Adjustment for Transitivity in Translation: An Analysis of the Punjab Laws in English and Urdu

This paper examines the adjustments in transitivity in Punjab laws as a result of the translation from English to Urdu. The study has a great significance in the field of translation as it expounds the role of co-text and context in conveying true sense of source text. The co-text and legal context of the extractions taken for analysis are analysed using Halliday and Martin’s (1993) context model. The transitivity processes from each Hallidayan transitivity process category, along with their Urdu translation, are taken from the legal data. The findings show that the legal context has an impact on translational decisions. The communicative intentions of the source text are fully realised; however, translation choices based on context and target language norms have an impact on the mechanism of transitivity from one category to another. This paper serves as a guide for new translators attempting to translate law from English to Urdu.