https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/118892 2026-05-30T15:39:59Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/131208 Title: Cultural enrichment through translation and adaptation : a study of Maltese Lenten and Easter hymns Abstract: This study analyses how cultural enrichment can occur through translation and adaptation, an idea which is advocated in Post-Translation Studies (Nergaard and Arduini 2011; Gentzler 2017), applied to a selection of translated and adapted Maltese Lenten and Easter hymns. In order to explore the different processes as well as the perceptions of hymn translation and adaptation by people who use or produce hymns in Malta and Gozo, a series of interviews were carried out with nine musicians, singers, priests, translators or writers of hymns based on four key topics: Hymn Awareness and Appreciation, Hymn Translation and Music, Translation and Adaptation, and Translation as a means of Cultural Enrichment. These interviews form the basis of Chapter 4. A close analysis of three Lenten and three Easter hymns, applying Low’s (2005) pentathlon principle of sense, naturalness, rhyme, rhythm and singability is the basis of Chapter 5. In addition, Low’s (2013) later distinction between translation, adaptation and replacement text is applied to each hymn. The analysis tends toward the skopos of singability. The interviews were instrumental in providing insight into the different processes as well as the perceptions of hymn translation and adaptation by select musicians, singers, priests, translators or writers of hymns. The consensus was that translated or adapted hymns are indeed an effective means of cultural enrichment, as long as Maltese hymns are not supplanted. The subsequent analysis of six Lenten and Easter hymns showed the breadth of imported material that the Maltese repertoire has introduced over the years to expand its hymn repertoire, as well as the different translation methods that were used and which did or did not contribute to singability. As a consequence of the study, one of the ways that cultural enrichment can be made more visible is to have more information included in the paratext, including but not limited to hymnals. Thus, hymn books and other paratextual material should acknowledge the composer, writer and translator of all the hymns wherever possible in order to increase the awareness and appreciation of the general public of the cultural enrichment that has taken place through the translation and adaptation of hymns. In this way, the post-translation effects discussed by Gentzler (2017) and others will be clear. This work is accompanied by numerous visuals and copious appendices. Description: M.Trans.(Melit.) 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/125794 Title: Translating highly specialised medical texts : analysis of outputs by a human translator and a machine Abstract: Machine translation has a long and colourful history, and after more than seven decades of evolution in the translation of natural languages, great advancements have been made in the field, especially in recent years with the emergence of neural machine translation which has become the mainstream approach to machine translation. As a result, machine translation is gradually finding its way into specialised domains. This study sets to present two outputs: one produced by a human translator and another produced by DeepL, a neural machine translation tool. This was performed with the view of: testing the ability of neural machine translation softwares with regard to producing an adequate translation of a highly technical medical text, i.e. an excerpt extracted from Anatomie des Centres Nerveux, a 19th -century anatomical work; determining the error that dominates neural machine translation outputs; comparing the machine translation with the human translation to test for likeness and differences. The findings of this study demonstrate that regardless of the great advancements in the field of machine translation, machine translation softwares are not yet able to deliver adequate and hence, accurate, reliable, and comprehensible medical translations without human involvement. Description: M.Trans.(Melit.) 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/125793 Title: An exploration of Ġużi Mallia's translations of children's literature into Maltese Abstract: One way in which Maltese children of the second half of the 20th century used to engage with literature was through Rediffusion. Ġużi Mallia was one of the figures hosting children’s programmes on this medium. Known as in-Nannu Peppu, he took up the role of the trustworthy grandfather narrating tales. The stories he used to recount on the radio were, amongst others, his translations of tales coming from all over the world. Consequently, this study explores Mallia’s translations of stories for children. An enumeration of his translations of stories in prose for young readers is compiled. This is primarily possible by visiting the archives of the Akkademja tal-Malti in Valletta where Mallia’s manuscripts are stored. In this way, his contribution to the field of children’s literature is analysed. His translations are then seen in light of what other children’s books were being produced in Malta at a time when this genre was still taking its first steps on the islands. Moreover, since information about Mallia himself and his works is limited, an interview is carried out with his daughter, Theresa Kenely, in order to shed light about aspects which could not be elucidated through other research. The data shows that Mallia produced a large number of translations, proving that he played a major role in introducing foreign children’s literature into the islands and that he can easily be placed in the literary scenario of the time. Description: M.Trans.(Melit.) 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/119427 Title: The use of comparable corpora on (general) terms and conditions as a pedagogical tool in translation training between English and Italian Abstract: Legal translation is hallmarked by many peculiarities revolving around language intricacies, particular lexical phrases or formulae, and system-specificity issues. Translating a legal text entails not only finding equivalent terms or phrases from a source language to a target language, but also verifying correspondences between the source and target legal systems. The literature has long highlighted the benefits and usefulness of corpus-based approaches to legal terminology in order to discern the meanings and usages of terms in context and find possible equivalents in another language. At present, there is a spectrum of legal corpora dedicated to court-related topics and legislation, but there is no corpus composed of private legal documents such as contracts or agreements. This research project wishes to bridge this gap by providing a corpus related to the domain of (general) terms and conditions of web hosting services, together with a model for its use in the translation classroom. The subcorpora (one in British English and the other one in Italian) are created for legal translation purposes and legal translation training, as well as for legal language skills improvement and legal system specificity awareness. Terms of web hosting services are focused on in view of the increased necessity for companies and individuals to be present and sell online after the Covid-19 pandemic. The questions that this research project wishes to address are the following: 1) How and to what extent can English and Italian comparable corpora of terms and conditions of web hosting services cater for the needs of legal translators, legal translation students, legal practitioners and scholars interested in legal language? 2) Can such corpora be considered qualitatively reliable and useful to deliver accurate translations of terms of (web hosting) services? 3) Can they be used as (supplementary) language tools in translator training (and translation practice)? 4) Do they help produce translations that are accurate, native-like and that resemble authentic legal language, at least in the field tackled by the research project (i.e., web hosting services)? This research project is also aimed at teaching translation students how to find equivalent terms, phrases, legal formulae and clauses. In practice, the research project highlights how equivalent legal words, phrases and terminology can be sourced by carrying out simple and/or advanced searches in the corpora via the Sketch Engine interface, and how these can be performed in translation training. The research project also explains how similarities and discrepancies in the two legal systems can be tackled thanks to corpus analysis and the consultation of legal dictionaries, statutes and the case-law of both legal systems. The hypothesis on the usefulness of corpus searches in translator training is then corroborated through the analysis of the results of two practical sessions carried out with Master's students in Translation Studies. The research project findings prove the usefulness and reliability of corpus consultation to source acceptable equivalents, propose authentic, or native-like, phrases, raise system-specificity awareness and deepen legal language knowledge, thus greatly improving legal translation skills. Description: Ph.D.(Melit.) 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z