A Functional Approach to Sentence Information Structure in Translation

Abstract

The textual organization of a sentence is the result of a mutual interaction between the two parallel and interrelated systems functionally labelled as ‘information and thematic structures’. In any given context, the speaker/writer decides to choose among various thematic/informational patterns and tries, through mapping one structure on the other, to achieve discourse ‘textuality’. Different patterns of thematic/informational mappings may be affected by the so-called ‘tone groups’ resulting in ‘marked structures’ of different degrees typically carrying implicit meanings or special functions. Such structures are of a great significance in translation so that the way they are treated in the target text can make a basis for evaluating the overall translator’s performance in achieving ‘functional/pragmatic equivalence’. Since the information organization of a sentence is typically realized through the speaker’s speech and since there is normally no speaker/writer present to read over his/her written text, it is the reader/translator’s own reading (interpretation) that helps rendering the various patterns of information distribution in micro-linguistic terms. This is exactly where the translation process may face some serious challenges.