Open AccessAn Evaluation of English-to-Yoruba Translations of some Concepts by Selected Radio News Bulletins
Author(s) -
Samson Adeyeye Dare,
Francis Setonji Yede
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
yoruba studies review /yoruba studies review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2578-692X
pISSN - 2473-4713
DOI - 10.32473/ysr.v5i1.2.130114
Subject(s) - misinformation , yoruba , linguistics , feeling , history , sociology , political science , media studies , psychology , social psychology , law , philosophy
This study examines translations of selected official names/titles contained in news broadcasts in the Yorùbá-speaking part of Nigeria, interrogating their adequacy and appropriateness. Sixty-five concepts/titles extracted from one hundred news bulletins presented by five radio stations across the Yorùbá-speaking states of Nigeria are examined. The study is prompted by an intuitive feeling of inaccuracy and inappropriateness of important words in news broadcasts in Yorùbá and predicated upon the fact that misinformation can be as pernicious as lack of information. The renderings of the concepts in Yorùbá are compared with their original versions in English, revealing translation weaknesses such as semantic narrowing, expansion, wordiness, and sometimes even unwitting distortions. It concludes by emphasizing the adoption of appropriate translation strategies and a more rigorous engagement with the texts as a way of guarding against unintended distortions and misinformation.