Study the information.

BASICS OF LEGAL TRANSLATION

The oldest and most famous legal document ever translated, that we know of, is the Rosetta Stone. It contains
an ancient Egyptian decree in three versions: Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs !emotic Script and Ancient "reek.
It is currently displayed at the #ritish $useum since %&'(.
1. Basics of Translation
Translation is both an art and a science. It requires both knowledge and critical thinking. Translation is the act
of accurately importing a message from one language to another. Computers and new technologies are new
tools to produce better and faster translations. However, human translation is still the most reliable form of
translation there is today.
a. Translation Units
Experienced translators brea information into translation units in order to do a better !ob. " translation unit is
segment of a text which the translator treats as a single cognitive unit for the purposes of establishing an
equivalence. The translation unit may be a single word, a phrase, a clause, one or more sentences, or even a
larger unit.
Exampl of a paragrap! "ro#n into s$n translation %nits&
1The earliest written constitution still governing a sovereign nation today 2may )e that of San $arino. 3The
*eges Statutae Repu)licae Sancti $arini 4was written in *atin 5and consists of si+ )ooks. 6The first )ook, with
,( articles, 7esta)lishes councils, courts, various e+ecutive officers and the powers assigned to them.
". Fi'lit( an' Transparnc(
Fi'lit( or fait!f%lnss refers to the extent to which a translation accurately renders the meaning of the source
text, without distortion.
Transparnc( is the extent to which a translation appears to a native speaer of the target language to have
originally been written in that language, and conforms to its grammar, syntax and idiom.
" translation that meets the first criterion is said to be )fait!f%l)# a translation that meets the second,
)i'iomatic). The two qualities are not necessarily mutually exclusive. " $%th&century 'rench critic coined the
phrase (les belles infid)les( to suggest that translations, lie women, can be either faithful or beautiful, but not
both. *f course, this is not always true.
c. E*%i$alnc
E*%i$alnc is the highest principle in translation. +e have formal equivalence and dynamic (functional)
equivalence. 'ormal equivalence corresponds to -metaphrase- or literal translation, while dynamic
equivalence refers to (paraphrase( or restatement of meaning.
c. Bac#+Translation
Bac#+translation is a translation of a translated text bac into the language of the original text, made without
reference of the original text. Comparison of a bac&translation with the original text is sometimes used as a
chec on the accuracy of the original translation, much as the accuracy of a mathematical operation is
sometimes checed by reversing the operation. 'or learning purposes, bac&translation exercises are extremely
helpful for students, especially in technical texts such as legal documents.
,. Lgal Translation Stratgis
Lgal translation is a branch of technical translations. In order to mae a reliable legal translation, the
translator must have an accurate idea of laws and legal systems. Therefore, it is a good idea to be a lawyer
before attempting to mae professional translations of legal documents. ,eedless to say, that proficiency in both
languages is required first.
a. F%nctional E*%i$alnc
'unctional equivalence allows the readers to relate the source legal system with their own legal system and to
-access the unfamiliar through familiar,. but it may confuse the recipient by creating an impression of identity
of legal concepts in the source and target legal systems though in most cases their equivalence is only partial.
". Formal E*%i$alnc
The core of this strategy is linguistic equivalence or literal /-verbum pro verbo.0 translation. It allows to
preserve the semantic content of the source language term intact and to present it in a form natural for the target
language users. The main advantages of this strategy are that the equivalents are unambiguous and presented in
the target language usual lexemes. 1ut, if used too often, this strategy may obscure the text, especially to lay
readers.
c. Borro-ing
The strategy of borrowing uses a transcribed /transliterated, if necessary0 or an original form of the source&
language term. Transcription is usually done together with naturali2ation 3 the linguistic adaptation of the
source&language term to the rules of the target language. 4inguistically adapted terms become neologisms in the
target language. The main advantage of this translation technique is again unambiguity of the equivalent.
However, such equivalents should be accompanied by explanations and that might mae the translation
awward.
'. .scription
This strategy constitutes paraphrasing & short explanation of the meaning of the term. Concise paraphrases may
become term equivalents consisting of several words. The main advantage of this strategy is transparency of the
terms & the reader can perceive their meaning at once without consulting any other sources. 1ut longer
paraphrases might mae a translated text complicated.
Exrcis
Appl( t! translation tc!ni*%s gi$n in t! "rac#ts to translat t! follo-ing sntncs&
a. He acted at once. /$odulation 0 1antonymy2.
). +oring with you is a pleasure. /Transposition.
c. The people were in the street. /*iteral TR.
d. The early bird catches the worm. /E3uivalence.
e. The boy was twenty yards behind him. /Adaptation.
f. The committee has failed to act. /4mission.
g. " ,epali television presenter has set a new world record by hosting the longest&ever tal show. /#orrowing.
h. The child cries for the game. /E+plicitation.
i. It actually maes a great case study on what someone can do long term. /5al3ue.
6. 5eople everywhere are confronted with the need to mae decisions in the face of ignorance and this dilemma is
growing. /Sentence fragmentation.