Lecture 6
LANGUAGE FUNCTIONS AND TEXT-TYPES
1. Functions of Language
2. Expressive text types
3. Informative text types
4. Vocative text types
All translations are based implicitly on a theory of language (Jakobson and
Firth put it the other way round - they said a Theory of language is based on a
theory of translation). Roman Osipovich Jakobson (October 11, 1896 - July 18,
1982) was a Russian thinker who became one of the most influential linguists of
the twentieth century by pioneering the development of structural
analysis of language, poetry, and art. Jakobson was one of the most important
intellectuals in the humanities during the twentieth century. He began as one of the
founding members of the Moscow Linguistic Circle, which was one of two groups
responsible for the development of Russian Formalism, which influenced the entire
field of literary criticism. Jakobson then moved to Prague, where he helped to form
the Prague Linguistic Circle, which helped to influence the development of
structuralism, one of the dominant movements in the humanities and social
sciences of the era. Perhaps Jakobson's most enduring contribution was his
development of the model of the communication theory of language based on his
delineation of language functions.
With this in mind, Jakobson claimed that language must be investigated in all
the variety of its functions. Before discussing the poetic function, one must
define its place among the other functions of language. An outline of those
functions demands a concise survey of the constitutive factors in any speech
event, in any act of verbal communication.
The Addresser (speaker, author) sends a message (the verbal act, the
signifier) to the Addressee (the hearer or reader). To be operative, the
message requires a Context (a referent, the signified), seizable by the
addresses, and either verbal or capable of being verbalized; a Code (shared
mode of discourse, shared language) fully, or at least partially, common to
the addresser and the addressee (in other words, to the encoder and
decoder of the message); and, finally, a Contact, a physical channel and
psychological connection between the addresser and the addressee,
enabling both of them to enter and stay in communication. He claims that
each of these six factors determines a different function of language. In brief:
the REFERENTIAL function is oriented toward the CONTEXT
the EMOTIVE (expressive) function is oriented toward the ADDRESSER
the CONATIVE (action-inducing, such as a command) function is
oriented toward the ADDRESSEE
the METALINGUAL (language speaking about language) function is
oriented toward the CODE
the POETIC function is oriented toward the MESSAGE for its own sake.
Thus, in some respects (only) any translation is an exercise in applied
linguistics, Buhler's functional theory of language is taken as adapted by Jakobson
as the one that is most usefully applied to translating. Karl Bühler (1879–1963)
was one of the leading theoreticians of language of the twentieth century. Although
primarily a psychologist, Bühler devoted much of his attention to the study of
language and language theory. His masterwork Sprachtheorie (1934) quickly
gained recognition in the fields of linguistics, semiotics, the philosophy of
language and the psychology of language. According to Buhler, the three main
functions of language are the expressive, the informative - he called it
'representation' - and the vocative ('appeal') functions: these are the main purposes
of using language.
THE EXPRESSIVE FUNCTION
The core of the expressive function is the mind of the speaker, the writer, the
originator of the utterance. He uses the utterance to express his feelings
irrespective of any response. For the purposes of translation, the characteristic
'expressive' text-types are: (1) Serious imaginative literature. Of the four principal
types -lyrical poetry, short stories, novels, plays - lyrical poetry is the most
intimate expression, while plays are more evidently addressed to a large audience,
which, in the translation, is entitled to some assistance with cultural expressions.
(2) Authoritative statements. These are texts of any nature which derive their
authority from the high status or the reliability and linguistic competence of their
authors. Such texts have the personal 'stamp' of their authors, although they are
denotative, not connotative. Typical authoritative statements are political speeches,
documents etc., by ministers or party leaders; statutes and legal documents;
scientific, philosophical and 'academic' works written by acknowledged
authorities. (3) Autobiography, essays, personal correspondence. These are
expressive when they are personal effusions, when the readers are a remote
background.
It is essential that you, as translator, should be able to distinguish the personal
components of these texts: i.e. unusual ('infrequent1) collocations; original
metaphors; 'untranslatable words, particularly adjectives of 'quality' that have to be
translated one-to-two or -three; unconventional syntax; neologisms; strange words
(archaisms, dialect, odd technical terms)-all that is often characterised as
'idiolect'or 'personal dialect-as opposed to ordinary language1, i.e. stock idioms
and metaphors, common collocations, normal syntax, colloquial expressions. The
personal components constitute the 'expressive' element (they are only a part) of an
expressive text, and you should not normalise them in a translation.
“In the hospital yard there stands a small lodge surrounded by a perfect forest of
burdocks, nettles, and wild hemp. Its roof is rusty, the chimney is tumbling down,
the steps at the front-door are rotting away and overgrown with grass, and there
are only traces left of the stucco. The front of the lodge faces the hospital; at the
back it looks out into the open country, from which it is separated by the grey
hospital fence with nails on it. These nails, with their points upwards, and the
fence, and the lodge itself, have that peculiar, desolate, God-forsaken look which
is only found in our hospital and prison buildings” - Expressive text type
THE INFORMATIVE AND THE VOCATIVE FUNCTION
The core of the informative function of language is external situation, the
facts of a topic, reality outside language, including reported ideas or theories. For
the purposes of translation, typical 'informative1 texts are concerned with any topic
of knowledge, but texts about literary subjects, as they often express value-
judgments, are apt to lean towards 'expressiveness'. The format of an informative
text is often standard: a textbook, a technical report, an article in a newspaper or a
periodical, a scientific paper, a thesis, minutes or agenda of a meeting, One
normally assumes a modern, non -regional, non-class, non-idiolectal style, with
perhaps four points on a scale of language varieties: (1) a formal, non-emotive,
technical style for academic papers, characterised in English by passives, present
and perfect tenses, literal language, latinised vocabulary, jargon, multi-noun
compounds with 'empty1 verbs, no metaphors; (2) a neutral or informal style with
defined technical terms for textbooks characterised by first person plurals, present
tenses, dynamic active verbs, and basic conceptual metaphors; (3) an informal
warm style for popular science or art books (e.g., coffee-table books), characterised
by simple grammatical structures, a wide range of vocabulary to accommodate
definitions and numerous illustrations, and stock metaphors and a simple
vocabulary; (4) a familiar, non-technical style for popular journalism, characterised
by surprising metaphors, short sentences, Americanese, unconventional
punctuation, adjectives before proper names and colloquialisms. A high
proportion of such texts are poorly written and sometimes inaccurate, and it is
usually the translator's job to 'correct' their facts and their style .Thus, in spite of
some assumptions ("translation is impossible', etc.), the majority of translations
nowadays are better than their originals - or at least ought to be so.
“Banking system is considered an important element of financial system of
Azerbaijan. Today banks leave behind other financial mediators for volume of
their assets and capital, as well regional coverage. An advanced two-stepped
banking system, which is based on market principles, (the National Bank of the
Republic of Azerbaijan in the first step, in the second one commercial banks and
other non-bank credit organizations) functions in the republic. In the first stage of
reforms, measures of restructuring and recovery of state banks were taken,
institutional formation of private banking system ensured. ….” - Informative
Text Type
The vocative function. The core of the vocative function of language is the
readership, the addressee. The term Vocative is used in the sense of 'calling upon'
the readership to act, think or feel, in fact to 'react' in the way intended by the text
(the vocative is the case used for addressing your reader in some inflected
languages). This function of language has been given many other names, including
'conative' (denoting effort), 'instrumental’, 'operative' and 'pragmatic' (in the sense
of used to produce a certain effect on the readership). Note that nowadays vocative
texts are more often addressed to a readership than a reader. For the purposes of
translation, we can take notices, instructions, publicity, propaganda, persuasive
writing (requests, cases, theses) and possibly popular fiction, whose purpose is to
sell the book/entertain the reader, as the typical Vocative' text. The first factor in
all vocative texts is the relationship between the writer and the readership, which is
realised in various types of socially or personally determined grammatical relations
or forms of address: infinitives, imperatives, subjunctives, indicatives, impersonal,
passives; first and/or family names, titles, hypocoristic names; tags, such as
'please’, all play their part in determining asymmetrical or symmetrical
relationships, relationships of power or equality, command, request or persuasion,
The second factor is that these texts must be written in a language that is
immediately comprehensible to the readership. Few texts are purely expressive,
informative or vocative: most include alt three functions, with an emphasis on one
of the three. However, strictly, the expressive function has no place in a vocative or
informative lext - it is there only unconsciously, as 'underlife1. Most informative
texts will either have a vocative thread running through them (it is essential that the
translator pick this up), or the vocative function is restricted to a separate section of
recommendation, opinion, or value-judgment; a text can hardly be purely
informative, i.e, objective.
