Assessment Of Indigenous Radio Broadcasters' Translation Strategies And Words Usage: A Study Of Sobi 101.9 Fm Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria

This paper discusses the translation style and methods adopted by Sobi FM 101.9 Ilorin broadcasters to find equivalent versions for some selected English lexis and structure, translated into the Yoruba language. The main objective of this paper is to analyze the relevance of translation and trace the etymological foundation of the lexis and structure which compel radio broadcasters to use self-lexical coinage and neology. The work was carried out within the purview of Newmark levels of translation (level of naturalness, Referential, cohesive level) to trace the content and function of the lexis and structure. The theory adopted for this work is the knowledge gap theory; the main thrust of this theory is to bridge the language gap that exists in media through the use of the native language. Data for this research were gathered through the elicitation of a recorded news item from Sobi 101.9 FM Ilorin. Our research findings show that most translations from the source language (English) to the target language (Yorùbá) by broadcasters are self-invented, which could either suit the original version in the target language or not. It was observed that radio broadcasters adopt suitable translation methods to retain the content of messages broadcast in a bilingual program. We conclude our work by saying categorically that broad knowledge of the source language helps the productivity of a translator to transmit the message to the audience in the language without any vacuum or gap, and that radio broadcasters adopt any translation method in as much as the audience comprehension of the intended messages are the same with the target language.