Nigel Armstrong – författare

Do you know what 'verlan' or French 'backslang' is? Was President Mitterand 'câblé'? The French language is more than just a tool for communication; it has a crucial role to play in how native speakers of French think about the world and about themselves and their culture. This book helps students develop a systematic 'linguistic' approach to French. It covers the core topics, ranging from the structure and sounds of the language to discourse and everyday conversation. No previous knowledge of linguistics is assumed and a glossary of technical terms and many exercises and activities help reinforce key points. Students will find that their understanding and enjoyment of the French language is greatly enhanced by this book.

This book takes a linguistic approach to translation issues, looking first at the structural view of language that explains the difficulty of translation and at theories of cultural non-equivalence. A subsequent chapter on text types, readership and the translator's role completes the theoretical framework. The linguistic levels of analysis are then discussed in ascending order, from morpheme up to sentence, while a summarising chapter considers various translation types and strategies, again considered in relation to text type, author and reader.