Research into linguistic interference

4.2.4.  Borderline Cases 
When the actual analysis was started, it turned out that a group containing 
borderline cases of interference would be needed. Examples which are not, to 
all intents and purposes, literal translations of the original but still some 
influence is evident have been included in this group. Mostly, the students 
realized that some problem occurred, they tried “to solve it somehow” but the 
final solution was still imperfect. In other words, it concerns translations which 
are not the “worst” possible interferences but the solution is only halfway to 
perfection. In fact, these examples may sometimes overlap with indirect 
interferences because although the translator is still influenced directly by the 
source-text formulation, he/she already tries to do something with it within the 
target language system. The main difference between this type and the 
previous types of interferences is that the three groups mentioned above seem 
to occur subconsciously; the subjects do not even realize that interference may 
occur in a given passage. On the other hand, it is obvious that in the examples 
pertaining to borderline cases, the students were fully conscious of a problem; 
unfortunately, they failed to do the job properly.  
To clarify what exactly is meant by this definition, e.g. the following 
examples have been marked as borderline cases in the corpus:  
[...] have powered the procreation [...] – [...] dávaly energii pro rozmnožování 
[...] 
 
[...] fled an aerial 1080 operation [...] – [...] uprchly […] před šířením látky 1080 
vzduchem [...] 
 
[...] over the breeding season, which is triggered by shortening days [...] – [...] 
během doby páření, s počátkem v období, kdy se začínají krátit dny [...] 
 
As we make robots, we will actually be exploring [...] – Při výrobě robotů 
budeme totiž zkoumat [...] 
 

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At times, the notion of releasing pain through tears can be taken too far. – 
Metoda vyplavování bolesti slzami může někdy zajít do extrému. 
 
Borderline cases of interference, moreover, contain several instances of 
names and terms which the students decided not to translate and left them in 
English in their final versions. In a sense, this could be viewed as an example of 
minimax strategy as defined by Jiří Levý: “the translator resolves for one of the 
possible solutions which promise a maximum of effect with a minimum of effort. 
That is to say, he intuitively resolves for the MINIMAX STRATEGY” (Baker 
2001: 117). Nevertheless, in the cases included in this category, the translators 
should mediate the information written in the original to the readership and 
should not complicate the text by leaving certain elements (which can and 
should be translated) in English. One of the students, for example, did not 
translate the name of the book Mythago Wood, although it was translated into 
Czech under the title Les Maytag. The second example was the name of a 
theory called Species-Specific Group-Level Coordination System; several 
students (3 out of 21) preserved the name in English without even explaining 
the concept to the target readership. And the last example of such an 
occurrence was the case in which a student decided to leave the name of an 
architect qualification, Certified first-grade architect, because she felt it was a 
problematic issue. 
Some examples, for which it was difficult to decide whether it was an 
interference or not, were the evident attempts of the students to find a feasible 
translation in a dictionary; they evidently perceived that some of the most 
common meanings were inappropriate for the context. They were looking for a 
less common word but their final solution was inadequate. In a way, they were 

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influenced by the source text in terms of their feeling that they needed to find a 
feasible translation, i.e., a one-word corresponding concept. Even though, the 
students were aware of the fact that the first apparent meaning which came to 
their minds did not fit the context, they did not succeeded in finding the ideal 
solution (in most cases, it was essential to express the concept in a different 
way; for example, use more words to grasp the essence of an expression). The 
following paragraph contains some examples of borderline cases.  
[...] why they pursued this approach [...] – [...] proč si vybrali zrovna toto 
směřování [...] 
 
[...] explores the scientific and philosophical implications of this approach. – [...] 
se zabývá vědeckými a filozofickými důsledky této cesty. 
 
[...] links small questions to big questions [...] – [...] vede ke spojování malých 
věcí s velkými [...] 
 
Good mileage can be obtained from [...] – Sedmimílový krok lze učinit pomocí 
[...] 
 
[...] an inevitable part of our business. – [...] nedílné součásti každého našeho 
počínání. 
 
These types of mistakes are, generally speaking, not caused by direct 
interference; but, the primary influence of the source text is evident in the cases 
included in this group. At first, I hesitated whether these should be counted 
towards the total results, but, in the end, I did so because it will definitely be 
interesting to see the actual numbers in proportion to the other types. In short, 
borderline cases include examples in which the students evidently attempted to 
avoid interference (they were probably conscious of it) but their influence by the 
source text still can be felt in the target. 
 

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