Translation
Translation in the literal sense, is the act of rendering text in one
language - the
source - into another, the
target. However there is a growing awareness in the discipline of Translation Studies about the possibility of using the concept for analysing non-linguisitc situations too.
Among linguistic transltors, a distinction is made between translation, where both the source and target texts are written, from
interpreting or interpretation, where the source and target are spoken. \nFrom the point of view of analyzing the processes involved (translation studies), it is perhaps more useful to treat interpreting as a subcategory of translation.
The linguistic translation process can be logically divided into two steps:
- The meaning must be decoded from the source language, and\n# This meaning must be re-encoded with the target language.
For precise translation, both of these steps often require knowledge of both the
semantics of the language and the
culture of its speakers. In addition, knowledge of the subject matter being discussed is essential.
A successful translation approaches two ideals:
- Fidelity, that is, it accurately renders the meaning of the source text, not adding, subtracting, intensifying, nor weakening any part of the meaning; and\n# Authenticity, that is, the translation appears to a native speaker of the target language to have originally been written in that language.
However these two concepts are looked at differently in recent translation theories. Fidelity, with its inherent notion of sexual loyalty, is contested not only for being gender blind, but also for prioritizing the so called 'original' over the translation. The theory that translation can be as creative and original as the source text is gaining mometum. This theory helps the translators to get rid of the sense of guilt that accompanies in trying to be a bit creative or original. Same goes true for the concept of Authenticity too.
The critique of these two concepts is also aided by the translation practices in non-western countries like India. The Indian epic
Ramayanahas numerous versions in many Indian languages and the stories in each are different from one another. If one looks into the words used for translation in Indian [either Aryan or Dravidian] languages, the freedom given to the translators would be evident.
A rigorous word-for-word copy of the text would lose much of the impact of the writing, not only because cultural differences would be ignored, but also because linguistic factors such as idioms would be trampled upon. For these reasons, word-for-word translations often result in nonsense, as can be seen in translations generated by many machine translation systems.
To be a good translator, one must be not only at ease in the source language, but also, and more importantly, a skilled writer in the target language. \nFor this reason, most translators choose to translate into their mother tongue.
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Types of translation
All forms of literature and speech can be translated, including novels, movies, computer and video games, poetry, speeches, and non-fiction.\nDifferent areas are of varying difficulty of translation, however. Computer and video games often have Japanese as the source language and English as the target language.
Non-literary translation
This category of translation includes a wide range of text, ranging from personal documents, to corporate and consumer documents, official government documents, reports, scholarly texts, manuals, and so on. In fact, any written text can be a candidate for translation.
Non-literary translation does not present the same challenges as the translation of literary works, which are characterized by more "artistic" pretensions. In many cases, however, the tone of the source document, for example, a press release, a speech, an annual report or other prestigious document, can be an integral part of the meaning of the text and need to be rendered faithfully in the target language.
A particular problem with non-literary translation is the poor quality of source texts, written by writers with varying amounts of talent or knowledge of the subject matter, or written by committees, presents a unique set of challenges to the translator.
Therefore, some believe, perhaps erroneously, that translating non-fiction texts requires little knowledge of culture or artistic aspects, so this task generally falls to companies staffed by low-skilled workers.
However, highly nonsensical translations may result if skilled writers in the source language are not used or local factors taken into account. This is particularly important to avoid in legal translation, as mistranslation of documents such as contracts may result in lawsuits and loss of money.\nFor example, differences in lexicon between two regions that use the same language may result in ridiculous or even obscene results. A quality translation will take this into account; this is known as localization.
Many governments also do a great deal of translating.\nFor instance, the government of Canada must publish all official documents in English and French.\nThe European Union has many official languages and must employ a large number of translators.
Oftentimes, treaties and other important agreements will also be translated. In these cases, as with other legal translations, accurate translation is often essential, as variation between two versions can result in confusion and misunderstanding. One example of problematic translation is the Treaty of Waitangi, where the English and Maori versions differ in certain important areas. Sometimes, to prevent such problems, one language will be declared authoritative, with the translations not being considered legally binding.
Scholarly texts and nonfiction books are usually translated by skilled professional translators. \nMetalanguage works, that is, works that discuss language, can be extremely difficult to translate usefully.
Cultural translation
\nThis is a new area of concern in Translation Studies. Cultural Translation is a concept used in Cultural Studies to denote the process of tranformation, linguistic or otherwise,in a given culture. The concept uses linguisitc translation as a tool or metaphor in analysing the nature of transformation in cultures. For Example, ethnography is considered a translated narrative of an abstract living culture. \nLiterary translation
If the translation of non-fiction works is regarded as a skill, the translation of fiction and poetry is much more of an art.\nSome writers, such as Vladimir Nabokov, have made a name for themselves as literary translators per se.
Many consider some forms of poetry to be almost impossible to translate accurately, given the difficulty in rendering both the form and the content in the target language.\nThis question was expertly explored, and a mostly positive answer given, in Douglas Hofstadter's 1997 book, Le Ton beau de Marot. A proposal has been made regarding how Wikipedia can have an effect on translating poetry.
History
The translation of religious works has played an important role in world history. For instance the Buddhist monks who translated the Indian sutras into the Chinese language would often skew the translation to better adapt to China's very different culture.\nThus notions such as filial piety were stressed.
The translation of the Christian Bible has long been of great import.\nSt. Jerome is still considered one of the greatest translators in history for his work on translating the work into Latin.\nJerome's translation was used by the Catholic Church for centuries, but even his translation met much controversy when it was released.
The Protestant Reformation saw the translation of the Bible into the local languages of Europe, an act condemned by the Catholic Church and one that had a great impact on the split between Protestantism and Catholicism.\nMartin Luther's Bible in German and the King James Bible in English had immense impacts on the religion, culture, and language of those countries.
See also: Bible translations, fan translation
Machine translation
The reason that machine translation - translation performed by computer programs - is not a straightforward task is that one does not merely translate words - the "surface structure" in linguistics - but rather the meaning or "deep structure" of the text. Since computers are not sentient, the meaning is inaccessible to them.
In recent years the long anticipated goal of machines assisting in the translation process has met with limited success. \nThe goal of converting information from one language to another automatically is a major goal of natural language processing.
The international plaza of the internet has been a promising testing ground for these technologies, such as Alta Vista's Babel Fish. \nSuch programs can produce results that are broadly comprehensible but which do not come close to idiomatic quality.\nHuman translators are still necessary for the production of documents that are meant to be used in any generalized context.
However, in domains with highly limited ranges vocabulary and meaning, for example weather reports, machine translation can deliver excellent automated results.
Computer-assisted translation
Machine translation should not be confused with computer-assisted translation, which is the use by human translators of various software programs to aid in their work.
Besides standard dictionary and grammar software, a range of specialized programs are available for the translator. \nFor example, translation memory software packages "learn" turns of phrase frequently employed to render standard phrases in the source language, and suggest them when they recur in the same or other documents.
Translation theory
\n*Walter Benjamin\n*Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
See also:
\n*List of translators\n*Machine translation\n*Legal translation
References
\n*Nimrod's Sin: Treason and Translation in a Multilingual World edited by Norman Simms (1983).\n*Translation: agent of communication guest-edited by Marilyn Gaddis Rose (a special issue of Pacific Moana Quarterly, 5:1) (1980).\n*Translation Review.
External links
\n* The Altavista Babelfish, online machine translation software\n* Open Source translation tools for South African languages\n* Translation Journal\n* On the Relative (Un)translatability of Puns\n* ProZ.com - The Translation Workplace\n* Translation Dictionaries\n* Online dictionary of English and 7 other European and Asian languages\n* Translation for Wikipedia
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