Persian Translation Research Articles

Investigation on Iranian Translators’ Awareness of Semantic Prosody

In recent years, with the advent of technology and increasing international communication, translation became more important than before especially translation of politics, great novels, books, and news .so researchers have to determine challenging issues in translating and communication process in order to have higher quality in translation and communication. One of these challenges is semantic prosody that first introduced by Sinclair (1987) as a special tendency of words to occur in special semantic prosody. This research is based on both qualitative with search analysis design and quantitative by drafting a questioner with 56 participants from the Islamic Azad University of Isfahan (khorasgan) branch. As a result, the charts show that despite the importance of knowing semantic prosody there is still a lack of knowledge in semantic prosody among Persian translators. There should be a special dictionary for demonstrating semantic prosody of words and in the translation training, there should be more attention on translation challenges.

Rhinosinusitis Quality-of-Life Assessment: A Persian Adaptation and Validation.

Rhinosinusitis involves inflammation within the paranasal sinuses and the nasal mucosa. It is a very common chronic health condition. This paper performs a validation process on the Persian translation of the rhinosinusitis quality-of-life questionnaire (RhinoQOL), for use in clinical assessment of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) patients. The Lund-Mackay score is also used widely in assessing CRS, and this study aims to describe its relationship to RhinoQOL. The Persian RhinoQOL adaptation was carried out on 110 CRS patients. A follow-up questionnaire was completed two weeks later. Psychometric properties were determined by statistical analysis (reliability, reproducibility, validity, responsiveness). A total of 45 patients were included for radiologic score calculation. The Spearman's test was used for assessing the correlation between the RhinoQOL scores and Lund-Mackay score. Internal reliability was excellent for the impact scale (Cronbach's alpha=0.92). Cronbach's alpha was 0.63 and 0.55 for frequency and irritation scales, which reflects lower internal consistency values. Temporal stability or Test-retest reliability was excellent across all three scales. ICC was 0.96, 0.97, and 0.99 for RhinoQOL frequency, irritation, and impact scales. No significant correlation was observed between the Lund-Mackay score and RhinoQOL scores in terms of frequency, irritation and impact scales. The Persian version of RhinoQOL appears to be as reliable, valid, and sensitive to change as the English version.

The Representation of Gender Identity in the Persian Translations of “Pride and Prejudice”

This paper investigated how the gender identity of the female protagonist in the English novel Pride and Prejudice (Austen, 1813) and its two Persian translations was represented under the influence of the dominant ideology in Iran`s pre-and post- Islamic Revolution eras. In so doing, Baker`s analytical model (2006) was applied by which the ST and the TTs were analyzed at micro-and macro-levels. In this regard, the configurations of features of narrativity in all versions (i.e., both ST and TTs), and the influence of Iran`s ruling systems on these configurations were investigated. As a result, it was revealed that the representation of the protagonist`s gender identity was SL oriented in the pre-Islamic Revolution translation, and it was TL oriented in the post-Islamic Revolution translation. These findings affirmed Baker`s claim that a translation as a different version of a foreign narrative disseminates the favorite social reality in the TL society.

Translation, Validity, and Reliability of Singing Voice Handicap Index in Persian Traditional Singers: A New Revised Version

Background: The singing voice handicap index (SVHI) was developed to assess voice-related handicaps in singers. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the validity and reliability of a Persian translation of the SVHI (P-SVHI) for traditional Persian singers. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed to translate and validate the P-SVHI using a "forward-backward" procedure. The questionnaire was administered to 275 traditional Persian singers (168 with a normal voice and 107 with dysphonia) ranging from 16 to 83 years. Content, construct, discriminant, convergent, and face validity, test-retest reliability, internal consistency, and floor and ceiling effects were assessed. Results: The 36-item SVHI, translated from the original English by two translators, was completed by 21 traditional Persian singers. After the face validity was approved, construct validity assessment using factor analysis identified four factors in the P-SVHI with the exclusion of seven items. The mean score of the 29-item P-SVHI on a 0 - 100 scale was 16.9 for healthy subjects and 40.9 for dysphonic subjects. Discriminant validity confirmed that P-SVHI scores were significantly different between normal and dysphonic singers, using an independent sample t-test (P < 0.001). Convergent validity was proven by strong correlations between P-SVHI scores and the Iowa Patient’s Voice Index (IPVI1, IPVI2, and "IPVI effort" scores of r = 0.58, 0.69, and 0.42, respectively, P < 0.001). Internal consistency and test-retest reliability were also excellent (Cronbach α = 0.95, average inter-item correlation = 0.40, and intra-class correlation coefficients using two-way random model with absolute agreement, ICCtwo-way random, absolute agreement = 0.69 - 0.95). No floor or ceiling effects were observed. Conclusions: The revised 29-item P-SVHI is a valid and reliable tool in differentiating normal and dysphonic Persian traditional singers.

Psychometric Validation of the Persian Self-Compassion Scale Youth Version.

ObjectivesEmpirical research investigating self-compassion is a rapidly developing field, and it is potentially crucial in early adolescence. The primary aim of the present study was to psychometrically evaluate the Persian translation of the Self-Compassion Scale Youth version (SCS-Y) and evaluate its factor structure among young adolescents. The second aim was to explore the buffering effect of self-compassion against the negative effect of difficulties in emotion regulation on COVID-19-related anxiety.MethodsA sample of young students (n = 532; mean age 13.57 years) completed an online survey, which included the SCS-Y, Patient Health Questionnaire, Difficulties In Emotion Regulation Scale, Coronavirus Anxiety Scale, Youth Life Orientation Test, Brief Resilience Scale, and Brief 10-Item Big Five Inventory. First-order (six-factor) confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and bi-factor exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) analysis were used to evaluate the factor structure of the SCS-Y.ResultsResults showed that the SCS-Y had very good internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha coefficient: 0.88; McDonald’s omega coefficient: 0.90), composite reliability (0.87), and adequate test–retest reliability after 4 weeks (0.60). The first-order (six-factor) CFA and bi-factor ESEM analysis demonstrated the SCS-Y had excellent dimensionality. Further analysis found negative associations between self-compassion with both depression and neuroticism, and positive associations between self-compassion with both resilience and optimism. Moreover, self-compassion moderated the association between emotion dysregulation and anxiety generated by the COVID-19. Overall, the findings indicated that the SCS-Y had acceptable criterion-related validity, convergent validity, and discriminant validity.ConclusionsThe findings provide evidence that the SCS-Y is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing the six factors of self-compassion among younger adolescents. Based on the study’s findings, self-compassion appears to be a protective factor against mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic for younger adolescents.

Validation of myasthenia gravis activity of daily living questionnaire: Persian version.

Background: The 8-item myasthenia gravis activity of daily living (MG-ADL) questionnaire is a valid and reliable instrument for evaluating myasthenia gravis (MG)-associated disability. This study aims to assess its validity and reliability in the Iranian population. Methods: A total number of 58 patients with MG were qualified for the examination. All 58 patients completed the Persian translation of 15-item Myasthenia Gravis Quality of Life (MG-QOL15) and MG-ADL questionnaires initially, and 30 filled out the MG-ADL questionnaire 2 to 4 weeks after the initial visit. Pearson correlation coefficient of questionnaires, internal consistency using Cronbach's alpha (α), and test-retest repeatability of the questionnaire were evaluated. Results: The Pearson correlation coefficient of Persian versions of MG-QOL and MG-ADL was 0.93 (P < 0.01). The Persian MG-ADL showed satisfactory internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.89) and test-retest reliability (r = 0.99, P < 0.01). Conclusion: The Persian MG-ADL is a valid and reliable questionnaire for the determination of activities of daily life in Iranian patients with MG.

Grand Challenges in global eye health: a global prioritisation process using Delphi method

SummaryBackgroundWe undertook a Grand Challenges in Global Eye Health prioritisation exercise to identify the key issues that must be addressed to improve eye health in the context of an ageing population, to eliminate persistent inequities in health-care access, and to mitigate widespread resource limitations.MethodsDrawing on methods used in previous Grand Challenges studies, we used a multi-step recruitment strategy to assemble a diverse panel of individuals from a range of disciplines relevant to global eye health from all regions globally to participate in a three-round, online, Delphi-like, prioritisation process to nominate and rank challenges in global eye health. Through this process, we developed both global and regional priority lists.FindingsBetween Sept 1 and Dec 12, 2019, 470 individuals complete round 1 of the process, of whom 336 completed all three rounds (round 2 between Feb 26 and March 18, 2020, and round 3 between April 2 and April 25, 2020) 156 (46%) of 336 were women, 180 (54%) were men. The proportion of participants who worked in each region ranged from 104 (31%) in sub-Saharan Africa to 21 (6%) in central Europe, eastern Europe, and in central Asia. Of 85 unique challenges identified after round 1, 16 challenges were prioritised at the global level; six focused on detection and treatment of conditions (cataract, refractive error, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, services for children and screening for early detection), two focused on addressing shortages in human resource capacity, five on other health service and policy factors (including strengthening policies, integration, health information systems, and budget allocation), and three on improving access to care and promoting equity.InterpretationThis list of Grand Challenges serves as a starting point for immediate action by funders to guide investment in research and innovation in eye health. It challenges researchers, clinicians, and policy makers to build collaborations to address specific challenges.FundingThe Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust, Moorfields Eye Charity, National Institute for Health Research Moorfields Biomedical Research Centre, Wellcome Trust, Sightsavers, The Fred Hollows Foundation, The Seva Foundation, British Council for the Prevention of Blindness, and Christian Blind Mission.TranslationsFor the French, Spanish, Chinese, Portuguese, Arabic and Persian translations of the abstract see Supplementary Materials section.

A Persian Translation of “Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire Revised (BISQ-R)” for Assessment of Sleep in Infants and Toddlers: A Pilot Study

A Persian Translation of “Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire Revised (BISQ-R)” for Assessment of Sleep in Infants and Toddlers: A Pilot Study

An Objective Criticism of the Persian Translation of Dickens’ Hard Times According to Broeck's Systemic Model of Trancism

An Objective Criticism of the Persian Translation of Dickens’ Hard Times According to Broeck's Systemic Model of Trancism

A Parallel Corpus-Based Study of Collocations from English to Persian: Criticism, and Resolution

Since, translation was known and identified as a science, by James. S. Holmes in 1994, under the title of “Translation Studies”, its cruciality was revealed and so, more was taken into account by the scholars of this field. Based on him, translation is not just the act of converting words by considering the token of equivalence, but the action that different factors such as, politics, religion, culture, and the like can affect and control it. In fact, from one context to another context, such these meta-textual factors can be different in comparison to each other, or even can be completely in contrast with each other, and consequently can be the causes of particular production as the original text and its translation that can be regarded as it has differences or it is completely different to its original. On the other hand, collocations, as the items that are frequently brought together, are more in the danger of mistranslation. In this regard, this research as comparative, critical, and qualitative corpus-based study was stablished, in order to explore the bad Persian translations performed on the English collocational items, based on the factors of biasness, ideology and power, lack of the skill of coinage, lack of the knowledge of translation strategies like, calque, superficial translation, transliteration, etc…, lack of the knowledge of source/target collocational item/lack of the knowledge of source/target linguistic norm, and lack of target linguistics knowledge, and to present resolutions. To do so, different English materials from different fields were gathered which can be categorized into general English language (GEL), medicine, law, economics and commerce, politics and news, literature, religion, sport, advertisement, engineering, and art, which were translated after the Islamic revolution of Iran. This study benefited from Pirhayati’s (2019) model of TQA and TC and frameworks, and also considered Wouden’s (2004) definition of collocation and Lewis’s (2000) categories of collocational items. Those who may benefit from this research are translation students, translators, and the scholars of TS and language.

Persian Huck: On the Reception of Huckleberry Finn in Iran

First translated into Persian in 1949, Mark Twain’s&nbsp;Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is among the most popular works of American fiction in Iran. Although the anti-US policy of the post-1979 political system has tried to erase the manifestations of the previous period’s American influence, Iranian interest in&nbsp;Huckleberry Finn has been increasing. There are more than twenty Persian translations of&nbsp;the novel, most of which belong to the post-1979 period. After a short survey of Twain’s early reception in Iran, the present paper focuses on two major translations of Huckleberry Finn as well as a stage adaptation of the novel. It also elaborates on the role that Huckleberry Finn no Boken (1976), the Japanese anime based on the novel broadcast on the Iranian state TV, has played in the Iranian reception of the novel, as indicated by the Iranian play’s capitalizing on the Japanese anime’s widespread popularity. The paper concludes with a note on questions of censorship, Afro-Iranians, and the nation’s dire need of its own novel on the Iranian Jim.

Metaphors and the Degree of Conventionality in Translation of Prose Fiction: A Fraction of the Whole in Focus

The idea of metaphor classification is regarded as how felicitously they are entrenched in everyday language spoken by ordinary people. Metaphor conventionality can be regarded as a scale whose opposite ends constitute conventional and creative metaphors. Logic indicates that the majority of linguistic metaphors are well-worn and conventional rather than novel, since an excess of novel metaphors may remarkably bring about “communicative surprise” (Rabadán Álvarez, 1991) thus increase cognitive processing time and even hinder perceiving. Metaphorical creativity, as the other extreme of the scale of conventionality, can be looked at as the use of conceptual metaphors and/ or their linguistic manifestations that are creative or novel. This study seeks to scrutinize the scale of conventionality in the Persian translation of A Fraction of the Whole. MIP known as Metaphor Identification Procedure put forward by the Pragglejaz Group (2007) was employed in the study to identify metaphors. The findings reveal that, sometimes, the metaphors used in L1 are novel or creative, but the translator draws upon conventional or entrenched ones in L2, or vice versa. The aim is to show the translator's choice of metaphor in terms of a conventionality scale using some previous cognitive models in this regard.

A Study of Persian Translation of Cultural Elements in Waltari’s The Egyptian

This study sought to investigate translation strategies in translation of culture-specific items (CSIs) in Persian translation of ‘The Egyptian’ novel by Mika Waltari. To this end, it benefited from corpus-based comparative content analysis design within a qualitative approach. The corpus of this study consisted of 150 pages of the novel ‘The Egyptian’ by Mika Waltari along with their Persian translations by Zabihollah Mansouri, which were selected through simple random sampling. Data analysis included parallel comparison of the source text and its translation in terms of the occurrence of different types of translation strategies used in the translations. Furthermore, statistical procedures which were conducted consisted of calculation of frequency and percentage of different translation strategies (to identify the most and least frequent strategies) and chi-square test (to see if there is a significant difference between the frequencies of different strategies used by the translator). The results of data analysis showed that the translator has used the following translation strategies: Calque, equivalence, adaptation, literal translation, modulation and omission. Moreover, it was found that the most frequent strategy was calque. Furthermore, the lowest frequency belonged to modulation and omission. In addition, a significant difference was revealed between the frequencies of different translation strategies. The findings have some implications for translation students, translation teachers, and translators.

Fatima Riza-Zade (Sayyah), a Dostoevsky Scholar

The article is devoted to the biography of the Soviet-Iranian researcher F. Riza-Zade, also known as F. Sayyah, and her studies of Dostoevsky’s literary heritage. A number of archival materials that reflect the professional and friendly relations of F. Riza-Zade in 1929–1930s have been introduced into scientific circulation. A review of the articles “Dostoevsky and Modern French Literature (On the Influence of Dostoevsky)” and “Dostoevsky in Western Criticism,” as well as the preface to the Persian translation of Dostoevsky’s novel “White Nights”, published in Tehran, has been carried out. It is noted that the researcher’s works have laid the foundations of Soviet and Iranian comparative studies: Dostoevsky’s work was interpreted in the broad context of French literature, German philosophical and aesthetic tradition and Iranian cultural symbols of good and evil. The key methodological principles of F. Riza-Zade are analyzed: the focus on sociological criticism of the Pereverzev school, a cultural and aesthetic approach to the analysis of genre problems, tendency towards self-sufficiency in literary research and rejection of philosophical speculation. The conclusion is made about the importance of the works of F. Riza-Zade in the study and popularization of Dostoevsky’s work and in the fostering of Russian-Iranian cultural ties.

The Application of House’s (2015) Translation Quality Assessment Model and Venuti's (1995) Theory of Domestication and Foreignization on two Persian Translations of English Translation of Paolo Coelho’s (1992) ALCHEMIST Novel

In this research, two Persian translations of Coelho’s ALCHEMIST were studied in the light of Julian House’s (2015) theoretical TQA model and Venuti's (1995) theory of domestication and foreignization. The focus was on comparing differences between the original text and the translated texts, namely, between the English text of ALCHEMIST and its two Persian translations by Hejazi and Jafari, in terms of covert errors and overt errors. To this end, one hundred examples, in the forms of phrases or sentences were examined and compared with their equivalent translations. The inductive method and comparative strategy were employed as the methodology to examine the hypothesis of this research. The results revealed that two Persian translations of ALCHEMIST had a roughly close percentage of errors. Namely, Hejazi's translation comprised 66.35 percent covert and domesticated, and Jafari incorporated52.82 percent. Also, the overt errors in Hejazi’s translation comprised 14.72 percent overt and foreignized and Jafari incorporated 32.5 percent. One of the errors observed in both translations was incorrect translation. As a result, Hejazi's translation is reported of better quality than Jafari's translation.

The Persian version of the centrality of event scale (CES): Assessment of validity and reliability among Iranian university students.

BackgroundEvent centrality, the extent to which an experience is perceived as a central event in one's life, has been found to be a strong correlate of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The centrality of event scale (CES) is commonly used in different conditions and cultures to measure trauma‐related effects. However, the psychometric properties of this scale have not been investigated in the Iranian context.MethodsThe present study examined the psychometric properties of the Persian translation of the 7‐item CES in a sample of 525 university students with a history of a romantic breakup.ResultsConfirmatory factor analysis confirmed a one‐factor structure. The CES score was positively correlated with psychological inflexibility and PTSD symptoms. The measurement invariance analyses showed that the 7‐item CES is gender invariant and can be used for both men and women.FindingsFindings supported the good psychometric properties of the 7‐item CES for measuring event centrality in Iranian university students.

Analysing the Persian translation of sound effects in comic books by Celotti’s strategies

ABSTRACT As multimodal texts profiting from a combination of words and pictures, studying the translation of comic books has not received the due attention, which is why the discipline of Translation Studies will always welcome more explorations of comic books. This study examined the employment of Celotti’s strategies for translating sound effects from English to Persian, set forth as translation, translation and insertion of a footnote in the gutter, cultural adaptation, leaving untranslated, deletion, and finally, a mix of (some of) the above. In comic books, sound effects are those onomatopoeic expressions that are drawn inside the pictures. Since original Persian comic books are not very common in Iran, translators may not perfectly know how to translate sound effects into Persian. Therefore, Celotti’s approach was examined in order to present comic book translators with the most frequent strategies. Seventeen English comics and their Persian translations were carefully studied to discover sound effects and their equivalents; then, Celotti’s proposed strategies were applied to the data. As the results presented, there were some strategies in use that the chosen approach did not cover. In addition, source-oriented strategies were adopted in scanlations while target-oriented strategies were found more in published translations.

On the Untranslatability of Cultural Aspects of Myth: An Investigation of Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings

This study aims to explore the strategies which Persian translators of English myth works have adopted in dealing with cultural aspects. In addition, this study scrutinizes the culture-related problems which have led to untranslatability in myth translation. The analyzed parts were extracted from the first book of The Lord of the Rings (2012) by Tolkien and its two Persian translations by Alizadeh (2003) and Amini (2004). This comparative analysis was done based on the characteristics of adequate translation proposed by Newmark (1998) and Baker (1992), and also adequate discoursal translation components proposed by Lotfipour (2015). The most attention is on the translating of proper names, the genre of the work, and the author’s style about the cultural dimension of the work. The results revealed that the cultural knowledge of the translator about myth, origins, and features, affects the adequacy of translation. In addition, the main finding of this study proved that certain factors influence the translator’s performance to produce an adequate myth translation.

I-GROUP PRESENCE QUESTIONNAIRE: PSYCHOMETRICALLY REVISED ENGLISH VERSION

I-group Presence Questionnaire (IPQ), which is used to evaluate the mediated experience of presence -especially for virtual reality applications- is originally developed in German and translated to several other languages. However, there is not any psychometric study for these translations including English version, except the Portuguese and Persian translations. We evaluated English translation of IPQ with 36 participants through 12 VR sessions with an overall of 432 samples. Using a partial least squares based factor analysis approach, the original 14-item set is trimmed into 11-items in order to achieve better psychometric qualities. In addition, a covariance based confirmatory factor analysis is executed to compare models. Several indices, even the conservative Cronbach’s alpha indicated that the subscales of 11-item version are reliable, but not the 14-item version. Eliminated items did not lead to a decrease in scales’ sensitivity to identify different levels of Realism, Spatial Presence and Involvement for different virtual environments. Although we provided evidence to remove the items which are identically worded and inversely coded that are causing measurement error, we suggest researchers to employ the 14-items but report the results for both 14-item version and 11-item version, until the psychometric qualities of IPQ in English is confirmed with a larger sample of participants.

The Ghaznavid Empire of India

Almost all of our information on the Ghaznavids comes from two contemporary chronicles (one in Persian and one in Arabic) and a divan (poetic anthology) from the early eleventh century. The Arabic text is the Tarikh-i Yamini written by Abu Nasr al-ʻUtbi, and the Persian chronicle is the Zayn al-Akhbar by Gardizi. Virtually, all subsequent Persian chroniclers drew on the later Persian translation of the Yamini. After the Mughal period, a few used Gardizi as well. In the nineteenth century, H. M. Elliot translated parts of the Persian translation of ʻUtbi into English, which popularised that particular version of events in modern scholarship. This uncritical overreliance on a single source has led to perhaps the greatest misunderstanding of medieval Indian history. I will argue that the version of the Ghaznavid campaigns in ʻUtbi was meant strictly for the court of the ‘Abbasid caliph in Baghdad where a sufficiently learned audience could actually be expected to understand the very difficult Arabic of the text. The Yamini did not simply embellish reality but was actually trying to create a narrative that was in contradiction to and even independent of reality. It was part of a campaign of misinformation to hide the fact that the Ghaznavids were creating an Indian empire both as a network of tributary kings and as an open trade zone ruled by a king of kings symbolised by the elephant.