A Systemic Analysis of Translation of Case-Grammar in the French Translation of Chinua Achebe’s <i>Arrow of God</i>

Gbadegesin Olusegun Adegboye

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ijalt.20220802.13

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A Systemic Analysis of Translation of Case-Grammar in the French Translation of Chinua Achebe’s Arrow of God

Gbadegesin Olusegun Adegboye

Published in International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation (Volume 8, Issue 2)

Received: 28 June 2021 Accepted: 16 July 2021 Published: 28 May 2022

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Abstract

Literary critics, prose analysts, literary theorists, translation scholars, comparative linguists and stylists have till now viewed Chinua Achebe’s Arrow of God in the spirit of culture, history, comparative language and racial discourse. Analyzing translation of case-grammar in the French translation of the novel has not received any noticeable attention. This study centers on the systemic analysis of case-grammar in the French translation of Arrow of God (La fleche de Dieu) The objectives are to: (i) identify various case-gaps in Arrow of God and examine how their translations affect the meaning of the original message, (ii) assess the role of grammar in the reproduction of social and cultural meanings in the French translation of the text, (iii) analyze the translation of case-gaps using systemic grammar of Michael Halliday to appraise the translator’s liberty of the literature. Working through types of case-gaps by Peter Newmark, the study draws about ten examples from the original text and its French translation. Systemic Functional Grammar of Michael Halliday is adopted to x-ray how the language of Chinua Achebe in Arrow of God is treated as systems and not as rules in the translation of the novel into French. The study views case-grammar as a “meaning potential” in translation studies. Grammatical systems play a major role in the construal of meanings of meanings at cultural, stylistic and linguistic levels of a sociological literature such as Achebe’s Arrow of God and its French translation. The study concludes that grammar is nothing but a transmitter of meaning in translation and that transmission is contingent upon proper understanding of different levels of use of language in literature, case-gaps inclusive.

Published in	International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation (Volume 8, Issue 2)
DOI	10.11648/j.ijalt.20220802.13
Page(s)	54-61
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Case-Gaps, Systemic Grammar, Literature, Translation, Literary Style

References

[1]	Achebe, Chinua. 1964. Arrow of God. London, Heinemann.
[2]	Achebe, Chinua. 1978. La Flèchede Dieu, Paris, Présence Africaine translated into French by Irene Assibad’ Almedia and Olga Mahougbé Simpson.
[3]	Anderman, G. and Rogers M. (eds). 2003. Translation Today, Trends and Perspectives. Australia, Multilingual Matters Ltd.
[4]	Dirk Delabastia et al (eds) 2006. Functional Approaches to Culture and Translation, Amsterdam/Philadelphia, John Benjamins Publishing Company.
[5]	Halliday, M. A. K. 1994. Introduction to Functional Grammar 2nd edition. London: Edward Arnold.
[6]	Hatim, B. and Munday, J. 2004. Translation, an Advanced Cource Book, New York, Routledge.
[7]	Hudson, R. A. 2003. Sociolinguistics, United Kingdom, Cambridge University Press.
[8]	Kirsten, M. 2018. The Routledge Handbook of Translation Studies and Linguistics. London and New York, Routledge Taylor and Francis.
[9]	Lucja Biel. 2018. The Routledge Handbook of Translation Studies and Linguistics. London and New York, Routledge.
[10]	Margherita Dore. 2020. Translation. Theories and Applications, New York and London, Routledge Taylor and Francis Group.
[11]	Munday, J. 2016. Introducing Translation Studies: Theories and Applications, New York, Routledge.
[12]	Newmark, P. 1988. A Textbook of Translation, Prentice Hall, New York.
[13]	Marcel Thelen & Barbara, L. T (eds). 2013. Translation and Meaning Part 9, The Netherlands, Zuyd University of Applied Sciences Maastricht School of Translation and Interpreting.
[14]	Silvia Bernadini. 2006. Corpora for Translator Education and Translation Achievements and Challenges, Birmigham,
[15]	Williams, J. 2013. The Palgrave Macmillan Theories of Translation, New York, Palgrave Macmillan.
[16]	Gaur, A, and Augustyn, A. (eds). (2001). Linguistics. Retrieved 5 July 2021, from https://www.britannica.com
[17]	Nordquist, R. (2021). “Overview of Systemic Functional linguistics”. Retrieved 20 November 2021, from thoughtCo.com/systemic-functional-linguistics-1692022.
[18]	Nordquist, R. (2020). “Definition and Examples of Case-Grammar”. Retrieved 6 July 2021, from thoughtCo.com/case-grammar-linguistic-theory-1689744.

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Gbadegesin Olusegun Adegboye. (2022). A Systemic Analysis of Translation of Case-Grammar in the French Translation of Chinua Achebe’s Arrow of God. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation, 8(2), 54-61. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijalt.20220802.13

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Gbadegesin Olusegun Adegboye. A Systemic Analysis of Translation of Case-Grammar in the French Translation of Chinua Achebe’s Arrow of God. Int. J. Appl. Linguist. Transl. 2022, 8(2), 54-61. doi: 10.11648/j.ijalt.20220802.13

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Gbadegesin Olusegun Adegboye. A Systemic Analysis of Translation of Case-Grammar in the French Translation of Chinua Achebe’s Arrow of God. Int J Appl Linguist Transl. 2022;8(2):54-61. doi: 10.11648/j.ijalt.20220802.13

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@article{10.11648/j.ijalt.20220802.13,
  author = {Gbadegesin Olusegun Adegboye},
  title = {A Systemic Analysis of Translation of Case-Grammar in the French Translation of Chinua Achebe’s Arrow of God},
  journal = {International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation},
  volume = {8},
  number = {2},
  pages = {54-61},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijalt.20220802.13},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijalt.20220802.13},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijalt.20220802.13},
  abstract = {Literary critics, prose analysts, literary theorists, translation scholars, comparative linguists and stylists have till now viewed Chinua Achebe’s Arrow of God in the spirit of culture, history, comparative language and racial discourse. Analyzing translation of case-grammar in the French translation of the novel has not received any noticeable attention. This study centers on the systemic analysis of case-grammar in the French translation of Arrow of God (La fleche de Dieu) The objectives are to: (i) identify various case-gaps in Arrow of God and examine how their translations affect the meaning of the original message, (ii) assess the role of grammar in the reproduction of social and cultural meanings in the French translation of the text, (iii) analyze the translation of case-gaps using systemic grammar of Michael Halliday to appraise the translator’s liberty of the literature. Working through types of case-gaps by Peter Newmark, the study draws about ten examples from the original text and its French translation. Systemic Functional Grammar of Michael Halliday is adopted to x-ray how the language of Chinua Achebe in Arrow of God is treated as systems and not as rules in the translation of the novel into French. The study views case-grammar as a “meaning potential” in translation studies. Grammatical systems play a major role in the construal of meanings of meanings at cultural, stylistic and linguistic levels of a sociological literature such as Achebe’s Arrow of God and its French translation. The study concludes that grammar is nothing but a transmitter of meaning in translation and that transmission is contingent upon proper understanding of different levels of use of language in literature, case-gaps inclusive.},
 year = {2022}
}

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T1  - A Systemic Analysis of Translation of Case-Grammar in the French Translation of Chinua Achebe’s Arrow of God
AU  - Gbadegesin Olusegun Adegboye
Y1  - 2022/05/28
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T2  - International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation
JF  - International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation
JO  - International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation
SP  - 54
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PB  - Science Publishing Group
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UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijalt.20220802.13
AB  - Literary critics, prose analysts, literary theorists, translation scholars, comparative linguists and stylists have till now viewed Chinua Achebe’s Arrow of God in the spirit of culture, history, comparative language and racial discourse. Analyzing translation of case-grammar in the French translation of the novel has not received any noticeable attention. This study centers on the systemic analysis of case-grammar in the French translation of Arrow of God (La fleche de Dieu) The objectives are to: (i) identify various case-gaps in Arrow of God and examine how their translations affect the meaning of the original message, (ii) assess the role of grammar in the reproduction of social and cultural meanings in the French translation of the text, (iii) analyze the translation of case-gaps using systemic grammar of Michael Halliday to appraise the translator’s liberty of the literature. Working through types of case-gaps by Peter Newmark, the study draws about ten examples from the original text and its French translation. Systemic Functional Grammar of Michael Halliday is adopted to x-ray how the language of Chinua Achebe in Arrow of God is treated as systems and not as rules in the translation of the novel into French. The study views case-grammar as a “meaning potential” in translation studies. Grammatical systems play a major role in the construal of meanings of meanings at cultural, stylistic and linguistic levels of a sociological literature such as Achebe’s Arrow of God and its French translation. The study concludes that grammar is nothing but a transmitter of meaning in translation and that transmission is contingent upon proper understanding of different levels of use of language in literature, case-gaps inclusive.
VL  - 8
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Author Information

Gbadegesin Olusegun Adegboye

Department of French, Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria

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APA Style

Gbadegesin Olusegun Adegboye. (2022). A Systemic Analysis of Translation of Case-Grammar in the French Translation of Chinua Achebe’s Arrow of God. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation, 8(2), 54-61. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijalt.20220802.13

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ACS Style

Gbadegesin Olusegun Adegboye. A Systemic Analysis of Translation of Case-Grammar in the French Translation of Chinua Achebe’s Arrow of God. Int. J. Appl. Linguist. Transl. 2022, 8(2), 54-61. doi: 10.11648/j.ijalt.20220802.13

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AMA Style

Gbadegesin Olusegun Adegboye. A Systemic Analysis of Translation of Case-Grammar in the French Translation of Chinua Achebe’s Arrow of God. Int J Appl Linguist Transl. 2022;8(2):54-61. doi: 10.11648/j.ijalt.20220802.13

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@article{10.11648/j.ijalt.20220802.13,
  author = {Gbadegesin Olusegun Adegboye},
  title = {A Systemic Analysis of Translation of Case-Grammar in the French Translation of Chinua Achebe’s Arrow of God},
  journal = {International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation},
  volume = {8},
  number = {2},
  pages = {54-61},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijalt.20220802.13},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijalt.20220802.13},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijalt.20220802.13},
  abstract = {Literary critics, prose analysts, literary theorists, translation scholars, comparative linguists and stylists have till now viewed Chinua Achebe’s Arrow of God in the spirit of culture, history, comparative language and racial discourse. Analyzing translation of case-grammar in the French translation of the novel has not received any noticeable attention. This study centers on the systemic analysis of case-grammar in the French translation of Arrow of God (La fleche de Dieu) The objectives are to: (i) identify various case-gaps in Arrow of God and examine how their translations affect the meaning of the original message, (ii) assess the role of grammar in the reproduction of social and cultural meanings in the French translation of the text, (iii) analyze the translation of case-gaps using systemic grammar of Michael Halliday to appraise the translator’s liberty of the literature. Working through types of case-gaps by Peter Newmark, the study draws about ten examples from the original text and its French translation. Systemic Functional Grammar of Michael Halliday is adopted to x-ray how the language of Chinua Achebe in Arrow of God is treated as systems and not as rules in the translation of the novel into French. The study views case-grammar as a “meaning potential” in translation studies. Grammatical systems play a major role in the construal of meanings of meanings at cultural, stylistic and linguistic levels of a sociological literature such as Achebe’s Arrow of God and its French translation. The study concludes that grammar is nothing but a transmitter of meaning in translation and that transmission is contingent upon proper understanding of different levels of use of language in literature, case-gaps inclusive.},
 year = {2022}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - A Systemic Analysis of Translation of Case-Grammar in the French Translation of Chinua Achebe’s Arrow of God
AU  - Gbadegesin Olusegun Adegboye
Y1  - 2022/05/28
PY  - 2022
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijalt.20220802.13
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijalt.20220802.13
T2  - International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation
JF  - International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation
JO  - International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation
SP  - 54
EP  - 61
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2472-1271
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijalt.20220802.13
AB  - Literary critics, prose analysts, literary theorists, translation scholars, comparative linguists and stylists have till now viewed Chinua Achebe’s Arrow of God in the spirit of culture, history, comparative language and racial discourse. Analyzing translation of case-grammar in the French translation of the novel has not received any noticeable attention. This study centers on the systemic analysis of case-grammar in the French translation of Arrow of God (La fleche de Dieu) The objectives are to: (i) identify various case-gaps in Arrow of God and examine how their translations affect the meaning of the original message, (ii) assess the role of grammar in the reproduction of social and cultural meanings in the French translation of the text, (iii) analyze the translation of case-gaps using systemic grammar of Michael Halliday to appraise the translator’s liberty of the literature. Working through types of case-gaps by Peter Newmark, the study draws about ten examples from the original text and its French translation. Systemic Functional Grammar of Michael Halliday is adopted to x-ray how the language of Chinua Achebe in Arrow of God is treated as systems and not as rules in the translation of the novel into French. The study views case-grammar as a “meaning potential” in translation studies. Grammatical systems play a major role in the construal of meanings of meanings at cultural, stylistic and linguistic levels of a sociological literature such as Achebe’s Arrow of God and its French translation. The study concludes that grammar is nothing but a transmitter of meaning in translation and that transmission is contingent upon proper understanding of different levels of use of language in literature, case-gaps inclusive.
VL  - 8
IS  - 2
ER  -

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