Band 4, Heft 1

ABSTRACT This paper discusses the textual position, form, and functions of English–Greek code-switching, which occurs in the form of insertions, in Greek Cypriot print media. The data consist of seven magazines and seven newspapers. For the analysis of the data, a theoretical framework for written multilingualism is adopted and adapted, namely “English on top”. The presence of English in the mainstream Cypriot print media is scarce. Code-switching into English mainly takes the form of naming, heading, quotations, set phrases, and doublets; a doublet refers to the use of a word next to its translation in another language. It exhibits a variety of functions such as language play, emphasis, and clarification. This is not always the case, however. In some cases, no specific textual function can be attributed to the English insertions. In such cases, it is the symbolic and/or indexical function of English that is exploited.

ABSTRACT Translating Daodejing is quite intricate and prompts much thinking in translation studies. In order to inquire whether translatability is possible and how we should judge what might be a good translation, we explore the issue of translatability from the perspective of Wittgensteinian prototype. Within this perspective, translatability is seen as a category bearing four features: abstractness, integrability, priority, and expansibility. These features not only posit translatability onto a different stage, but also help adequately explain such phenomena as “Dao” in translation. The abstractness suggests that translatability as a category is more than possible. By integrability, it means the translation of a text usually integrates characteristic elements of possible interpretations and understandings. An exemplar which bears many shared features is usually perceived with priority by readers as the good translation. The degree of translatability can be expanded when new translations join in.

ABSTRACT This paper gives an overview of the role(s) that the English language plays in the Qatari community. Firstly, it reviews the areas displaying the decisive role of the English language in Qatari society through a social semiotic analysis of a set of political cartoons published in the two best-selling Qatari newspapers, Al Sharq (The East) and Al Raya (The Banner), during the period of 2011–2014 in which a flurry of activity, in terms of both economic and linguistic changes, took place in Qatar. Secondly, it discusses the implications that the unequivocal priority given to the English language may have for Arab native speakers in the country by utilizing Foucault's concept of heterotopia. This paper concludes that English has occupied an influential role in Qatari society and has created a sense of estrangement among Arabic native residents of the country.