German Translation Research Articles

Translation of English Verbs Belonging to the Lexico-Semantic Group of Human Behavior into Russian and German (Based on W. Thackeray’s Novel “Vanity Fair”)

This article examines the use of English verbs related to human behavior in W. Thackeray’s novel “Vanity Fair” and their translations into German and Russian. Based on the analysis of lexicographic sources, the structure of the lexico-semantic group of behavioral verbs in English, German, and Russian was analyzed. Common transformations employed to translate such verbs from English into German and Russian were identified. The most representative examples were picked from the novel. Particular attention was given to the relationship between the translation methods and each target language, as well as between the source language and the target languages. The Russian and German translations of the novel were compared for accuracy in conveying all details. Using componential analysis, a semantic classification of the selected verbs, depending on the type of behavior they describe, was compiled for the three languages. The results obtained led to the following conclusions. The behavioral verbs in W. Thackeray’s novel “Vanity Fair” are most often translated into Russian and German with literal equivalents of the original lexemes. However, lexical and grammatical substitutions were also revealed: their usage depends on grammatical structure, lexical compatibility, and linguistic standards. The German translation proved to be more plausible than the Russian one. This could be because English and German are both Germanic languages and belong to the same branch of the Indo-European language family. In the Russian translation, multiple transformations of the original text are used more often. They are meant to convey the author’s ideas rather than the exact lexicographic meanings of separate words. The findings of this study contribute to the development of the theory and practice of translation and provide a deeper insight into W. Thackeray’s worldview.

Stanovsko gledališče v Ljubljani v sezoni 1838/39

This paper analyses the 1838/39 season of the German Theatre of the Carniolan Provincial Estates (Ständisches Theater) in Ljubljana, focusing on its artistic output. The introductory section describes the archival material on the basis of which the theatre’s repertoire was reconstructed and then discusses the role of the theatre’s impresario, Ferdinand Funk, and the most important plays which were performed there. In addition to the works of the Austrian playwrights Ferdinand Raimund, Johann Nestroy, Carl Meisl, and Friederich Halm, those of Eugène Scribe and Shakespeare in German translation featured prominently; women playwrights were also noticeably represented in the theatre’s repertoire. Before the 1848 revolutions the Slovene intelligentsia also patronised the Theatre of the Carniolan Provincial Estates, which was the only theatre in Ljubljana at the time, and refined their taste for dramatic art there.

Validation and Psychometric Properties of the German Version of the Adolescent Motor Competence Questionnaire

Introduction/Background: In 2016, the Adolescent Motor Competence Questionnaire (AMCQ) was developed in Australia. The AMCQ was developed to assess perceived motor competence in adolescents between the ages of 12 and 18 years. The 26 items represent four factors: participation in physical activity and sports, activities of daily living, public performance, and peer comparison. Aims/Objectives: Currently, no validated German-language self-report screening instrument exists for assessing perceived motor competence among adolescents. This study aimed to validate the German version of the AMCQ (AMCQ-GER). Methods/Approach: The German translation’s factor structure and psychometric properties were analyzed based on a community sample of 635 healthy children and adolescents between 10 and 18 years of age (12.9 ± 2.31 years, 321 boys and 312 girls) and 100 healthy young adults between 19 and 30 years of age (23.0 ± 2.92 years, 49 men and 51 women). The previously validated cutoff score of ≤83 out of 104 was used to group the sample into high and low motor competence. Results: The mean AMCQ-GER score was 84.9 (SD = 8.59), and 38.8% of the participants identified with low motor competence. The principle component analysis revealed clear evidence for a three-factorial structure comprising physical activity and sports, general clumsiness, and activities of daily living (with an explained variance of 29.2%). Reliability for all scales was excellent, with a McDonald’s ϖ of at least .70. The overall conclusion of the Rasch analysis supported the confirmatory factor analysis, although with an overall smaller number of items (18 instead of 26). The AMCQ-GER was positively correlated with age (.26**) and participation in organized club sports (.19**). It was negatively correlated with body mass index (−.23**) and school grade in physical activity (−.40**). Conclusions/Relevance: Our rigorous validation protocol has generated a remarkable reproduction of the AMCQ in German. These results suggest that the language and structure of the questionnaire is appropriate for German-speaking countries.

Examining the Measurement Invariance and Validity of the SSIS SEL Brief + Mental Health Scales – Student Version in Austria and Germany

The SSIS SEL Brief + Mental Health Scales (SSIS SELb+MHS) are multi-informant assessments developed in the United States to assess the social and emotional learning (SEL) competencies and emotional behavior concerns (EBCs) of school-age youth. Although there are translations of the SEL items of the SSIS SELb+MHS available in other languages, a German translation has never been completed and validated, despite the growing need for SEL and mental health assessment in German-speaking countries. To address this need, this study’s primary purpose was the examination of a German translation of the assessment with a specific focus on measurement invariance and concurrent validity invariance testing with 821 3rd through 6th-grade students in Austria and Germany. Results indicated that the SELb+MHS items clustered into 2 SEL factors and 2 EBC factors. With regard to measurement invariance, the SELb+MHS functioned similarly across both Austria and Germany and full scalar invariance was achieved. Additionally, the overall pattern of concurrent validity relationships was as expected and similar across countries. Implications and future directions are discussed.

Translating the Self in Medieval European Romance: Narration and Emotion in Partonopeu de Blois, Partonopier und Meliur and Partonope of Blois

Abstract This article approaches the question of selfhood by reading the opening passage of the Old French romance Partonopeu de Blois alongside its translations in different Northern European languages: the thirteenth-century Middle High German Partonopier und Meliur by Konrad von Würzburg and the fifteenth-century Middle English Partonope of Blois. Both translations bring interiority and subjectivity to the passage by adding direct speech and access to the character’s thoughts and motivations. In allowing the protagonist to respond to and rationalise his own emotions, the translators add a layer of self-awareness to their characterisation, thus producing a narrated self that was lacking in the original. This article demonstrates the great potential of comparative analysis in the study of medieval emotion and self. The different linguistic versions of the same passage here illuminate one another, highlighting different narrative techniques in the construction of literary selfhood. While the objective, exterior style of narration in the Old French passage constructs a helpless character, lacking in self-possession, the later German and English translations display a different narrative strategy that reveals their character’s decision-making process, and thus make him into a self-reflecting agent.

헝가리의 주교 버이 페테르의 저서에 나타난 한국에 대한 서술 분석

This paper analyses the perception and image of Korea by Hungarian count and Catholic bishop Vay Péter, based on his books ‘Emperors and Emperoresses of the East(Kelet császárai és császárságai, Ázsiai útja Szibérián át Kínába, Koreába és Japánba, Budapest, 1906) and ‘In the Heart of the Orient’(A keleti féltekén, Budapest, Franklin-Társulat, 1918). All of these books reveal the erudition and wisdom of their authors, who were among the leading European nobles, clergy, and intellectuals of their time. Emperors and Empires of the East was so popular that German and French translations appeared within a year or two of its Hungarian first edition in 1906. Few writers of the time were as knowledgeable and experienced in traveling and writing about Korea and Japan, and he strived to write about them fairly and objectively, without prejudice or preconceptions. In this book, Vay appears to have had a positive vision for the future of Korea and its people. The book was so authoritative that it attracted the attention of the European upper class and intellectuals, and it can be assumed that it helped to shape their views of the Orient and Korea. When Emperors and Empires of the East was published in 1906, the publication of the book was announced in Hungarian newspapers and book reviews, and many favourable book reviews were published. His other book, In the Eastern Hemisphere, published in 1918, deals specifically with the Catholic situation in Korea at the time, and it is significant in the history of Korean Catholicism that the Benedictines’ decision to enter the Korean mission stemmed from Bishop Vay’s lecture on Korea at the Berlin Missionary Conference in 1905.

An evaluation of the German version of the Sensory Perception Quotient from an expert by experience perspective.

Sensory processing is often altered in individuals with autism; thus, it is essential to develop reliable measurement tools to assess sensory perception. The Sensory Perception Quotient (SPQ) quantifies basic sensory sensitivities in adults via self-report. Adopting an expert by experience perspective, this study aimed to evaluate a German translation of the SPQ for its use in clinical and research applications, especially for autistic adults. 108 adults (n = 54 autistic) completed the German SPQ in an online assessment. A 92-item and a 35-item version of the German SPQ were analyzed for group differences and internal consistency. Our results show that adults with autism reported greater sensory sensitivity compared to non-autistic adults. Results further suggest good to excellent internal consistency for the 95-item and 35-item SPQ translations. This finding was supported by the correlative relationship between sensory sensitivity and autistic traits. These findings confirm the reliability of our SPQ translation, making it a suitable German assessment tool for basic sensory sensitivity in autistic adults.

Clinical effectiveness of patient-targeted feedback following depression screening in general practice (GET.FEEDBACK.GP): an investigator-initiated, prospective, multicentre, three-arm, observer-blinded, randomised controlled trial in Germany

Screening for depression in primary care alone is not sufficient to improve clinical outcomes. However, targeted feedback of the screening results to patients might result in beneficial effects. The GET.FEEDBACK.GP trial investigated whether targeted feedback of the depression screening result to patients, in addition to feedback to general practitioners (GPs), leads to greater reductions in depression severity than GP feedback alone or no feedback. The GET.FEEDBACK.GP trial was an investigator-initiated, multicentre, three-arm, observer-blinded, randomised controlled trial. Depression screening was conducted electronically using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) in 64 GP practices across five regions in Germany while patients were waiting to see their GP. Currently undiagnosed patients (aged ≥18 years) who screened positive for depression (PHQ-9 score ≥10), were proficient in the German language, and had a personal consultation with a GP were randomly assigned (1:1:1) into a group that received no feedback on their depression screening result, a group in which only the GP received feedback, or a group in which both GP and patient received feedback. Randomisation was stratified by treating GP and PHQ-9 depression severity. Trial staff were masked to patient enrolment and study group allocation and GPs were masked to the feedback recieved by the patient. Written feedback, including the screening result and information on depression, was provided to the relevant groups before the consultation. The primary outcome was PHQ-9-measured depression severity at 6 months after randomisation. An intention-to-treat analysis was conducted for patients who had at least one follow-up visit. This study is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03988985) and is complete. Between July 17, 2019, and Jan 31, 2022, 25 279 patients were approached for eligibility screening, 17 150 were excluded, and 8129 patients completed screening, of whom 1030 (12·7%) screened positive for depression. 344 patients were randomly assigned to receive no feedback, 344 were assigned to receive GP-targeted feedback, and 339 were assigned to receive GP-targeted plus patient-targeted feedback. 252 (73%) patients in the no feedback group, 252 (73%) in the GP-targeted feedback group, and 256 (76%) in the GP-targeted and patient-targeted feedback group were included in the analysis of the primary outcome at 6 months, which reflected a follow-up rate of 74%. Gender was reported as female by 637 (62·1%) of 1025 participants, male by 384 (37·5%), and diverse by four (0·4%). 169 (16%) of 1026 patients with available migration data had a migration background. Mean age was 39·5 years (SD 15·2). PHQ-9 scores improved for each group between baseline and 6 months by -4·15 (95% CI -4·99 to -3·30) in the no feedback group, -4·19 (-5·04 to -3·33) in the GP feedback group, and -4·91 (-5·76 to -4·07) in the GP plus patient feedback group, with no significant difference between the three groups (global p=0·13). The difference in PHQ-9 scores when comparing the GP plus patient feedback group with the no feedback group was -0·77 (-1·60 to 0·07, d=-0·16) and when comparing with the GP-only feedback group was -0·73 (-1·56 to 0·11, d=-0·15). No increase in suicidality was observed as an adverse event in either group. Providing targeted feedback to patients and GPs after depression screening does not significantly reduce depression severity compared with GP feedback alone or no feedback. Further research is required to investigate the potential specific effectiveness of depression screening with systematic feedback for selected subgroups. German Innovation Fund. For the German translation of the abstract see Supplementary Materials section.

English complex premodifiers and their German and Swedish correspondences

Abstract This study concerns English hyphenated premodifiers (science-based targets; lower-back pain) contrasted with their German and Swedish correspondences. The data stem from the Linnaeus University English-German-Swedish corpus (LEGS), which contains non-fiction texts, but comparisons are also made to fiction texts from the English-Swedish Parallel Corpus (ESPC). The study shows that these condensed and complex premodifiers are more frequent in English originals than in English translations, and more typical of the non-fiction genre than that of fiction. Information density and terminological precision thus seem to be more important factors for the use of hyphenated premodifiers than creativity and expressiveness. In original English, two-thirds of the right-hand elements are either nouns or ed-participles. In translated English, numerals as left-hand elements (three-page document) are less frequent than in original English. Regarding German and Swedish correspondences, around half are premodifiers. Postmodifiers in the form of prepositional phrases and relative clauses are more frequent in Swedish than in German, which instead “overuses” premodifying extended attributes. Compound adjectives/participles and compound nouns are the most frequent correspondences in both German and Swedish. In almost half the instances, German and Swedish translators choose the same correspondents, indicating a high degree of similarity in the structural preferences in the two target languages.

German translation of the Four-Item Mentalising Index (FIMI-G)

Mentalising can be defined as the social-cognitive ability to understand and infer the mental non-emotional states of oneself and others. Recently, the Four-Item Mentalising Index (FIMI), a self-report scale, was developed to efficiently measure mentalising ability in English-speaking samples. This study presents a German translation of the FIMI—namely, the Four-Item Mentalising Index-German (FIMI-G). To assess the usefulness of the translation, initial evidence for the psychometric properties of the FIMI-G was gathered in a German-speaking sample from Austria, Germany, and Switzerland (N = 283). As expected, the corrected item-total correlations, the confirmatory factor analysis, and the inner consistency estimation indicated a homogenous, unidimensional measure which corresponds to the English original. In addition, the FIMI-G scores were related to the validation criteria as expected. Socially desirable responding did not undermine the validity. It is concluded that the German FIMI translation is a useful measure.

Translation, Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Validation of the Lymphedema Quality of Life Questionnaire (LYMQOL) in German-Speaking Patients with Lymphedema of the Lower Limbs

The LYMQOL Leg questionnaire is the most widely used, evidence-based tool for the assessment of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with lower limb lymphedema (LLL). It has been translated into several languages, but a German version is currently lacking. The aim of our study was to validate a German translation of LYMQOL Leg. Translation and cross-cultural adaptation were performed in accordance with ISPOR principles. A total of 103 patients with LLL from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland were interviewed twice. The content and face validity assessments indicated that the German LYMQOL Leg questionnaire was acceptable for interviewing patients with lymphedema. Comparing the LYMQOL Leg with the SF-36 demonstrated good construct validity. Reliability determined by the test–retest procedure was good (intra-class-correlation coefficients 0.68–0.92). Cronbach’s alpha values ranged from 0.76 to 0.90 in both interviews, showing an acceptable internal consistency. The four domains of the questionnaire reached a cumulative variance of 52.7% in the factor analysis. The association between the lymphedema stages and the LYMQOL Leg domain scores was not significant. In conclusion, the validity of the German version of LYMQOL Leg, called LYMQOL Bein, was confirmed and thus represents a suitable tool for measuring HRQoL in German-speaking patients with LLL.

Validation of a German version of the Boredom Proneness Scale and the Multidimensional State Boredom Scale

The scientific interest in boredom is growing over the past decades. Boredom has not only been linked to symptoms of psychopathology, but also shows a remarkable effect on individual behavior under healthy conditions. Current characterizations of boredom in humans mostly rely on self-report assessments which proved to faithfully reflect boredom in a vast range of experimental environments. Two of the most commonly used and prominent self-report scales in order to assess boredom are the Multidimensional State Boredom Scale (MSBS) and the Boredom Proneness Scale (BPS). Here, we present the German translations of both questionnaires and their validation. We obtained and analyzed psychometric data from more than 800 healthy individuals. We find that the German MSBS and BPS show vast congruence with their originals in respect to item statistics, internal reliability and validity. In particular, we find remarkable associations of state boredom and trait boredom with indicators of mental burden. Testing the factor structure of both questionnaires, we find supporting evidence for a 5-factor model of the MSBS, whereas the BPS in line with its original shows an irregular, inconsistent factor structure. Thus, we validate the German versions of MSBS and BPS and set a starting point for further studies of boredom in German-speaking collectives.

German translation and validation of the complementary and alternative medicine health belief questionnaire (CHBQ)

BackgroundThe Complementary and Alternative Health Belief Questionnaire (CHBQ) measures medical students’ attitudes towards Complementary Medicine (CM). The aim of the study was to examine the validity and reliability of the German translation of the CHBQ.MethodsData for the psychometric evaluation of the German translation were drawn from a study that investigated attitudes towards CM in (a sample of) medical students at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin. Construct validity was determined via an exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Internal consistency was examined using Cronbach’s alpha and split-half reliability.ResultsThe CHBQ was returned by 278 students, and was fully completed by 260 students (mean age 23.7 years; ± 4.3 SD), 69.2% were female). EFA revealed a single factor solution for all 10 items of the scale. All items, except one, had good item discrimination (range: 0.5–0.8), acceptable mean inter-item-correlation (0.39) and similar median correlation (0.38). Reliability was very good (α = 0.86) and further confirmed by split-half reliability (0.91).ConclusionsThe German version of the CHBQ is a valid and reliable instrument for measuring students’ attitudes towards CM.

‘Germanen sprechen französisch, Romanen fühlen flandrisch’? German translations of Marie Gevers under National-Socialism

ABSTRACT This article will study the issue of the German translations of Belgian/Flemish author Marie Gevers, which were published under National-Socialism. These translations were part of a long-term program meant to promote positive images of Flanders in German-speaking countries. Paradoxically the Nazis tolerated the presence of a French-language writer, while they were encouraging the social emancipation of the Flemish Movement to liberate itself from the socio-cultural dominance of French in Belgium. Close-readings of Gevers’s texts will shed light on this specific contradiction and the way the regional literature embodied by her novels may have suited the propagandistic model of the ‘völkisch’ literature promoted by the Nazis. Another aspect of my interpretations concerns the images of Flanders in Gevers’s German translations and how they favor a kind of aporia through some topoi and hetero-representations of Belgium, which had been common in Germany and in Europe since the nineteenth century.

‘Sharp like cut iron’: Albrecht von Stosch and the beginning of naval wargaming in the German navy

The Seekriegsspiel, a naval version of the Prussian Kriegsspiel, was officially introduced to the German navy in 1876 by the then chief of the German admiralty, Albrecht von Stosch. Intended as an instrument to professionalize the navy’s officers’ corps, it was used not only as an educational but also an analytical instrument; right up to the outbreak of First World War Kriegsspiele were used to evaluate war plans. The 1876 Seekriegsspiel included both a strategic and a tactical element, with the former being considered at the time to be of more value than the latter. In 1879, Philip Colomb RN published a tactical naval wargame that soon found an interested audience among German officers, and by 1880 a German translation produced by a somewhat colourful Austro-Hungarian officer was in wide circulation. The paper provides a brief overview over the developmental history of the Seekriegsspiel and discusses its differences to the Kriegsspiel used by the army.

Multimodal Machine Translation

In recent years, neural network machine translation, especially in the field of multimodality, has developed rapidly. It has been widely used in natural languages processing tasks such as event detection and sentiment classification. The existing multimodal neural network machine translation is mostly based on the autoencoder framework of the attention mechanism, which further integrates spatial-visual features. However, due to the ubiquitous lack of corpus and the semantic interaction between multimodalities, the quality of machine translation is difficult to guarantee. Therefore, this paper proposes a multi-modal machine translation model that integrates external linguistic knowledge. Specifically, on the encoder side, we adopt the pre-trained Bert model to be used as an additional encoder to integrate with the original text encoder and picture encoder. Under the cooperation of the three encoders, a better text representation and picture representation at the source end is generated. Besides, the decoder decodes and generates a translation based on the image and text representation of the source. To sum up, this paper studies the visual-text semantic interaction on the encoder side and the visual-text semantic interaction on the decoder side, and further improves the quality of translation by introducing external linguistic knowledge. We compared the performance of the multimodal neural network machine translation model with pre-trained Bert and other baseline models in English German translation tasks on the multi30k data sets. The results show that the model can significantly improve the quality of multimodal neural network machine translation, which also verifies the importance of integrating external knowledge and visual text semantic interaction.

German Translation of the Revised Physical Self-Perception Profile Competence (PSPP-R Competence)

Abstract: This paper examines the validity of the competence scale of the Revised Physical Self-Perception Profile (PSPP-R Competence) in a large German sample of 1,007 predominantly female participants by assessing construct validity, discriminant and criterion validity, and reliability. The PSPP-R Competence measures four factors: Body Attractiveness, Physical Strength, Sports Competence, and Physical Condition. Confirmatory factor analyses confirmed the hypothesized correlated four-factor structure and offered support for a hierarchical factor structure. Discriminant and criterion validity analyses offered insight into the nomological net and were in line with theoretical considerations. Reliability of all subscales was estimated using Cronbach’s α and found to be good to excellent ranging from .84 to .92. Overall, this study provides support for a good adaptation of the PSPP-R in the German language and enriches previous validation studies focused mainly on factorial validity by adding discriminant and concurrent validity estimates.

Online Repertory of German Translations of Classical Antiquity 1501–1620

Online Repertory of German Translations of Classical Antiquity 1501–1620

Intercultural Translation and Application of the German Version of King’s Parkinson’s Disease Pain Questionnaire in Fluctuating Parkinson’s Disease

Background. Pain is common in Parkinson’s disease (PD) and impairs quality of life. The King’s PD pain questionnaire (KPPQ) is a standardized, reliable, and valid self‐administered questionnaire for screening of pain in PD. We developed a linguistically validated German version of the KPPQ and applied it to a cohort with fluctuating PD. Methods. The interculturally adapted German translation was performed according to internationally accepted procedures in coordination with the authors of the original publication but without further psychometric validation. After final approval by all translators and original authors, the German version was then tested for feasibility and comprehension in 30 PD patients. After final adaption, the German KPPQ together with the German quantitative KPPS were applied to an independent cohort of fluctuating PD patients within the VALIDATE‐PD study. Results. The use of the German version of the KPPQ in clinical practice or in the VALIDATE‐PD study revealed no significant problems of understanding. Sufficient datasets were available from 47 patients with motor fluctuations (24 (51%) males, 23 (49%) females; median (interquartile range (IQR)) age: 65 (58‐73) years; median (IQR) Hoehn and Yahr stage: 2.5 [2‐3]). Total pain was reported by 43 (92%) of participants with a median number of 4 (IQR: 2‐5) pain subtypes. We did not observe any associations of total pain frequency, neither with gender nor with other demographic or clinical parameters. Conclusions. The German version of the KPPQ is recommended as a questionnaire for assessing the frequency of pain and its subtypes in PD in clinical studies and/or routine care.

For Poetry's Sake: Resistance to Translation in the German Versions of Oscar Wilde's THE BALLAD OF READING GAOL

While Oscar Wilde’s The Ballad of Reading Gaol is frequently examined within the genre of prison writing, translations of the poem push one to consider the relevance of its aestheticism within the genre of poetry. This article comparatively examines three German-language versions of the poem by Emma Clausen, Wilhelm Schölermann, and Albrecht Schaeffer to show how the practice of poetry translation resists the source object, translating for poetry’s sake. Key refrains reveal individual translators embracing their own artistic aims to create more poetry, even as the source poem simultaneously resists translation in its own way. Consideration of the genre of poetry, or what Walter Pater describes as its formal “width, variety, [and] delicacy,” ultimately encourages one to follow an aesthetic model of translation, rather than an interpretive model such as that of Lawrence Venuti. This article also draws out the value of thinking about German translations of Wilde’s prison poem, which are consistently underexamined yet prolific in number, for situating the aestheticism of one of the most widely translated literary authors in modern times.