"Las ideas latentes y el contenido manifiesto se nos muestran como dos versiones del mismo contenido, en dos idiomas distintos" 1.
En la unidad anterior examinamos un problema traductivo que no se refería al significado de palabras aisladas, sino a las combinaciones, a la colocación de palabras en conjunto. Expuse que la consulta de un corpus puede ser útil en tales casos. Sin embargo, cuando los problemas traductivos son distintos, ¿sigue siendo el corpus la herramienta más útil?
En esta unidad intentaré afrontar dos problemas que realmente se presentaron en el mismo texto al que me referí en las dos unidades anteriores. Las frases son las siguientes:
I know I bang on about the English being strange, but clearly a little part of me isn't quite convinced, since I've sort of married two of them.
Bang on cue, Frank appears, wearing my rose-patterned Cath Kidston apron.
En las dos se repite el mismo caso, como puede advertirse por el resaltado en color, que es la combinación "bang on", cuyo significado me resulta desconocido. Mi primera teoría es que se trata de verbos con partícula (phrasal verbs), esos verbos que adquieren un significado especial al utilizarse en combinación con una preposición determinada, y cuyo uso está más difundido entre los británicos (los hablantes estadounidenses los utilizan con mayor moderación, ya que suelen preferir una palabra de significado similar y raíz latina).
Empiezo con el Webster’s New World Dictionary, Macmillan, 1997, que me da como resultado que la combinación "bang on" no existe. Deduzco que tal vez se trata de una expresión británica. Paso al diccionario Collins de la lengua inglesa, pero tampoco ofrece referencias.
Por último, en el Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, encuentro (http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=5831&dict=CALD):
bang on phrasal verb INFORMAL DISAPPROVING to talk about something for a long time, especially in a way that is boring to other people: My parents are always banging on about how much better life was 20 years ago.
Al parecer, de este modo resuelvo el primero de mis dos problemas, ya que el ejemplo contiene "bang on" seguido exactamente del sujeto introducido por "about" como en el caso de mi problema. Por lo tanto, la traducción del primer caso puede ser:
Sé que aburro con mi insistencia de que el inglés es extraño...
Realizo una comprobación en el British National Corpus, mediante la introducción de "bang on": éste es el resultado:
Here is a random selection of 50 solutions from the 93 found...
A0M 1365 As well as being painful, a further bang on a broken nose can greatly increase disfigurement.
A35 46 So, we bang on about the play and the staging and the big themes, and, if there's any space left, then, as the chairman of Critics' Forum wearily intones, `;I suppose we ought to say something about the performances.';
A74 3114 I bang on the glass with my fist.
ABS 142 First-Rate Bang On
B0U 1039 `;I'll bang on the wall.';
BM5 1896 `;Rover-engined and JPE versions of the Seven show, again, the Caterham's honing of the concept is bang on target';
BMW 2089 There was a loud bang on the door and Grace's angry voice called: `;And you can stop that quarrelling, the pair of you.
BP7 972 `;Just don't go about saying you had a bang on the head.
CA0 2199 He said the English were fine ones to bang on about cruelty when they sent little boys off to boarding school when they were eight.
CAB 3218 But if he becomes a nuisance, William,'; he added, `;you bang on the floor and I'll pick him up.';
CBC 1459 Crackers bang on target
CBE 680 He went so far as to bang on the door of Evert's home in an effort to see Steffi.
CEP 4324 England's 34-;32 half-time lead left them bang on target for the four-point margin required to overturn last year's narrow 77-;74 reverse in Moscow.
CJ4 193 Breasting the summit with ease and bang on time, the train was `;chased'; by a host of car bound photographers and enthusiasts, with even the pre-occupied massive throng in the on-train real ale bar pausing to admire the feat!
CM0 453 The impact of Big Bang on GKR was especially profitable for the firm because it was well prepared.
CMC 775 If you roll a HIT then you have hit, and the Goblin lands bang on target.
E9U 364 THREE East Anglian players are bang on course for reaching the matchplay stage of the English Ladies Championship at St Enodoc Golf Club on the north coast of Cornwall (writes Lee Dinmore ).
ECX 731 A loud and unnerving bang on climb-out came as a reminder that the time was looming for the statutory annual check of wing and attached machinery.
FET 1111 A gramophone began with a bang on" Away in a Manger".
FPH 1784 A bang on the door.
FU6 232 ROS: That's it --; pale sky before dawn, a man standing on his saddle to bang on the shutters --; shouts --; What's all the row about?!
FU6 261 An awakening, a man standing on his saddle to bang on the shutters, our names shouted in a certain dawn, a message, a summons…
FU6 1591 In a minute someone's going to bang on the lid and tell me to come out.
G02 292 It has leaped the last few leagues in one bound (great stuff), and lands smack BANG on the Cathedral roof (or thereabouts).
G1S 446 In the end, though, it would all be bang on and tickety boo (or was that the wrong war?) because Rupert, the sexiest of the pilots, managed to win through.
G2B 296 Brisk afternoon wind arrived bang on time for an exciting sail.
G2E 2163 Pamella got the bang on her door on Saturday 11 March.
G33 2549 After just a few hours sleep, I half awoke to a bang on the window.
H4C 568 Er and you'd er they'd er just bang on the door and, and call you and you had to be downstairs in five minutes.
H8J 1027 A bang on the door galvanised her into action; she gathered the matching gown round her and opened the door.
H9U 1772 Your arm was broken, and you had had a terrible bang on the head.
H9U 1784 I told the doctor; but he said that the whole adventure was just a dream, the result of cold, tiredness and a violent bang on the head.
HAE 40 IAN RUSH is bang on target for another historic hat-trick --; of records!
HAE 706 BANG ON!
HEE 43 But er it wasn't long after that there was another big bang on the platform and they all sort of turned tail and went away for their own safety.
HGD 2918 `;Hide under the table, mademoiselle , and when I am in my room I will bang on the floor and the coast will be clear.';
HJ3 4007 The 16 goal striker, who starts a two match ban on Monday, was bang on the spot to head Crusaders second from a beautifully served cross by Sid Burrows.
HPC 8 It has been completed bang on time and within budget thanks to a special task force which was set up to lead the complex engineering job.
J1F 1648 No matter how it started over the summer, there has been no shortage of things to bang on about.
JJS 151 He's had a terrific bang on the back of his head and
JXY 2770 `;Even so, you've had a severe shock and you've had a bang on your head.';
JY5 3731 Bang on cue, she strode out on to the stage, feeling none of the terror that had crippled her last performance, the excited cheers of the children bringing a beaming smile to her face.
K3A 757 Rob Andrew went off with a bang on the nose which needed an X-ray, although it was later revealed that there was no fracture, while his replacement Stuart Barnes had 12 stitches in a head wound caused by a stray boot.
K3X 60 Newton waters expected to be bang on form with loads of small fish, good tench on pole and caster.
K4V 1858 Mr Murphy, of Grange Road, Middlesbrough, said his son had a bang on the head which needed an X-ray.
K9C 358 SMART work by Thatcher Tubes, racing against the clock, helped a special toothpaste promotion hit stores in the United States bang on time.
KBP 3633 It's the one right bang on the main road?
KD3 2329 No, I don't know what it, he didn't bang on the doors, I was hoovering at the time Is that nice?
KE1 3639 bash it five minutes down the road, bang bang on Sunday, Sunday morning I was up
KE3 7062 Come and bang on our door for six weeks.
Como vemos, en la mayoría de los casos el verbo "bang" aparece con el significado de "golpear", seguido de la preposición "on" con el mero valor de «sobre» o «en», por ejemplo, en "bang on the head", el significado es sencillamente "un golpe en la cabeza". Si "filtro" el resultado para eliminar los casos que no me interesan, me queda:
A35 46 So, we bang on about the play and the staging and the big themes, and, if there's any space left, then, as the chairman of Critics' Forum wearily intones, `;I suppose we ought to say something about the performances.';
CA0 2199 He said the English were fine ones to bang on about cruelty when they sent little boys off to boarding school when they were eight.
J1F 1648 No matter how it started over the summer, there has been no shortage of things to bang on about.
BM5 1896 `;Rover-engined and JPE versions of the Seven show, again, the Caterham's honing of the concept is bang on target';
CBC 1459 Crackers bang on target
CEP 4324 England's 34-;32 half-time lead left them bang on target for the four-point margin required to overturn last year's narrow 77-;74 reverse in Moscow.
CJ4 193 Breasting the summit with ease and bang on time, the train was `;chased'; by a host of car bound photographers and enthusiasts, with even the pre-occupied massive throng in the on-train real ale bar pausing to admire the feat!
CMC 775 If you roll a HIT then you have hit, and the Goblin lands bang on target.
E9U 364 THREE East Anglian players are bang on course for reaching the matchplay stage of the English Ladies Championship at St Enodoc Golf Club on the north coast of Cornwall (writes Lee Dinmore).
G2B 296 Brisk afternoon wind arrived bang on time for an exciting sail.
HAE 40 IAN RUSH is bang on target for another historic hat-trick --; of records!
HJ3 4007 The 16 goal striker, who starts a two match ban on Monday, was bang on the spot to head Crusaders second from a beautifully served cross by Sid Burrows.
HPC 8 It has been completed bang on time and within budget thanks to a special task force which was set up to lead the complex engineering job.
JY5 3731 Bang on cue, she strode out on to the stage, feeling none of the terror that had crippled her last performance, the excited cheers of the children bringing a beaming smile to her face.
K3X 60 Newton waters expected to be bang on form with loads of small fish, good tench on pole and caster
He aplicado color verde claro a los casos que considero útiles para mi primer caso. Sin embargo, ¿lo son para el segundo? No lo creo. También he coloreado con violeta los casos que al parecer son similares a mi segundo problema. Compruebo que sólo un caso (el penúltimo) contiene la secuencia exacta "bang on cue", también al principio de la frase y difícil de descifrar a primera vista. En cinco de doce casos encuentro "bang on target", lo que me provoca una reflexión: ¿tal vez "bang on cue" es una variante, una referencia intertextual a "bang on target"?
Además, observo que hay casos de "bang on time" con un significado transparente, muy expresivo, que es prácticamente "muy puntual". De hecho, se puede intuir que "bang on time" deriva del sonido de las campanas; la puntualidad es tal que se asocia con el anuncio de las horas de un campanario.
Pruebo con la inserción de varias cadenas en un motor de búsqueda. Obtengo 3.440 casos de "bang on target", por lo que puede considerarse una colocación estándar, y sólo 166 de "bang on cue". Comprendo, al examinar los distintos casos, que el significado de "bang on target", que tal vez procede de la jerga militar, es más o menos "dar en el blanco" y que, en un sentido más amplio, quiere decir "muy acertado", "justo a tiempo" o "muy oportuno". "Bang on cue" es tal vez una variante con un significado ligeramente distinto, ya que la metáfora espacial de "target" se sustituye por la metáfora de la evidencia, del indicio semántico.
Por lo tanto, la traducción de mi segunda frase no tiene nada que ver con el verbo con partícula de la primera (de lo que me he dado cuenta no gracias al diccionario, sino al corpus), y que podría traducirse, más o menos, de este modo:
Como confirmación de mis sospechas, Frank aparece vistiendo mi delantal de Cath Kidston con estampados de color rosa.
Creo que ha quedado claro que la consulta de un corpus también puede ser útil para resolver problemas de significado distintos de los que presentan las colocaciones habituales.
BIBLIOGRAFÍA
FREUD SIGMUND , La interpretación de los sueños, traducción de Luis López-Ballesteros y de Torres, Alianza Editorial, ISBN 84-206-1036-4.
FREUD SIGMUND, The Interpretation Of Dreams, translated by A. A. Brill, London, G. Allen & company, 1913.
GURALNIK, ed., Webster’s New World Dictionary, Macmillan-Accent, 1997.
HANKS PATRICK, ed., Collins Dictionary of the English Language, Collins, London-Glasgow 1979.
1 Freud 1900: 254.
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