Resumen de Translation Competence and Language Awareness

Pamela Faber Benítez

• One of the most difficult things translators have to learn is how to extract conceptual meanings from source texts, so that they base their translations on reformulations of those meanings, rather than on the words or structures that codify them. This article describes an exercise in lexical analysis, involving verbs of sound in English and Spanish. Its aim is to enable students to discover underlying patterns of meaning which are representative of lexical-conceptual structure. Through this type of activity, students explore the relation between language and thought, while also increasing their dictionary skills and awareness.