Untranslatability is a property of a text, or of any utterance, in one language, for which no equivalent text or utterance can be found in another language.
Catford divides untranslatability in two types:
- linguistic untranslatability, that occurs when there is no lexical or syntactical substitute in the TL for an SL item;
- cultural untranslatability due to the absence in the TL culture of a relevant situational feature for the SL text.
Traduttrice e redattrice tecnica
Dear Sirs,
I am very interested to find out more about J.C. Catford’s work. Please send me further details and information.
Many thanks in advance.
Kind regards,
Christopher Gimpel
Dear Mr. Gimpel,
this article outlines Catford’s theory of untraslatability. It is part of an unpublished article on Translation Studies I wrote about two years ago. For further information please refer to: J.C. Catford, A linguistic Theory of Translation: An Essay in Applied Linguistics, Oxford University Press, London, 1965.
Please let me know what kind of information you are looking for exactly, and I will be more than glad to help you.
Kind ragards
Mina Di Stefano