Nicht-analoge französische und italienische Übersetzungen von restriktiven Partikeln im Roman Die Mittagsfrau von Julia Franck

Abstract

The present paper discusses the translation of German nur and some synonymous restrictive particles into French and Italian in authorized literary translations. Only non-analogous translations of the restrictive particles have been considered, such as It. si limitò a sorridere for Germ. sie lächelte nur ('she limited herself to smiling' vs. 'she only smiled'). Three types of non-analogous equivalents of nur could be found in the data-base: cleft constructions, verbal periphrases and verb-infinitive combinations. The use of these Italian and French expressions seems to be constantly linked to co-textual features. The description of these non-analogous equivalents contributes to a better delineation of language-specific preferences concerning the encoding of restriction. Furthermore the description leads to helpful suggestions for translations from French/Italian into German, encouraging translators to substitute e.g. a finite, main verb (It. limitarsi) for a simple particle (Germ. nur) in order to get adequate solutions in German.