Thai-English Translation Strategies at Word Level in a Collection of Free Verse Poems No Women in Poetry

Abstract

This research article focuses on translation strategies used for translating at a word level from Thai into English following the 20 word types introduced by Chamnan Rodhetbhai (1980) in a collection of free verse poems entitled No Women in Poetry by Zakariya Amataya (2010), edited by Tom Radzienda and translated by Preeyaporn Charoenbutra and Sunida Supantamart. Thirteen word types were found and 10 were chosen with a total of 219 words selected for analysis. 169 words were translated using literal translation strategies. When equivalent words in English are not available due to cultural gaps (50 words), six translation strategies for non-equivalence introduced by Baker (2011) were employed. The six translation strategies found in descending order include: 1) omission, 2) using a loan word or a loan word plus explanation, 3) paraphrasing using a related word, 4) using a more general word, 5) paraphrasing using unrelated words, and 6) using a more neutral/less expressive word. Additionally, two other interesting translation strategies were observed including translation of proper names and translation of words with unusual spellings.