ENDOCENTRIC AND EXOCENTRIC LANGUAGES IN TRANSLATION

Abstract

Recent research on linguistic typology has revealed fundamental differences between so-called endocentric and exocentric languages. The former are characterised by having a relatively high lexical and informational weight in the verbs, that is in the centre of the proposition (hence the term “endocentric”), whereas the latter have a higher lexical and informational weight in the nominal arguments, that is outside the centre of the proposition (hence the term “exocentric”). Furthermore, exocentric verbs are characterised by a rich inflectional system that enables them to express text-pragmatic and rhetorical distinctions that generally are not rendered explicit in endocentric languages. The Scandinavian languages, among which Danish, are endocentric, whereas the Romance languages, among which Italian, are exocentric. This article deals with a series of differences between Danish and Italian in terms of their pertinence for translation and translation strategies. On the basis of cognitive, anthropological and psycholinguistic findings, the article argues that the mentioned typological differences have an important bearing on our ‘cognitive schema’. This means that translating between language groups such as the Scandinavian and the Romance requires a change of deep-rooted structures of thinking and of categorising experience. It is not merely a matter of finding more or less equivalent words.

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