7TH RUMELİ [LANGUAGE, LITERATURE AND TRANSLATION STUDIES] SYMPOSIUM
Equivalences of Turkish relationship words in German translation
Yayıncı:
RumeliYA Yayıncılık
Foreign language learners constantly want to learn the translation of the words or phrases they have learnt in their mother tongue. It is not easy to match the equivalents of each word or expression between languages. This is because the differences arising from the structure and culture of the language itself make equivalence between languages difficult. One of the items in the vocabulary of a language that is difficult to translate is relationship words. This study aims to examine the equivalence problems in the translation of some examples of relationship words in Turkish. Document analysis method, one of the qualitative research methods, was used in the study. Thirtyfive relationship phrases in Turkish vocabulary were selected and German translations of these phrases were tried to be given. While selecting the relationship words in this study, words that are frequently encountered in daily life were preferred. These words are especially included in the textbooks used in teaching Turkish as a foreign language. A comparative analysis was made by selecting the relationship words in the Turkish Dictionary published by the Turkish Language Association. The findings obtained in this study show that it is difficult to achieve equivalence in translation because relationship words are part of the culture. It is concluded that learning or practising the target language in the community where the target language is spoken is more effective in learning relationship words. Therefore, in order to teach these relationship words, it is necessary to use audio-visual tools and to create a situational contextual environment. For this reason, it is suggested that relationship words should be included more in language teaching. Because including these words, which are an important part of daily communication, both in textbooks and in the classroom communication environment, allows students' cultural background to be supported by showing how to use relationship words in appropriate contexts.
