12/25/2023 0 Comments Translate with meaning![]() This desire to spread ideas – whether from politics, religion, philosophy, or science – led to the democratisation of translation through technology. Jerome’s Vulgate to the King James Bible, the biblical word permeated the world thanks to millions of translations in dozens of languages. In the Western world, translation also fuelled Christianity’s spread. Since then, innumerable literary translations have been produced. While translation scholars dispute the first documented translation, many claim it was the monumental Epic of Gilgamesh. Translations have facilitated communication throughout the centuries on a massive scale. For example, understanding the etymology of the word ‘translation’, which originates from the Latin trānslātiō (to carry over, to bring across), sheds light on today’s ‘transfer of meaning’. Recognising little parts of the history of translation helps us grasp the bigger picture. One thing that remains constant is that translations serve to propagate ideas. ![]() This becomes even more apparent when viewing translation practice history – there’s hardly any common thread binding all translations together. No unified translation theory exists, nor a single, comprehensive definition. Searching for ‘the right way’ created several paradigms – the descriptive or prescriptive approaches to studying and defining translation. Many other conceptual tools and models have been conceived to define and practice translation. In contrast, others prefer to follow the source text religiously, and a third camp prizes the middle ground. Some translators want their texts as natural as possible, sometimes at the expense of faithfulness. Welcome to the age-old translation debate over fidelity and transparency! In one sense, much of translation can be explained as the interplay of these two ideas. On the other hand, many others feel that translators’ invisibility hurts the profession and even takes something unique away from the reader. This would mean that good translators, just like good interpreters, should be invisible. Furthermore, it’s normal to discover that such texts have little in common with the source text at the textual level.ĭoes something make translations unique? Many think translations should be indistinguishable from authentic texts. This process is also known as transcreation. For example, have you ever noticed how films or books in different countries occasionally have a title that is seemingly unrelated to the original? In these cases, translators (and marketers) often create their own text and choose completely different titles for various reasons: length, catchiness, appropriateness, and so on. In the beginning, fundamental distinctions appeared in Western and Eastern ancient texts, like the difference between literal translation (metaphrase) and sense-for-sense translation (paraphrase). This happened hundreds of years ago, well before translation studies were established as an academic discipline. But the groundwork had to be built first. The concept of translation has evolved so much that some say translation encompasses nearly everything – a building is a ‘translation’ of an architect’s ideas into the physical world. ![]() Therefore, along with the birth of translation studies, the concept of translation was born. It has since expanded further through the inclusion of new concepts, mostly from adjacent fields, such as linguistics. Translation theory in academia started with these essential building blocks several decades ago. Target language – the language being translated into.Source language – the language being translated from.However, the latter deals with spoken, not written, language ![]() ![]() Written text – translation is often confused with interpretation.Meaning transfer – the message from language A (source language) needs to be communicated in language B (target language).Simply put, translators transfer the meaning from the text written in the source language to the target language. Still, nearly every translation definition within the field includes three crucial parts: source language, target language, and transfer of meaning. There is no “best” description, as everyone utilizes different lenses. While psychologists focus on what’s inside the translator’s mind. Computer scientists interpret translation through neural networks and machine learning. Linguists often discuss signs and the encoding/decoding process. What is translation?īroad concepts rarely escape broad definitions, and translation is no exception. Translation bridges us all together – languages, cultures, and people – yet few understand what it means. Each day brims with countless interactions across various languages. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |