Comparative Stylistics of French and English Benjamins Translation Library (BTL) The BTL aims to stimulate research and training in translation and interpreting studies. The Library provides a forum for a variety of approaches (which may sometimes be conflicting) in a socio-cultural, historical, theoretical, applied and pedagogical context. The Library includes scholarly works, reference books, post- graduate text books and readers in the English language. EST Subseries The European Society for Translation Studies (EST) Subseries is a publication channel within the Library to optimize EST’s function as a forum for the translation and interpreting research community. It promotes new trends in research, gives more visibility to young scholars’ work, publicizes new research methods, makes available documents from EST, and reissues classical works in translation studies which do not exist in English or which are now out of print. General Editor Associate Editor Honorary Editor Yves Gambier Miriam Shlesinger Gideon Toury University of Turku Bar-Ilan University Israel Tel Aviv University Advisory Board Rosemary Arrojo Zuzana Jettmarová Rosa Rabadán Binghamton University Charles University of Prague University of León Michael Cronin Werner Koller Sherry Simon Dublin City University Bergen University Concordia University Daniel Gile Alet Kruger Mary Snell-Hornby Université Paris 3 - Sorbonne UNISA, South Africa University of Vienna Nouvelle José Lambert Sonja Tirkkonen-Condit Ulrich Heid Catholic University of Leuven University of Joensuu University of Stuttgart John Milton Maria Tymoczko Amparo Hurtado Albir University of São Paulo University of Massachusetts Universitat Autónoma de Amherst Franz Pöchhacker Barcelona University of Vienna Lawrence Venuti W. John Hutchins Temple University Anthony Pym University of East Anglia Universitat Rovira i Virgili Volume 11 Comparative Stylistics of French and English. A methodology for translation by Jean-Paul Vinay and Jean Darbelnet Comparative Stylistics of French and English A methodology for translation Jean-Paul Vinay Jean Darbelnet Translated and edited by Juan C. Sager M.-J. Hamel John Benjamins Publishing Company Amsterdam / Philadelphia TM The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of 8 American National Standard for Information Sciences – Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ansi z39.48-1984. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Vinay, J.-P. (Jean-Paul). [Stylistique comparée du français et de l'anglais. English] comparative stylistics of French and English : a methodology for translation / Jean- Paul Vinay, Jean Darbelnet ; translated and edited by Juan C. Sager, M.-J. Hamel p. cm. -- (Benjamins Translation Library, issn 0929-7316 ; v. 11) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. French language--Grammar, Comparative--English. 2. English language-- Grammar, Comparative--French. I. Darbelnet, Jean, 1904-. II. Title. III. Series. PC2099.V513 1995 445--dc20 95-38277 isbn 90 272 1610 X (Eur.) / 1-55619-691-1 (US) (Hb; alk. paper) isbn 90 272 1611 8 (Eur.) / 1-55619-692-X (US) (Pb; alk. paper) © 1995 – John Benjamins B.V. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, or any other means, without written permission from the publisher. John Benjamins Publishing Co. · P.O. Box 36224 · 1020 me Amsterdam · The Netherlands John Benjamins North America · P.O. Box 27519 · Philadelphia pa 19118-0519 · usa Envoi Seul survivant de notre fraternelle équipe, c’est à moi que revient l’honneur de souhaiter bon vent et heureux atterrage à cette tra- duction, fruit du travail d’orfèvre de mon collègue, J. C. Sager. Grâce à lui et à ses disciples, puisse la stylistique du français et de l’anglais connaître un nouveau printemps dans ce siècle qui vient, où l’échange des idées reposera pour une grande part sur le travail des traducteurs. Jean-Paul Vinay Victoria, C.B., 30 septembre 1995 en la fête de Saint-Jérôme Editors’ Note The translation into English of a French text book some 40 years after its first publication is a rare event in the field of linguistics; a precedent that springs to mind, toutes choses égales d’ailleurs, is the translation of Saussure’s Cours de Linguistique, which was published 44 years after its first French edition, and as a result remained terra incognita for students in the English-speaking world. The regular reprints of the Stylistique comparée du français et de l’anglais in 1966, 1972, 1973, 1977 (2nd ed.) 1984, and 1987 (3rd ed.) both in France and Canada prove its continued and unique position as a link between the disciplines of comparative stylistics, grammar and translation. At a time when textbooks have an increasingly shorter lifespan, the lasting use of the ‘Vinay & Darbelnet’, a household word to many teachers of French-English translation, requires an explanation which will also serve to justify the present translation and new edition. With the publication of Stylistique Comparée du français et de l’anglais in 1958 — simultaneously by Didier in Paris and Beauchemin in Montreal — the authors broke new ground in comparative studies and at the same time ren- dered an invaluable service to translation studies and teaching. By providing the daily practice of translation teaching with a theoretical framework which combines grammar with pragmatics and stylistics, they laid the foundation for the emancipation of translator training courses and their recognition as full university degrees with a substantial formal academic content. Besides being a mine of French-English correspondences, equivalences and translation examples, which have been extended and revised in this edi- tion, the book pursues several interesting strands of development which this new edition highlights by a re-structured content and a few additions. The enlarged first chapter now has two major sections, the first laying the theoretical foundation for the comparative stylistic discussions of the subsequent chapters, the second, presenting the methods of translation which provide the points of view of analysis for the other chapters which in turn fully examine and exemplify these seven approaches. viii Editors’ NotE Chapters 2-4 progress from contrastive discussions of the individual items of the lexicon to syntactic structures and the full message. Simultaneously these chapters demonstrate the application of different methods of translation in growing complexity from literal translation to adaptation. While, as the title suggests, the book is essentially concerned with con- trasting the stylistic features of English and French, its continued popularity is in large measure due to its clear presentation and generous exemplification of a succession of methods of translation. Over the years, the ‘Vinay & Darbelnet’ has come to be seen by many people — the authors stress this in various refer- ences in the text — as a METHODOLOGY OF TRANSLATION, a dimension which is now reflected in the subtitle and the consistently contrastive presenta- tion of the examples. There is yet another aspect which makes a translation and new edition interesting. At a time when linguistic fashion changes every decade, it is fas- cinating to observe that, despite some changes in terminology, the authors’ classification and systematic presentation of translation methods has withstood the test of time. Because of their continued topicality, the original concepts and terminology have been fully preserved and only in a few cases, where it appeared useful, have comments been provided in the glossary. When this book was written comparative stylistics was a new subject and courses which concentrated on teaching translation skills were relatively rare and new. The available literature in the field of applied translation studies and stylistics was far from abundant as can be seen in the references the authors were able to cite in support of their ideas and arguments. Since this time the literature on practical aspects of translation has grown apace, especially in the last decade, and the literature concerned with particular aspects of language usage has changed many of the older percep- tions of language behaviour. In order to account for this evolution the editors have decided to attach to each chapter a list of books in English and French for further reading. Full details of these books are given in the bibliography where the reader will find the whole range of texts which can be said to constitute the background to, and the continued concern with, the approach to translation presented by the authors, thus giving a rich panorama of the literature on applied stylistics and French-English translation studies written during this century. The task of re-editing this book could not have been undertaken with- out the active participation of Emeritus Professor Jean-Paul Vinay, whose Editors’ NotE ix constant encouragement and close reading of the manuscript proved invalu- able and will ensure the continued attraction of this book. His assurances and our own reading of the late Jean Darbelnet’s writings have convinced us that the original co-author would also have welcomed this new edition. J.C. Sager & M.-J. Hamel Manchester, January 1995