Translating from English: Terminology in Translation p. 11-16

 

  1. Adaptation: Adaptation refers to selection of a culturally equivalent target language response. i.e., In France, people say bon apetit before eating a meal, but in English the equivalent is silence or say “dig in”

 

  1. Analysis: The analysis stage of translation allows you to consider the meaning of the source text before beginning the transfer process. Nida and Tabor (1982) say that analysis is the stage in which the surface structure is studied to determine the meaning of the words and combinations of the words and grammatical relationships.

 

  1. Back Translation: Back translation can be used to check the accuracy of a translation. If a text is translated from English to French, the back translation will use the French translation as its starting point, and thus French message will be translated back into English. If the translation from English to French was accurate, then the back translation from French to English will yield an English message that is equivalent to the original English message but may differ in form.  Larson (1984) explains that a person who is bilingual in the source and target languages must do the back translation. The back translator should not read the source message and should only translate the target message back into the source language.

 

  1. Borrowing: Borrowing is a method of choosing lexical equivalents. This means using or borrowing a word directly from the source text and using it in the target text. For example, the word “computer” is used in French, even though it is an English word. The word “computer” will be recognizable in spoken French as the word “computer”. This method has application if the source and target language are both spoken or if both languages are signed.

 

  1. Consecutive Interpreting: According to Gonzalez et.al “In consecutive interpreting the interpreter waits until the speaker has finished the source language message before rendering the message into the target language. The duration of the source language may be anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes.

 

  1. Equivalence: Equivalence is a complex topic and is central to the effectiveness of the translation. Neubert says that equivalence “is the linchpin of translation quality control.” Equivalence between the source and target messages depends on the translator’s competence in the subject, the culture, and the source and target languages and the ability to convey a concept from the source to the target language adequately. Neubert explains that translation scholars do not agree on a definition of equivalence because equivalence depends on many factors such as the purpose of the translation, the target community, the translator’s ability, the context, and the culture.

 

  1. Form: Nida and Tabor state that form is the overt or observable structure of discourse such as the words in a language. These authors say that when in a translation, the form of a message must be changed in order to preserve the meaning because languages differ in form. The form conveys the message and is the observable part of the message.

 

  1. Gloss: “Glosses provide a convenient way to use one language to reference another. Specifically, a gloss is a symbol or group of symbols in one language representing the core meaning of a particular symbol or symbol group from another language. Glosses do not present translations or interpretations and, thus, do not represent natural language use” (Fleetwood, 2001) Students working between ASL and English will use written English words to represent the meanings of ASL signs. A complete glossing system will include non-manual signals as well as information that indicates which sign is meant.

 

  1. Idiomatic Translation: Larson (1984) writes that an idiomatic translation uses the natural forms of the target language including grammatical constructions and lexical choices, is natural sounding, and preserves the meaning of the source text. Idiomatic translation is the translator’s goal.

 

  1. Illocutionary Force: The illocutionary force of a message conveys the intent or mood of the speaker. Larson (1984) says that the form of the message reveals the illocutionary force. For example, if the utterance is in the form of a command, it has a different meaning than if it is in the form of a question. The word, “Go!” has a different meaning that the word “Go?” The three broad categories of statements, commands, or questions include most examples of illocutionary force.

 

  1. Interpreting: Interpreting is the process or activity involved in transferring a message from one language to another in real time, unlike translation, which requires different strategies. The message is usually spoken rather than written. Another feature that distinguishes interpreting from translating is that the interpreter is part of the communication dynamic. Seleskovitch (1978) suggests that the very presence of the interpreter within the communicative event is the major difference between interpretation and translation. According to Gonzalez et al., interpreting is the oral form of the translation process: “Interpreters must instantaneously arrive at a target language equivalent, while at the same time searching for further input” (1991)

 

  1. An Interpretation: Following Bell’s (1992) distinctions for a translation, an interpretation is the product of the process of interpreting. An interpretation should accurately reproduce the grammatical and lexical features as well as the style and content of the source message.

 

  1. Literal Translation: According to Larson (1984) a literal translation is one that follows the form of the source language and is nonsensical in the target language. The communication value of a literal translation is low.
  2. Meaning: The meaning is the concept the message expresses. Nida and Tabor (1982) state that each language has its own system of symbolizing meaning. As long as you are dealing within one language this is not an acute problem. When you begin the task of expressing an idea in a language other than the one in which it was originally expressed, many more aspects of meaning come into play. For example, Nida and Tabor point out that each language has a different way of segmenting experience into words. The general categories for these relationships are listed below.

 

    1. One-to-Many: this means that one word can have multiple translations, such as the word “run.” To translate this word into ASL accurately you must know the context in order to select the most appropriate translation.

 

    1. Many-to-One: This means there are many words in the source language but only one in the target language that conveys approximately the same concept.

 

    1. Many-to-Many: This means that many source language words can be related to many target language words, depending on how the words are categorized in the respective languages.

 

    1. Reformulation: Reformulation is the visible result of the analysis and transfer stages of translation. This is the stage at which the message takes on the form of the target language. After you have analyzed and understood the message and transferred it into the target language you will have a product (the translation itself) or a new form to evaluate, revise and test.

 

15. Risk of Error:

a.       Simultaneous Interpreting

b.      Source Language

c.       Target Language

d.      Translation Unit

e.       Taxonomy

f.        Translation

g.       Unit of Meaning

h.       Unduly Free Translation

 

16. Process and Product

a.       Sources of Error in Translation

b.      Competencies for Translators and Interpreters

c.       Linguistic Competence

d.      Transfer Competence

e.       Methodological Competence

f.        Bicultural Competence

g.       Discourse Competence

h.       Sociolinguistic Competence

i.         Creativity

 

17. Models of Translation:

 

a.       Nida and Tabor’s Model

b.      Gile’s Sequential Model of Translation

c.       Bell’s Model of Translation

 

Discussion Questions:

 

1.      Why is it important to know the difference between translation and interpretation, especially when many of our consumers use the terms interchangeably?

 

2.      Why does a translator need to know the difference between form and meaning?

 

3.      Why does a translator need to know about the one-to-many, many-to-one, and many-to-many principle?

 

4.      How does the development of translation skills affect the development of interpretation skills?

 

5.      How does studying a model of translation help you?