What is Translation ? Definitions and all types

 

Origin of Translation? : 

           The word 'translate' comes from the Latin 'translatio' where 'trans' means across and "latus' means carrying; the word thus means the carrying across of meaning from one language to the other. In other words transferring the meaning from source language to target language. In the process of translation a text is reborn in another form.

           The translation is the transmission of written text from one language (the source) to another language (the target). Although translation and interpretation mostly used interchangeably, by actual definition, translation refers to the written language, and interpretation refers to the spoken language.

          The main objective of translation is to transfer the intent of a message and original tone, taking into consideration regional and cultural differences between target and source languages.

A few definitions of translation are given below:

Translation is the translating of speech or writing from one language to another. Translation is also the expressing of something in a different way or medium. For example changing a novel into a a film.

_____Collins Cobuild Dictionary_____

Translation is the process of translating words or text from one language to another.

_____Oxford Dictionary_____

Translation is the word to word rendering of the text from one language to another.

_____Cambridge Dictionary_____

Translation is defined by Catford as : An operation performed on languages, a process of substituting a text in one language for a text in another. The replacement of textual material in one language (source languag) by equivalent material in other language (target language).

Etienne Dolet from France, one of the earliest theoreticians of translation (1509-46) established 5 essential principles for translators

1. The translator must fully understand the sense and the meaning of the original author, although he is at liberty to clarify obscurities.

2. The translator should have a perfect knowledge of both SL and TL.

3. The translator should avoid a word for word renderings.

4. The translator should use forms of speech in common use.

5. The translator should choose and order words appropriately to produce the correct tone.

H.W. Longfellow feels that " ...the business of translator is to report what the author says not toexplain what he means; that is the work of the commentator." Both the views above stress the sanctity of the ST i.e. source text and the translator is not supposed to meddle with it.

          From a linguistic point of view - 

Translation is a special case of communication because sender and receiver do not share the same code: the translator recodes the message from the sender into the receiver's code. The main responsibility of the translator is to sustain the message although there is no one to one correspondence between the two code systems/languages.

We can conclude that translation is the communication of meaning of a text in source language into an appropriate version of target language. Such translation should not cause any loss or distortion of the original message in the source text. It is the translator's responsibility to reproduce the same meaning in the target language in which he translates the text.

Types of Translation :

Roman Jakobson (1896-1982) in his seminal paper On linguistic aspects of translation'specifies the categories of translation as follows:

1. Intralingual translation, or 'rewording' - an interpretation of verbal signs by neans of other signs of the same language' Intralingual translation would occur when we have an abridged/children's version of novels/plays etc e.g Dickens's David Copperfield

2. Interlingual translation, or 'translation proper' - 'an interpretation of verbal signs by means of some other language' It is generally interlingual translation, between two different languages that has always been the focus of translation studies.

3. Intersemiotic translation, or 'transmutation' - an interpretation of verbal signs by means of signs of non-verbal sign systems'

          The various definitions of translation signify that translation is not always limited to linguistic or verbal signs. Intersemiotic translation, for example, occurs when a written text is translated into a different mode, such as music, film or painting. Examples would be. a musical adaptation opera of a play -Pygmalion to My Fair Lady, Jeff Wayne's famous 1978 musical version of H. G. Wells's science-fiction novel The War of the Worlds, which was then adapted for the stage in 2006, or Gurinder Chadha's 2004 Bollywood Bride and Prejudice adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.

Peter Newmark gives following types of translation:

Word-for-word translation is as interlinear translation, with the TL immediately below the SL words. The SL word-order is preserved and the words translated singly by their most common meanings, out of context. Cultural words are translated literally.

Literal translation: the sL grammatical constructions are converted to their nearest IL equivalents but the words are again translated liberal singly, out of context.

Faithful translation attempts to reproduce the precise contextual meaning of the original within the constraints of the TL grammatical structures. It preserves the degree of grammatical and lexical 'abnormality' (deviation from SL norms) in the translation. It attempts to be completely faithful to the intentions and of the SL writer.

Semantic translation differs from 'faithful translation'as it tries to retain the aesthetic quality of the SL text, The distinction between 'faithful' and 'semantic' translation is that the first is uncompromising and dogmatic, while the second is more flexible, admits the creative exception to 100% fidelity and allows for the translator's intuitive empathy with the original.

Communicative translation attempts to render the exact contextual meaning of the original in such a way that both content and language are readily acceptable and comprehensible to the readership.

Idiomatic translation reproduces the 'message' of the original but tends to distort nuances of meaning by preferring colloquialisms and idioms where these do not exist in the original.

Free translation reproduces the matter without the manner, or the content without the form of the original.

Adaptation is the 'freest' form of translation. It is used mainly for plays (comedies) and poetry; the themes, characters, plots are usually preserved, the SL culture converted to the TL culture and the text rewritten.

       These are actually scales or levels of translation.referring to degree of freedom (from 0 to 100/%) taken by the translator while translating.

Some other types of translation are as under :

1. Technical Translation -

          A technical translation is needed if you intend to market a technical product in some other country. In this situation, the technical document must be translated into the language of that specific country. Technical documentation involves user manuals, product descriptions, maintenance manuals, operating instructions, product descriptions, and much more besides. There is a major need of technical translation in every industry.

         If your technical documents are to be considered user-friendly, they must fulfill certain criteria. Experienced technical translators can help you in adhering to these criteria in the foreign language also. Any technical content that has to be translated- manuals, user guides, online help text, training materials, video, instruction booklets, marketing materials for technical fields such as engineering or science, all these come under technical translation.

2. Legal Translation -

          Many people use a language other than English at home and with the emergence of global commerce, the requirement for multilingual forms, contracts, tenders, and other legal documents is continuously growing. Legal translation is important for businesses and public organizations.

           Many organizations need legal documents translating. This is often a complicated task. Even small mistakes in the effective legal translation can lead to potential lawsuits and legal exposure, consuming time and money and putting hard-won reputations at risk.

          This is the most complex translation, and involves marriage certificate and birth certificate translations, translating court judgments ,contracts, memorandums, agreements, wills, and so on.

3. Medical Translation -

          A medical translation covers many areas in the medical field, including the translation of information pertaining to pharmaceutical products, translations of essential product information for medical devices utilized for things like hip and knee replacements and research findings and patient medical reports and notes.

          The benefit of medical translation is that it plays a huge role in helping healthcare providers implement the required treatment needed for patients in their care who don't speak their native language well enough to permit proper communication. This shows the value of trustworthy medical translation in the healthcare industry.

          Any medical content that is related to labels, instructions, packaging, scientific papers, medical device documentation, doctor prescriptions, pharma studies and so on, generally needs translation services, It is absolutely imperative that the translation service providers are well-experienced, have the appropriate knowledge, and are in-country professionals.

4. Literary Translation

          The name is pretty predictable- literary translation depicts the translation of literary works like novels, stories, books, and so on. It is much more than just converting the context and the meaning of the document into the target language. It involves many relevant cultural nuances, translating humor, emotions, feelings, and other subtle aspects of a particular work. Many litterateurs say that it is very difficult. Some examples of situations that could be complicated are- puns, rhyming words, anagrams, idioms, and so on.

          Most of the time, there are no appropriate translations in the target languages, and the humor is lost. Have you ever tried to translate a joke into another language? If yes, then you would certainly understand what we are trying to say here. Haven't you felt that after translating, the funny part doesn't remain as funny as it was? That's why it's important to hire expert translation services who can translate every single word without changing its uniqueness.

5. Commercial Translation

         This type of translation need language translator with specialized skills, such as knowledge of the business, and the industry to which it belongs. This kind of translation of commercial documents could include business reports, correspondence, company accounts, tender documents, memos, and so on.

6. Administrative Translation

In the realm of translation, administrative demonstrates the translation of management texts you often see being used in companies- whether regional businesses or huge corporations. Though quite similar to commercial translators, it's not exactly the same. While administrative translation can be called as a part of commercial translation, all commercial translation is not administrative.

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