗa-da-kafaɗa da juna don samun nasarar aikin.

Source: Rima Radio, 1/11/2008

In extract two above, the adverbial group “hand-in-hand” of the sentence in English was translated with a corresponding figurative expression (kafaɗa-da-kafaɗa) in Hausa.

Extract 3

English	“The State police command’s effort to rid the society of bad eggs has continued to yield dividends”.
Hausa	Ҡoƙarin Hukumar ‘yansanda ta Jiha don kawar da bara-gurbi daga cikin al’umma yana ci gaba da samun nasara.

Source: Radio Kano 3/4/1990 cited in Yakasai (1994)

Extract 4

English	“Our reporter who visited the main campus observed that the institution was deserted as no any academic activity was taking place”.
Hausa	Wakilinmu da ya ziyarci babban mazaunin jami'ar ya lura da cewa wurin ya yi wavam domin kuwa babu wasu ayukkan karatu da ke gudana.

Source: Rima Radio, 20/5/2009

In extract 4, it can be seen that the verb of the sentence in the source language (as underlined) was in the literal form but rendered figuratively in the receptor language in Hausa.

Non-figurative to figurative

 –Fg +Fg

It is a situation when figurative expressions are used in the RL but absent in the SL as in the following examples:

Extract 5

English	“Nigerians have been advised to shun smoking and excessive in-take of salt and alcohol to avoid hypertension”.
Hausa	Anshawarci ‘yan Najeriya da su guji zuƙar taba sigari da wuce-wuri waien shan gishiri da barasa domin kauce ma cutar hawan jini.

Source: Rima Radio, 20/5/2009

Extract 6

English	“He said the committee would soon meet to discuss measures to be taken against erring ones”.
Hausa	Ya ce nan ba da jimawa ba ne kwamitin zai yi taro don tattaunawa a kan matakan da za a ɗaukar ma masu kunnen ƙashi.

Source: Rima Radio, 30/5/2009

Extract 7

English	“Colonel Chijuka said, it would amount to waste of time on the part of such distasteful comment to think that the armed forces could be inducted to go back. ...”.
Hausa	Kanar Chijuka ya ce babu wata zolaya da za ta sa sojojin su nemi komar da hannun agogo baya.

Source: KTTV 28/11/1993 (cited in Yakasai 1994)

Extract 8

English	“Meanwhile, the Head of State, Chief Earnest Shonekan has said that the interim national government was determined not to repeat the mistake of the past which led to the current problem”.
Hausa	“A wani labarin kuma Shugaba Shonekan ya ce gwammnatin riƙon-ƙwarya za ta yi bakin ƙoƙarinta wajen ganin ba a kwata ‘yar gidan-jiya ba, abin da shi ne ya haifar da rikicin ƙasar nan.

Source: CTV, now STV, Kano 24/10/1993

Figurative to Non-figurative:

+Fg -Fg

This is when figurative expressions in the source language are rendered non-figuratively in the receptor language. The following extracts illustrate such instances as extracted from Rima Radio and Yakasai (1994):

Extract 9

English	“Seven staff of the Ministry of the Federal Capital Territory were yesterday paraded before the Minister Malam Nasiru El-Rufa’i and newsmen for their alleged involvement in the thirty million Naira fraud”.
Hausa	Jiya ne aka gabatar da wasu mutane na Ma’aikatar Birnin Tarayya a gaban Minister MalamNasiru EI-Rufa’i da manema labarai a kan zargin da ake yi masu na suna da hannu a cikin wata danfara ta Naira milyan talatin da uku.

Source: Rima Radio, 21/2/2004

Extract 10

English	“While answering questions from newsmen on the new change of government in the country, the Emir prayed that the country should not jump from the frying pan into the fire”.
Hausa	Yayin da yake amsa tambayoyi daga manema labarai game da canjin gwamnati a ƙasar nan, Sarkin ya yi addu’a da a sami zaman lafiya mai ɗorewa.

Source: KTTV, 23/1/1994 (cited in Yakasai 1994)

Discussion of Findings

All the 10 extracts identified show that explanatory translation type was used in the translation of messages from the SL (English) to RL (Hausa). The use of such type of translation is observed to enable a translator to decode messages encoded in the SL to RL by considering the linguistic culture and socio-cultural contexts of the two languages involved in the translation process.

In extract one, the SL, English contains messages encoded in one form of figurative language. It was however translated with another form of figurative language in the RL. This entails shift from one type of figurative expression to another one. The manner in which the message was conveyed between the two languages portrays creativity and competence of the translator. In the second extract, same approach was employed, i.e. a message in SL is in figurative language, it is translated with a corresponding figurative language in the RL. The SL contains the figurative expression “hand-in-hand” whose equivalent is decoded as kafaɗa-da-kafaɗa thereby exhibiting linguistic equivalence in the semantic interpretation of the message. Same applies to the third extract under the same notation. In the extract, the nominal group in figurative language “bad eggs” is translated as bara gurbi which is a corresponding figurative term carefully selected by the translator to convey the message.

Extracts four-eight are translated using the concept of the notation of non-figurative to figurative. The messages in the SL are in literal form unlike those in extracts one-three. This also indicates that there is expertise in the ability to convey meaning from texts encoded in the literal form which is transformed into the figurative form during translation. Evidence of this can be seen in extract four where the verbal group “was deserted” in the literal form was translated as ya yi wayam a figurative Similarly, in extract five, the verb “smoking” is translated figuratively as zuƙar taba, another verbal group “excessive intake” is represented as wuce-wuri. Similarly, extract six has another interesting representation of the nominal group in the SL, “erring ones” as masu kunnen ƙashi. This further demonstrates creativity and expertise in the task of the translation. In extract seven, the verbal group in SL “inducted to go back” (in the literal form) was translated figuratively as komar da hannun agogo baya in the RL and the meaning is conveyed. Same as in extract eight where the verbal group in SL “to repeat the mistake of the past” is translated as a kwata ‘yar gidan jiya.

Translation of extracts nine-ten is one with non-figurative expression changed to figurative one. In extract nine, the SL contains the verb “paraded” in figurative term, it is translated literally as gabatar da in the RL. Extract 10 contains a verbal group in figurative language “jump from the frying pan into the fire” which was translated with a literally as a sami zaman lafiya mai ɗorewa.

Conclusion

This paper has attempted appraisal of language use in news translation especially the translation of radio news from English to Hausa. The study explored the application translation creatively with emphasis on the use of figurative language in both English and Hausa. It highlighted translation as a concept and how language is used by the media to enlighten people majority of who rely heavily on the translated versions of the news to understand some relevant information. It was also gathered that the translators employed the three techniques of translation in Yakasai (1994) where they alternate between use of figurative and literal forms of language to translate messages. The study therefore established that figurative language is not only used in literary texts such as prose, poetry and drama but also on non-literary texts such as radio news messages.

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