A Typology of the Various Aspects of Diaphasic Intralingual Translation – A Systemic-Functional Approach

Diaphasic intralingual translation (Diaph-intra) is the type of rewriting that involves a shift between linguistic registers, most often between specialized and non-specialized ones. Usually, the target register is the non-specialized, lay-oriented one, but the opposite translational direction (from a lay to a specialized TT) is also possible. Since registers are functional varieties of language, situated in particular contexts of use, the chapter draws on functional linguistics to characterize Diaph-intra in terms of the shifts in contextual parameters that may occur in the rewriting. The most important aspects relevant to Diaph-intra are changes in the type of role relationship between sender and receiver, the level of presupposed expertise, rhetorical function, and channel. Shifts in contextual parameters are exemplified with source-target pairs mainly from the field of health care, where the encounter between experts and non-experts (in the role of patients) is constitutive. Apart from the contextual changes, the chapter also provides a brief overview of the most important types of source-to-target shifts occurring at the levels of wording and meaning.