Role and Importance of English and Urdu Referenceand Ellipsis in Translation

Cohesive devices play a significant role in shaping the meaning ofwritten and oral messages. Many researchers have analysed suchdevices in English. On the other hand, the need to explore them inUrdu still exists. This paper aims to juxtapose devices used to achievecohesion in Urdu and English texts by tracking down the affinities anddifferences between them. Moreover, it points out the issues anddifficulties which arise on account of cohesive devices whiletranslating Urdu into English or conversely. The paper contains thestudy of reference and ellipsis in short stories of Urdu and Englishusing Halliday frame work of cohesive devices in English. Apart fromthe qualitative analysis of the selected texts of Urdu and English, aquantitative research has also been carried out to gauge the problemsencountered by the translators for the differences in reference andellipsis in English and Urdu text. The results show that referencesystem in Urdu text is more intricate than the English text. Moreover,the quantitative research reveals that most of the students translatedthe source text poorly where ellipsis and reference appeared. Theresearch is significant for it would set the directions for furtherempirical researches in the area of translation studies. Moreover, itmay be helpful in drawing the attention of teachers and studentstowards the role of cohesive devices in translation.