1.What is translation?

Translation is the comprehension of the

meaning of a text and the subsequent
production of an equivalent text, likewise called
a "translation," that communicates the same
message in another language. The text that is
translated is called the source text, and the
language that it is translated into is called the
target language. The product is sometimes
called the target text.
Translation, when practiced b relativel
bilingual individuals but especiall when b
persons with limited proficienc in one or both
languages, involves a risk of spilling!over of
idioms and usages from the source language
into the target language. "n the other hand,
inter!linguistic spillages have also served the
useful purpose of importing calques and
loanwords from a source language into a target
language that had previousl lacked a concept
or a convenient expression for the concept.
Translators and interpreters have thus plaed
an important role in the evolution of languages
and cultures.
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The art of translation is as old as written
literature.
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&arts of the 'umerian Epic of
Gilgamesh, among the oldest known literar
works, have been found in translations into
several 'outhwest (sian languages of the
second millennium )*+. The Epic of Gilgamesh
ma have been read, in their own languages, b
earl authors of the Bible and the Iliad.
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-evelopments since the .ndustrial /evolution
have influenced the practice of translation,
nurturing schools, professional associations, and
standards.
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The .nternet has helped expand the
market for translation and has facilitated
product locali1ation. *urrentl, some 234 of
professional translators work with technical
texts.
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'ince the 1506s,
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attempts have been made to
computeri1e the translation of natural!language
texts 8machine translation9 or to use computers
as an aid to translation 8computer!assisted
translation9.
translation #:at.,;carring across$, the
rendering of a text into another language.
(pplied to literature, the term connotes the art
of recomposing a work in another language
without losing its original flavor, or of finding an
analogous substitute, for example, 'cott
<oncrieff=s Remembrance of Things Past for
&roust=s la recherche du temps perdu, which,
translated literall, means ":ooking for :ost
Time." Translations of the most ancient texts
extant into modern languages are called
decipherments. Two well!known examples are
the decoding of the +gptian hieroglphs on the
/osetta 'tone 8see under /osetta9 b >ean
?ran@ois *hampollion and the decoding of the
&ersian cuneiform inscriptions on the rock of
)ehistun b Aenr /awlinson. Translating
sacred texts has alwas been the chief means
b which a culture transmits its values to
posterit. .mportant translations of the )ible
began with the Bulgate 8Aebrew and Creek into
:atin9 of 't. >erome in the 0th cent. (.-. +nglish
translations of the )ible include that of
>ohn Wclif in the 10th cent. 8from :atin9,
William Tndale=s in the 17th cent. 8from
Aebrew and Creek9, and the great (uthori1ed
Bersion of 1711, the Ding >ames Bersion, which
has been called the most influential work of
translation in an language. The /enaissance
was a golden age of translations, especiall into
+nglish. /enewed interest in the :atin classics
created a demand for renderings of
"vid=s Metamorphoses 8tr. b (rthur Colding,
1373!729, Bergil=s Aeneid 8tr. b Cawin -ouglas,
c.1313E Aenr Aoward, earl of 'urre, c.1306E
and /ichard 'tanhurst, 13F%9, and
&lutarch=s Lies 8tr. b 'ir Thomas Gorth, 13259.
The flavor of these renderings is indicated in the
opening lines of 'tanhurst=s Aeneid! "Gow
manhood and garbroles #battles$ . chaunt, and
martial horror." .n addition there were
translations of important contemporar works
into +nglishH *astiglione=s "ourtier 8tr. b 'ir
Thomas Aob, 13719, <ontaigne=s Essais 8tr. b
>ohn ?lorio, 176,9, and *ervantes=s #on
$ui%ote 8tr. b >ohn 'helton, 171%9. Gotable
translations of the 15th and %6th cent. include
)audelaire=s translations of the works of +dgar
(llan &oe, 'cott <oncrieff=s translation of &roust,
and +ustache <orel=s translation of >ames >oce.
(merican authors whose works have been
translated into several +uropean languages
include <ark Twain, >ack :ondon, +rnest
Aemingwa, >ohn -os &assos, &earl )uck,
<argaret <itchell 8Gone &ith the 'ind 9, and
Ipton 'inclair, who set a record with
translations into 02 languages.
+TJ<":"CJ
+tmologicall, translation is a "carring across"
or "bringing across". The :atin translatio derives
from the perfect passive participle, translatum,
of transfero 8". transfer"Kfrom trans, "across" L
fero, ". carr" or ". bring"9. The modern
/omance, Cermanic and 'lavic +uropean
languages have generall formed their own
equivalent terms for this concept after the :atin
modelKafter transfero or after the kindred
traduco 8". bring across" or ". lead across"9.
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(dditionall, the (ncient Creek term for
"translation", MNOPQRSTUV 8metaphrasis, "a
speaking across"9, has supplied +nglish with
metaphrase 8a "literal translation", or "word!for!
word" translation9Kas contrasted with
paraphrase 8"a saing in other words", from the
Creek WSRPQRSTUV, paraphrasis"9.
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Metaphrase
corresponds, in one of the more recent
terminologies, to "formal equivalence"E and
paraphrase, to "dnamic equivalence."
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( widel recogni1ed icon for the practice and
historic role of translation is the /osetta 'tone,
which in the Inited 'tates is incorporated into
the coat of arms of the -efense :anguage
.nstitute.
8httpHXXen.wikipedia.orgXwikiXTranslation9
%. What are the principles of translation?
Y.t is now prett generall agreed, that
translating the writings of the ancients is, if not
the sole, at least the plainest, the shortest, and
the surest means of becoming well acquainted
with them and their language. .t is also agreed,
that a translation ought exactl to express the
originalE that it should neither be too free nor to
servileE that it should neither deviate into long
circumlocutions, which weaken the ideas, nor
adhere to strictl to the letter, which debases
the sentiment.
8httpHXXaboutranslation.blogspot.comX%667X16Xpr
inciples!of!translation.html9
YCood theor is based on information gained
from practice. Cood practice is based on
carefull worked!out theor. The two are
interdependent. 8:arson l551, p. 19 The ideal
translation will be accurate as to meaning and
natural as to the receptor language forms used.
(n intended audience who is unfamiliar with the
source text will readil understand it. The
success of a translation is measured b how
closel it measures up to these ideals.
The ideal translation should beZ
(ccurateH reproducing as exactl as
possible the meaning of the source text.
GaturalH using natural forms of the
receptor language in a wa that is
appropriate to the kind of text being
translated.
*ommunicativeH expressing all aspects
of the meaning in a wa that is readil
understandable to the intended
audience.
Translation is a process based on the theor
that it is possible to abstract the meaning of a
text from its forms and reproduce that meaning
with the ver different forms of a second
language.
Translation, then, consists of studing the
lexicon, grammatical structure, communication
situation, and cultural context of the source
language text, anal1ing it in order to determine
its meaning, and then reconstructing this same
meaning using the lexicon and grammatical
structure which are appropriate in the receptor
language and its cultural context. 8:arson l55F,
p. ,9
.n practice, there is considerable variation in the
tpes of translations produced b translators.
'ome translators work onl in two languages
and are competent in both. "thers work from
their first language to their second language,
and still others from their second language to
their first language. -epending on these
matters of language proficienc, the procedures
used will var from pro[ect to pro[ect. .n most
pro[ects in which '.: is involved, a translation
team carries on the pro[ect. Team roles are
worked out according to the individual skills of
team members. There is also some variation
depending on the purpose of a given translation
and the tpe of translation that will be accepted
b the intended audiences.
8httpHXXwww.sil.orgXtranslationXtrtheor.htm9
,.What are the elements of translation?
Three +lements to &roduce a Cood Translation
Work
-ue to the highl developing global econom
and the modern communication
technologies, a mass of translation companies
emerges in the translation
industr,. Aow can a compan take a stead
position in this arena? .t is the
translation qualit that makes success..
)ecause translation is a complicated cross!
cultural communicative activit, a
translation which is faithful, expressive and
close to the original text is
essential. Aere are some suggestions for ou to
gain better comprehension and
appl in our real work.
a.?irst, use target!oriented phrases on the
lexical level. >ust make clear what the
author reall wants to express, ,then re!express
it with the appropriate phrase.
-on\t tr to make translation word for word.
1 +nsure each of the terms in original language
gets translated consistentl into
the appropriate term in the target language.
The translation managert should
create a terminolog bank for the translators all
assigned for a certain
translation pro[ect.
% Ise a ver commonl used word to make the
fundamental meaning which agrees with
the original word perfectl.
, .f ou use acronms, be sure to also spell
them out.
0 (ccording to the context and writing stle,
permit a certain term\s changes
whether it is complicated or not in form.
b.'econd, use proper devices on the stlistic
level
1 Ise rhetoric devices designated to impress
target readers to respond, including
hperbole, simile, metaphor, personification,
pun, alliteration analog and so on.
% Ise active voice, which is easier to
understand. .f the material is being
translated into a language which frequentl
uses passive voice, such as Cerman,
the translator will make the accommodation for
that language.
, )e of conciseness and consideration... Crasp
the soul of text thoroughl and
firml.
0 )e of unit and variet. Init refers to a kind
of decoration of wisdom\s
custom and language, whereas variet refers to
a kind of deviation to unit and
break awa from custom. Init is a general rule
to be obeed for all text in one
article, .t is on the base of unit that the target
word can var. ?or example, we
tr to avoid writing essentiall the same thing in
different places. .f ou need
to repeat information, it is better to repeat it
verbatim.
c.Third, be faithful to the original text.
1 (void ambiguit. ( translator needs to
understand precisel what the author
wants to express in order to translate them
correctl. .f it is ambiguous, the
translator will need to have it clarified.
% <ake sure there are no defects in the source
materials, (n error in the source
material is compounded when translated into
multiple languages.
?undamentall, being faithful to the original and
using expressive phrases make
the target text eas to understand. +xcept the
most important three elements
mentioned above ou should appl to. Taking
into consideration of the content and
structure of the source text as well as
acceptabilit of the target text, is
another technique translators can\t miss. .
.t is well known that translation is an art [ob, .t
can reproduce fine ideas b
words. Therefore, the art of translation is a
combination of knowledge of contents
and linguistic principles in both target and
source languages. (nd, through this
article, we put forward faithfulness,
expressiveness and closeness as basic
principles which a qualit translation service
need to obe.
0.What are the theories of translation?
History of Western theory
-iscussions of the theor and practice of
translation reach back into antiquit and show
remarkable continuities. The distinction that had
been drawn b the ancient
Creeks between metaphrase 8"literal"
translation9 and paraphrase was adopted b the
+nglish poet and translator >ohn -rden 817,1]
12669, who represented translation as the
[udicious blending of these two modes of
phrasing when selecting, in the target language,
"counterparts", orequivalents, for the
expressions used in the source languageH
When #words$ appear... literall graceful, it were
an in[ur to the author that the should be
changed. )ut since... what is beautiful in one
#language$ is often barbarous, na sometimes
nonsense, in another, it would be unreasonable
to limit a translator to the narrow compass of his
author=s wordsH =tis enough if he choose out
some expression which does not vitiate the
sense.
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-rden cautioned, however, against the license
of "imitation", i.e. of adapted translationH "When
a painter copies from the life... he has no
privilege to alter features and lineaments..."
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This general formulation of the central concept
of translation K equivalence K is probabl as
adequate as an that has been proposed ever
since *icero andAorace, in first!centur!
)*+ /ome, famousl and literall cautioned
against translating "word for word" 8erbum pro
erbo9.
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-espite occasional theoretical diversities, the
actual practice of translators has hardl
changed since antiquit. +xcept for some
extreme metaphrasers in the
earl*hristian period and the <iddle (ges, and
adapters in various periods 8especiall pre!
*lassical /ome, and the 1Fth centur9,
translators have generall shown prudent
flexibilit in seeking equivalents K "literal"
where possible, paraphrastic where necessar
K for the original meaning and other crucial
"values" 8e.g., stle,verse form, concordance
with musical accompaniment or, in films, with
speech articulator movements9 as determined
from context.
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.n general, translators have sought to preserve
the context itself b reproducing the original
order of sememes, and hence word order K
when necessar, reinterpreting the
actual grammatical structure. The grammatical
differences between "fixed!word!
order" languages
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8e.g., +nglish, ?rench, Cerm
an9 and "free!word!order" languages
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8e.g., Creek, :atin, &olish, /ussian9 have been
no impediment in this regard.
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When a target language has lacked terms that
are found in a source language, translators have
borrowed them, thereb enriching the target
language. Thanks in great measure to the
exchange of calques and loanwords between
languages, and to their importation from other
languages, there are few concepts that are
"untranslatable" among the modern +uropean
languages.
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Cenerall, the greater the contact and exchange
that has existed between two languages, or
between both and a third one, the greater is the
ratio of metaphrase toparaphrase that ma be
used in translating between them. Aowever, due
to shifts in "ecological niches" of words, a
common etmolog is sometimes misleading as
a guide to current meaning in one or the other
language. The +nglish actual, for example,
should not be confused with
the cognate ?rench actuel 8meaning "present",
"current"9, the &olish a(tualn) 8"present",
"current"9
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or the
/ussian *+,-*./012 8"urgent, topical"9.
The translator=s role as a bridge for "carring
across" values between cultures has been
discussed at least since Terence, /oman
adapter of Creek comedies, in the second
centur )*+. The translator=s role is, however,
b no means a passive and mechanical one, and
so has also been compared to that of an artist.
The main ground seems to be the concept of
parallel creation found in critics as earl
as *icero. -rdenobserved that "Translation is a
tpe of drawing after life..." *omparison of the
translator with a musician or actor goes back at
least to 'amuel >ohnson=s remark
about (lexander &ope plaing Aomer on
a flageolet, while Aomer himself used
a bassoon.
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.f translation be an art, it is no eas one. .n the
1,th centur, /oger )acon wrote that if a
translation is to be true, the translator must
know both languages, as well as
the science that he is to translateE and finding
that few translators did, he wanted to do awa
with translation and translators altogether.
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The first +uropean to assume that one
translates satisfactoril onl toward his own
language ma have been <artin :uther,
translator of the )ible into Cerman. (ccording to
:.C. Dell, since >ohann Cottfried Aerder in the
1Fth centur, "it has been axiomatic" that one
works onl toward his own language.
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*ompounding these demands upon the
translator is the fact that not even the most
complete dictionar or thesaurus can ever be a
full adequate guide in translation. (lexander
Ttler, in his Essa) on the Principles of
Translation 812569, emphasi1ed that
assiduous readingis a more comprehensive
guide to a language than are dictionaries. The
same point, but also including listening to
the spoken language, had earlier been made in
12F, b "nufr (ndr1e[ Dopc1^ski, member
of &oland=s 'ociet for +lementar )ooks, who
was called "the last :atin poet".
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The special role of the translator in societ is
aptl described in an essa that was published
posthumousl in 1F6, and that had been
written b .gnac Drasicki K "&oland=s :a
?ontaine", &rimate of &oland, poet,
encclopedist, author of the first &olish novel,
and translator from ?rench and CreekH
#T$ranslation... is in fact an art both estimable and ver difficult, and therefore is not the labor
and portion of common mindsE #it$ should be #practiced$ b those who are themselves capable of
being actors, when the see greater use in translating the works of others than in their own
works, and hold higher than their own glor the service that the render to their countr.
Religious texts
Translation of religious works has plaed an
important role in histor. )uddhist monks who
translated the .ndian sutrasinto *hinese often
skewed their translations to better
reflect *hina=s ver different culture,
emphasi1ing notions such asfilial piet.
( famous mistranslation of the Bible is the
rendering of the Aebrew word _` a ba 8(eren9, which
has several meanings, as "horn" in a context
where it actuall means "beam of light". (s a
result, artists have for centuries depicted <oses
the :awgiver with horns growing out of his
forehead. (n example is <ichelangelo=s famous
sculpture. 'ome *hristians withanti!
'emitic feelings used such depictions to spread
hatred of the >ews, claiming that the
were devils with horns.
"ne of the first recorded instances of translation
in the West was the rendering of the "ld
Testament into Creek in the third centur ).*.+.
The resulting translation is known as
the 3eptuagint, a name that alludes to the
sevent translators 8sevent!two in some
versions9 who were commissioned to translate
the )ible in (lexandria. +ach translator worked
in solitar confinement in a separate cell, and
legend has it that all sevent versions were
identical. The 3eptuagint became the source
text for later translations into man languages,
including :atin, *optic, (rmenian and Ceorgian.
'aint >erome, the patron saint of translation, is
still considered one of the greatest translators in
histor for rendering the Bible into :atin.
The /oman *atholic *hurch used his translation
8known as the Bulgate9 for centuries, but even
this translation at first stirred much controvers.
The period preceding and contemporar with
the &rotestant /eformation saw the translation
of the Bible into local +uropean languages, a
development that greatl affected Western
*hristianit=s split into /oman
*atholicism and &rotestantism, due to
disparities between *atholic and &rotestant
versions of crucial words and passages.
The Luther Bible in Cerman, >akub Wu[ek=s )ible
translation in &olish, and the 4ing 5ames
Bible in +nglish had lasting effects on the
religions, cultures and languages of those
countries.
History of Asian theory
There is a separate tradition of translation in
'outh (sia and +ast (sia 8primaril modern
.ndia and *hina9, especiall connected with the
rendering of religious texts K particularl
)uddhist texts K and with the governance of
the *hinese empire. *lassical .ndian translation
is characteri1ed b loose adaptation, rather than
the closer translation more commonl found in
+urope, and *hinese translation
theor identifies various criteria and limitations
in translation.
.n the +ast (sia 'inosphere 8sphere of *hinese
cultural influence9, more important than
translation per se has been the use and reading
of *hinese texts, which also had substantial
influence on the >apanese, Dorean and
Bietnamese languages, with substantial
borrowings of vocabular and writing sstem.
Gotable is >apanese Danbun, which is a sstem
of glossing*hinese texts for >apanese speakers.
8Chinese translation theory) was born out of
contact with vassal states during the chou
-nast. .t developed through translations
of )uddhist scripture into *hinese. .t is a
response to the universals of the experience of
translation and to the specifics of the
experience of translating from specific source
languages into *hinese. .t also developed in the
context of *hinese literar and intellectual
tradition.
The modern 'tandard <andarin word fan)i
"translateE translation" compounds fan "turn
overE cross overE translate" and )i "translateE
interpret". 'ome related snonms are tong)i
"interpretE translate", chuan)i "interpretE
translate", and 6huan)i "translateE
retranslate".
The *hinese classics contain various words
meaning "interpreterE translator", for
instance, sheren 8lit. "tongue person"9
and fanshe 8lit. "return tongue"9.
The "lassic of Rites records four regional
wordsH 7i "sendE entrustE rel on" for -ongi
"+astern Ji!barbarians", %iang "be likeE
resembleE image" for Ganman "'outhern
<an!barbarians", didi "-i!barbarian boots"
for dirong "Western /ong!barbarians",
and )i "translateE interpret" for )eidi
"Gorthern -i!barbarians".
.n those five regions, the languages of the
people were not mutuall intelligible, and their
likings and desires were different. To make what
was in their minds apprehended, and to
communicate their likings and desires, 8there
were officers9, K in the east, called
transmittersE in the south, representationistsE in
the west, Te!tesE and in the north, interpreters.
8 "The /oal /egulations", tr. >ames
:egge 1FF3 vol. %2, pp. %%5!%,69
( Western Aan work attributes a dialogue about
translation to *onfucius. *onfucius advises a
ruler who wishes to learn foreign languages not
to bother. *onfucius tells the ruler to focus on
governance and let the translators handle
translation.
The earliest bit of translation theor ma be the
phrase "names should follow their bearers, while
things should follow *hina." .n other words,
names should be transliterated, while things
should be translated b meaning.
.n the late fing -nast and the /epublican
&eriod, reformers such as :iang fichao, Au
'hi and chou cuoren began looking at
translation practice and theor of the great
translators in *hinese histor.
Fidelity vs. fluency
?idelit 8or "faithfulness"9 and fluenc are two
qualities that, for millennia, have been regarded
as ideals to be striven for in translation,
particularl literar translation. 'ometimes,
especiall in inexperienced hands, the two
ideals are at odds. Thus a 12th!centur ?rench
critic quipped about "les belles infid8les" to
suggest that translations, like women, could
beeither beautiful or faithful, but not both at the
same time.
#1F$
"?idelit" pertains to the extent to which a
translation accuratel renders the meaning of
the source text, without adding to or subtracting
from it, without emphasi1ing or de!emphasi1ing
an part of the meaning, and otherwise without
distorting it.
"?luenc" pertains to the extent to which a
translation appears to a native speaker of the
target language to have originall been written
in that language, and conforms to the
language=s grammatical, sntactic and idiomatic
conventions.
( translation that meets the first criterion is said
to be a "faithful translation"E a translation that
meets the second criterion, an
"idiomatic translation". .n the hands of an expert
translator, the two qualities need not be
mutuall exclusive.
The criteria used to [udge the faithfulness of a
translation var according to the sub[ect, the
precision of the original contents, the tpe,
function and use of the text, its literar qualities,
its social or historical context, and so forth.
The criteria for [udging the fluenc of a
translation appear more straightforwardH an
unidiomatic translation "sounds wrong", and in
the extreme case of word!for!word
translations generated b man machine!
translation sstems, often results in patent
nonsense with onl a humorous value
8see /ound!trip translation9.
Gevertheless, in certain contexts a translator
ma consciousl strive to produce a literal
translation. :iterar translators and translators
of religious or historictexts often adhere as
closel as possible to the source text. .n doing
so, the often deliberatel stretch the
boundaries of the target language to produce an
unidiomatic text. 'imilarl, a literar translator
ma wish to adopt words or expressions from
the source language in order to provide "local
color" in the translation.
.n recent decades, prominent advocates of such
"non!fluent" translation have included the
?rench scholar (ntoine )erman, who identified
twelve deforming tendencies inherent in most
prose translations,
#15$
and the (merican theorist
:awrence Benuti, who has called upon
translators to appl "foreigni1ing" translation
strategies instead of domesticating ones.
#%6$
<an non!fluent!translation theories draw on
concepts from Cerman /omanticism, the most
obvious influence on latter!da theories of
"foreigni1ation" being the Cerman theologian
and philosopher ?riedrich 'chleiermacher. .n his
seminal lecture ""n the -ifferent <ethods of
Translation" 81F1,9 he distinguished between
translation methods that move "the writer
toward #the reader$", i.e., fluenc, and those
that move the "reader toward #the author$", i.e.,
an extreme fidelit to the foreignness of
the source text. 'chleiermacher clearl favored
the latter approach. Ais preference was
motivated, however, not so much b a desire to
embrace the foreign, as b a nationalist desire
to oppose ?rance=s cultural domination and to
promote Cerman literature.
?or the most part, current Western practices in
translation are dominated b the concepts of
"fidelit" and "fluenc". This has not alwas
been the case. There have been periods,
especiall in pre!*lassical /ome and in the 1Fth
centur, when man translators stepped beond
the bounds of translation proper into the realm
of "adaptation".
(dapted translation retains currenc in some
non!Western traditions. Thus the .ndian epic,
the Rama)ana, appears in man versions in the
various .ndian languages, and the stories are
different in each. (none considering the words
used for translating into the .ndian languages,
whether those be (ran or -ravidian languages,
will be struck b the freedom that is granted to
the translators.
#dubious 9 discuss$
This ma relate to a
devotion to prophetic passages that strike a
deep religious chord, or to a vocation to
instruct unbelievers.
#citation needed$
'imilar examples
are to be found in medieval *hristian literature,
which ad[usted the text to the customs and
values of the audience.
Equivalence
The question of fidelit vs. transparenc has
also been formulated in terms of, respectivel,
"formal equivalence" and
"d)namic equivalence". The latter two
expressions are associated with the
translator +ugene Gida and were originall
coined to describe was of translating the Bible,
but the two approaches are applicable to an
translation.
"?ormal equivalence" corresponds to
"metaphrase", and "dnamic equivalence" to
"paraphrase".
"-namic equivalence" 8or
"functional equivalence"9 conves the
essential thought expressed in a source text K
if necessar, at the expense ofliteralit,
original sememe and word order, the source
text=s active vs. passive voice, etc.
) contrast, "formal equivalence" 8sought
via "literal" translation9 attempts to render the
text literall, or "word for word" 8the latter
expression being itself a word!for!word
rendering of the classical :atin erbum pro
erbo9 K if necessar, at the expense of
features natural to the target language.
There is, however, no sharp boundar between
dnamic and formal equivalence. "n the
contrar, the represent a spectrum of
translation approaches. +ach is used at various
times and in various contexts b the same
translator, and at various points within the same
text K sometimes simultaneousl. *ompetent
translation entails the [udicious blending of
dnamic and formal equivalents.
#%1$
*ommon pitfalls in translation, especiall when
practiced b inexperienced translators, involve
false equivalents such as "false friends"
and false cognates.
Back-translation
( "back!translation" is a translation of a
translated text back into the language of the
original text, made without reference to the
original text. .n the context of machine
translation, a back!translation is also called a
"round!trip translation."
*omparison of a back!translation to the original
text is sometimes used as a qualit check on
the original translation. )ut while useful as an
approximate check, it is far from infallible.
#%%$
Aumorousl telling evidence for this was
provided b <ark Twain when he issued his own
back!translation of a ?rench version of his
famousshort stor, "The *elebrated >umping
?rog of *alaveras *ount"E he published his
back!translation in a single 156, volume
together with his +nglish!language original, the
?rench translation, and a "&rivate Aistor of the
=>umping ?rog= 'tor," the latter including a
snopsi1ed adaptation that Twain tells us had
appeared, without attribution to him, in a
&rofessor 'idgwick=s Gree( Prose
"omposition 8p. 1179 under the title, "The
(thenian and the ?rog," and which for a time,
Twain tells us, had been taken for an
independent ancient Creek precursor of Twain=s
">umping ?rog" stor.
#%,$
.n cases when a historic document survives onl
in translation, the original having been lost,
researchers sometimes undertake back!
translation in an effort to reconstruct the
original text. (n example involves the novel The
3aragossa Manuscript b
the &olish aristocrat >an &otocki 81271]1F139.
The polmath polglotcomposed the book
entirel in ?rench and published fragments
anonmousl in 1F60 and 1F1,]10. &ortions of
the original ?rench!language manuscripts were
subsequentl lostE the missing fragments
survived, however, in a &olish translation that
was made b +dmund *ho[ecki in 1F02 from a
complete ?rench cop, now lost. ?rench!
language versions of the complete 3aragossa
Manuscript have since been produced, based on
extant ?rench!language fragments and on
?rench!language versions that have been back!
translated from *ho[ecki=s &olish version.
#%0$
'imilarl, when historians suspect that a
document is actuall a translation from another
language, back!translation into that hpothetical
original language can provide supporting
evidence b showing that such characteristics
as idioms, puns,
peculiar grammatical structures, etc., are in fact
derived from the original language.
?or example, the known text of the Till
Eulenspiegel folk tales is in Aigh Cerman but
contains man puns that work onl if back!
translated into :ow Cerman. This seems clear
evidence that these tales 8or at least large
portions of them9 were originall composed in
:ow Cerman and rendered into Aigh Cerman b
an over!metaphrastic translator.
'imilarl, supporters of (ramaic primacKi.e.,
of the view that the *hristian Gew Testament or
its sources were originall written in
the (ramaic languageKseek to prove their case
b showing that difficult passages in the
existing Creek text of the Gew Testament make
much better sense if back!translated
into (ramaicKthat, for example, some
incomprehensible references are in fact
(ramaic puns that do not work in Creek.
3.What are the tpes of translation?
Adinistrative translation
The translation of administrative texts.
(lthough administrative has a ver
broad meaning, in terms of translation it
refers to common texts used within
businesses and organisations that are
used in da to da management. .t can
also be stretched to cover texts with
similar functions in government.
Coercial translation
*ommercial translation or business
translation covers an sort of document
used in the business world such as
correspondence, compan accounts,
tender documents, reports, etc.
*ommercial translations require
specialiast translators with knowledge of
terminolog used in the business world.
Co!uter translation
Got to be confused with *(T, computer
assisted translations, which refer to
translations carried out b software.
*omputer translation is the translation
of anthing to do with computers such
as software, manuals, help files, etc.
Econoic translation
'imilar to commercial or business
translation, economic translation is
simpl a more specific term used for the
translation of documents relating to the
field of economics. 'uch texts are
usuall a lot more academic in nature.
Financial translation
?inancial translation is the translation of
texts of a financial nature. (nthing
from banking to asset management to
stocks and bonds could be covered.
"eneral translation
( general translation is the simplest of
translations. ( general text means that
the language used is not high level and
to a certain extent could be in laman=s
terms. There is no specific or technical
terminolog used. <ost translations
carried out fall under this categor.
#e$al translation
:egal translations are one of the
trickiest translations known. (t its
simplest level it means the translation of
legal documents such as statutes,
contracts and treaties.
( legal translation will alwas need
specialist attention. This is because law
is culture!dependent and requires a
translator with an excellent
understanding of both the source and
target cultures.
<ost translation agencies would onl
ever use professional legal to undertake
such work. This is because there is no
real margin for errorE the mistranslation
of a passage in a contract could, for
example, have disastrous
consequences.
When translating a text within the field
of law, the translator should keep the
following in mind. The legal sstem of
the source text is structured in a wa
that suits that culture and this is
reflected in the legal languageE
similarl, the target text is to be read b
someone who is familiar with another
legal sstem and its language.
#iterary translation
( literar translation is the translation of
literature such as novels, poems, plas
and poems.
The translation of literar works is
considered b man one of the highest
forms of translation as it involves so
much more than simpl translating text.
( literar translator must be capable of
also translating feelings, cultural
nuances, humour and other subtle
elements of a piece of work.
'ome go as far as to sa that literar
translations are not reall possible. .n
1535 the /ussian!born linguist /oman
>akobson went as far as to declare that
"poetr b definition #was$
untranslatable". .n 1520 the (merican
poet >ames <errill wrote a poem, ":ost
in Translation," which in part explores
this sub[ect.
%edical translation
( medical translation will cover anthing
from the medical field from the
packaging of medicine to manuals for
medical equipments to medical books.
:ike legal translation, medical
translation is specialisation where a
mistranslation can have grave
consequences.
Technical translation
( technical translation has a broad
meaning. .t usuall refers to certain
fields such as .T or manufacturing and
deals with texts such as manuals and
instructions. Technical translations are
usuall more expensive than general
translations as the contain a high
amount of terminolog that onl a
specialist translator could deal with.
#iteral translation, also known
as direct translation in everda
usage
has the meaning of the rendering of
text from one language to another
"word!for!word" 8:atinH "erbum pro
erbo"9 rather than conveing
the sense of the original. Aowever in
translation studies literal translation has
the meaning of technical translation of
scientific, technical, technological or
legal texts.
#1$
"ther term for literal
translation in translation
theor is metaphrase and
the prasal 8"sense" translation9
isparaphrase.8 (
literal +nglish translation of
the Cerman word "4indergarten" would
be "children garden," but in +nglish the
expression refers to the school ear
between pre!school and first grade.
:iteral translations in which individual
components within words or compounds
are translated to create new lexical
items in the target language 8a process
also known as gloan translationh9 are
called calques, e.g., gbeer gardenh from
Cerman g)iergarten.h
:iteral translation of
the .talian sentence, "3o che :uesto non
a bene" 8". know that this is not good"9,
produces "Dnow8.9 that this not go8it9
well," which has +nglish &ords and
.talian grammar.9
Hoo!honic translation
renders a text in one language into a
near!homophonic text in another
language, usuall with no attempt to
preserve the original meaning of the
text. .n one homophonic translation, for
example, +nglish "sat on a wall"
#sitjnkwjl$ is rendered as ?rench
"s=ltonne aux Aalles" #setonoal$ =is
surprised at the <arket=. <ore
generall, hoo!honic
transforation renders a text into a
near!homophonic text in the same or
another languageH e;g; "what a big
nosem" becomes "water bag noise".
8?raer >erker is a homophonic
translation of the ?rench ?rnre
>acques 815379.
#1$
"ther examples of
homophonic translation include some
works b "ulipo 81576]9, :uis van
/ooten=s +nglish!?rench Mots #<=eures!
Gousses, Rames815729, :ouis cukofsk=s
:atin!+nglish "atullus
>ragmenta 815759, "rmonde de Da=s
+nglish!?rench ?<=eures 3ouris
Rames 815F69, and -avid <elnick=s
(ncient Creek!+nglish <en in
(ida 815F,9.
+xamples of homophonic transformation
include Aoward :. *hace=s :adle /at
/otten Aut, published in book form in
1537.
"ther names proposed for this genre
include "allographic translation",
#%$
"transphonation", or 8in ?rench9
"traducson",
#,$
but none of these is
widel used.9