This paper focuses on the translation of Italian word reduplication into English, e.g. piccino piccino (teeny weeny). Word reduplication is common in Italian. From a sociolinguistic point of view, it is a diastratic, colloquial variant, extremely frequent in substandard Italian. Although not widely perceived, it is also present – but, it seems, not so common - in English (e.g. bad bad news). Now, if reduplication is a numerically minor pattern in English, and a relatively more marked choice, when it comes to its English translations what we expect is systematic recourse to other linguistic devices, most notably predicate (i.e. head) to intensifier collocations (e.g. vecchio vecchio [very old]), intensifying similes (e.g. zitto zitto [quiet as a wisper]), and superlative predicates (e.g. cattivo cattivo cattivo [disgusting]). It makes sense therefore to focus on the implications for the translator. Specifically, on the basis of a small collection of literary texts, we shall carry out a qualitative analysis of what exactly translates meaning, textual and discourse-pragmatic functions of Italian reduplication within the framework of Dressler and Merlini Barbaresi’s (1994) morphopragmatics.

On translating Italian word reduplication into English / Cacchiani, Silvia. - STAMPA. - (2007), pp. 49-58. (Intervento presentato al convegno Maastricht Session of the 4th International Maastricht-Lodz Duo Colloquiium on "Translation and Meaning" tenutosi a Maastricht nel 18-21 May 2005).

On translating Italian word reduplication into English

CACCHIANI, Silvia
2007

Abstract

This paper focuses on the translation of Italian word reduplication into English, e.g. piccino piccino (teeny weeny). Word reduplication is common in Italian. From a sociolinguistic point of view, it is a diastratic, colloquial variant, extremely frequent in substandard Italian. Although not widely perceived, it is also present – but, it seems, not so common - in English (e.g. bad bad news). Now, if reduplication is a numerically minor pattern in English, and a relatively more marked choice, when it comes to its English translations what we expect is systematic recourse to other linguistic devices, most notably predicate (i.e. head) to intensifier collocations (e.g. vecchio vecchio [very old]), intensifying similes (e.g. zitto zitto [quiet as a wisper]), and superlative predicates (e.g. cattivo cattivo cattivo [disgusting]). It makes sense therefore to focus on the implications for the translator. Specifically, on the basis of a small collection of literary texts, we shall carry out a qualitative analysis of what exactly translates meaning, textual and discourse-pragmatic functions of Italian reduplication within the framework of Dressler and Merlini Barbaresi’s (1994) morphopragmatics.
2007
Maastricht Session of the 4th International Maastricht-Lodz Duo Colloquiium on "Translation and Meaning"
Maastricht
18-21 May 2005
49
58
Cacchiani, Silvia
On translating Italian word reduplication into English / Cacchiani, Silvia. - STAMPA. - (2007), pp. 49-58. (Intervento presentato al convegno Maastricht Session of the 4th International Maastricht-Lodz Duo Colloquiium on "Translation and Meaning" tenutosi a Maastricht nel 18-21 May 2005).
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11380/464394
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