Diyala University - College of

Basic Education
Department of English language
Language.

‫ي‬

Translation

2023-2022
What is Translation?

There are several useful definitions of translation, but probably the most workable
one is the following: Translation is replacing a text in one language by another
text in another language. The term translation is based on text-translation. A text
is a linguistic-unit, which is higher than a sentence, and consists of one sentence or
more. It is highly dependent on the context, and may be oral or written.

Translation proper is always between two languages. A text may appear in

several languages, e.g., an. Arabic story may be rendered into English, French,
German, and Chinese; but basically every time the process of translation is
practiced it takes place between two languages only.

The whole text may be replaced as in:

I was listening to the radio. ‫ كنت اصغي الى المنياع‬, ‫كنت اصغي الى الراديو‬

in this example the term out is not translated for one reason or another, it is
directly borrowed from the original.

The process of translation between two different written languages involves the
changing of an original written text (the source text or ST) in the original verbal
language (the source language or SL) into a written text (the target text or TT) in a
different verbal language (the target language or TL):

Source text (ST)________________ Target text (TT)

As a subject, translation generally refers to all the processes and methods used to
render and / or transfer the meaning of the source language text into the target
language as closely, completely and accurately as possible, using: (1)
words/phrases which already have a direct equivalent in Arabic language; (2) new
words or terms for which no ready-made equivalents are available in Arabic; (3)
foreign words or terms written in Arabic letters as pronounced in their native
origin; and (4) foreign words or terms made to fit Arabic pronunciation, spelling
and grammar.

Types of Texts

Translation has been defined in terms of replacing one text with another in two
different languages. It is therefore important to know that the process of translation
will naturally differ according to the type of the text involved. There are obviously
many types of texts, but for the purpose of translation these types may be divided
into two main types; informative texts and creative texts.

-Informative texts basically aim at conveying information for these texts, content
is all important, whereas the style of expressing the content (form) is secondary. To
this class of texts belong scientific, commercial and legal writings, to mention only
a few.

- creative texts, content is not so important as the way which the writer uses to
convey to the content. These texts do not depend so much on the information
which they convey to the reader or hearer as on their aesthetic effect. Literary
essays, novels, plays and above all poetry belongs to the creative class of texts.

How Do We Translate?

This question implies two major points: (1) Methods of Translation and (2)
The Process of Translation.

Methods of Translation

A method of translation can be defined as 'the way we translate', whether we

translate literally or freely, the words or the meaning, the form or the content, the
letter or the spirit, the manner or the matter, the form or the message, the direct
meaning or the implied meaning, in context or out of context, and so on. Writers
on translation have suggested different methods based on the two major old-new
methods of translation, LITERAL and FREE. Among these are:

1. Literal vs. free translation

2. Semantic vs. communicative translation
3. Formal correspondence vs. textual equivalence
4. Formal equivalence vs. dynamic translation
5. Non-pragmatic vs. pragmatic translation
6. Non-creative vs. creative translation
7. Non-idiomatic vs. idiomatic translation
"The central problem of translating has always been whether to translate literally or
freely". Thus, by discussing these two methods, we may understand the main lines
of argument about translation methods from a new angle.

Literal Translation:

Literal translation method is understood and applied in three different ways,

which can be summarized and exemplified as follows (see also Newmark, 1988:
69, who distinguishes between three similar methods of literal translation):

2.3.1.1. Word-for-word Translation: Literal Translation of Words:

Each English word is translated into an equivalent word in Arabic which is

kept the same as, and in line with that of English: e.g.
a. That child is intelligent
‫ذاك‬ ‫الطفل‬ ‫يكون‬ ‫ذكي‬
)ً‫(ذاك الطفل يكون ذكيا‬
b. Mary wanted to take tea
‫ماري‬ ‫أرادت‬ ‫أن‬ ‫أتخذ‬ ‫شاي‬
)‫(ماري أرادت أن أتخذ شاي‬
 c. He is living from hand to mouth
‫هو‬ ‫يكون‬ ً‫عائشا‬ ‫من‬ ‫يد‬ ‫إىل‬ ‫فم‬
)‫(هو يكون عائشاً من اليد إىل الفم‬

This method regards translation to be a translation of individual words. All we

have to do is find the equivalent word in Arabic for the English word, regardless of
differences in grammar, word order, context or special use. Moreover, the whole
concentration is on the source language, whereas the target language should
follow, imitate and mirror it blindly, perfectly and precisely, neither more nor less.
Thus, it seems an easy, straightforward way of translation, which makes it common
among students in particular.

In fact, this method is risky as it may disrupt meaning and, hence, translation,
for a number of reasons, some of which are:

(1) It ignores the Target Language completely, making it subject to the Source
Language wholly and entirely.

(2) It disregards the grammatical differences between the two languages which
belong to two sometimes sharply different language families. That is, English is
an Indo-European, West Germanic language, whereas Arabic is Semitic.

(3) It has no respect for the context of words in language and allows for words to
be understood in isolation, not in combination with other surrounding words.

Accordingly, the Arabic versions above are unacceptable, and have to be

corrected as follows (the unacceptable words or grammatical sequences are
underlined):

)‫ (ذاك الطفل ذكي‬------------------------------------------------------→)ً‫(ذاك الطفل يكون ذكيا‬a.

)ً‫ → (أرادت ماري أن تشرب(تتناول)شاي‬-------------------------------)ً‫(ماري أرادت أن أتخذ شاي‬b.

)‫ (يعيش على الكفاف‬------------------------------------------- →)‫(هو يكون عائشاً من يد إىل فم‬c.

One-to-one Literal Translation:

"One-to-one translation" is "a broader form of translation, each SL word has a
corresponding TL word". It respects collocational meanings in their powerful
context. one-to-one translation is more common than word-for-word
translation"(op.cit.) This method of translation means to translate each SL word or
phrase into an identical word or phrase in the TL, with the same number,
grammatical class and type of language. That is, a noun is translated into a noun,
two nouns into two nouns, one adjective into one adjective, two into two, and so on
and so forth. In a similar way, an idiom should be translated into an idiom, a
collocation into a collocation, a proverb into a proverb, a metaphor into a
metaphor, etc. All these translations are done in context, not out of context: e.g.

a. My neighbors are good. )‫(جرياين يكونون طيبني‬

b. Sanyo is a well–known trademark. )ً‫(سانيو تكون عالمة جتارية معروفة جيدا‬

c. He is a young man. He is kind-hearted. )‫ هو يكون طيب القلب‬.ً‫(هو يكون رجالً شااب‬

d. Sara loves reading wholly and heartedly. )‫(سارة حتب املطالعة كلية ومن كل قلبها‬

e. I have blind confidence in you. )‫(أان أملك ثقة عمياء بك‬

It is important to point out that such Arabic translations might look too
primitive, or unreasonable to expect even from a beginner. The case may be so, but
personal practice and experience with the students of translation, especially at early
stages, in different Arab Countries, confirm the fact that these translations are
frequently come across. Not only this, unfortunately and not surprisingly, some
practitioners of translation produce similar versions from time to time.

Both methods are questionable. In fact, one-to-one translation is sometimes

unsatisfactory because:
(1) It transfers the SL grammar and word order, regardless of the TL grammar and
word order. This is confirmed in the examples by: (a) starting all the Arabic
versions with a subject then a verb each, ignoring nominal sentences ( ‫(اجلمل االمسية‬

and the start with the verb in verbal sentences (‫( ;(اجلمل الفعلية‬b) insisting on

translating verbs ‘be’ into (‫ )يكون‬and ‘have’ into (‫ )ميلك‬only in all the examples; and

(c) translating all personal pronouns.

(2) It insists on having the same number and types of the SL words and lexical
groups in the TL. The result is two possible mistakes: first, the insistence on
having an SL collocation, idiom, metaphor, etc. translated into a TL equivalent
collocation, idiom or metaphor, even though it may not be available in its lexicon.
‘Shake hands’, for example, has no equivalent collocation in Arabic, for ( ‫يصافح‬

‫ )ابأليدي‬is not a collocation and has an unnecessary use of(‫)ابأليدي‬, which is implied in

(‫)يصافح‬.

The following improved versions for the above examples on the right handside
show (the changed or omitted words are underlined):

a. )‫(جرياين يكونون طيبني‬ )‫(جرياين طيبون‬

b. )ً‫(سانيو تكون عالمة جتارية معروفة جيدا‬ )‫(سانيو عالمة جتارية معروفة‬

c. )‫ هو يكون طيب القلب‬.ً‫(هو يكون شااب‬ )‫(هو شاب طيب القلب‬

d. )‫(سارة حتب املطالعة كلية ومن كل قلبها‬ )‫(حتب سارة املطالعة من كل قلبها‬

Literal Translation of Meaning: Direct Translation:

This type of translation is keen on translating meaning as closely, accurately

and completely as possible. It can also be called close, or DIRECT translation. It is
the translation of meaning in context; it takes into account the TL grammar and
word order. Metaphorical and special uses of language are also accounted for in
the TL. In this sense, it can be described as the ‘full translation of meaning’, as in:

1. “To run in the race” )‫يركض يف السباق‬/‫(جيري‬

2. “To run a company” )‫(يدير شركة‬

3. “In the long run” )‫(على املدى البعيد‬

Each of these meanings of ‘run’ can be described as literal in a certain

combination and context

Similarly, metaphorical expressions like idioms can be looked at in the same

way. That is, their metaphorical meanings are the only meanings available in
language and, hence, in translation. Thus, “to beat around/about the bush” means
only (‫يراوغ‬/‫“ ;)يلف ويدور‬to get the sack” has only the meaning of (‫طرد‬
َ ُ‫)ي‬, regardless of its
origin; “monkey business” means (‫ )أشياء مريبة‬only; “tall order” has only one meaning

as (‫ )مهمة شاقة‬.

Hence, a metaphor is translated into a metaphor, or any other equivalent

available in the TL. Likewise, a direct, literal meaning is retained in literal
translation as accurately as possible, with no predetermined, special attempt to
change it into a metaphorical one. For example, “his efforts came to nothing”
would be translated into: )‫مل يصل إىل شيء‬/‫ (ضاعت جهوده سدى‬rather than into: ( ‫تبخرت جهوده يف‬

ً‫ضاعت جهوده هباء منثورا‬/‫)اهلواء‬, because they are metaphorical and expressive and, therefore,

far from the direct meanings of such a simple, straightforward sentence, especially
in a general text. However, such translations can be described as free translations
which are justifiable in certain texts and
 Free translation, on the other hand, is a different method, as the following
discussion would confirm.

Free Translation:

Like literal translation, free translation is associated with translating the spirit,
or the message, not the letter or the form of the text . It is the method that is not
committed to translate every single word in a text. It means to translate freely
without constraints. The translator goes outside texts and out of contexts, behind
and beyond words and phrases, looking for the message. He cannot translate the
way he likes, but the way he understands. (All other terms pointed out above and
used nowadays to substitute for “free”, such as ‘communicative’, ‘dynamic’,
‘pragmatic’, ‘creative’ and 'idiomatic' coincide with many of these implications).

The question now is whether free translation is acceptable or not. The answer
can be sought for in the next two types suggested for this method. The first type is
close and related to context directly, whereas the second is far and related to
context indirectly, as the following discussion and examples confirm:

Bound Free Translation:

This type of free translation is derived from the context in a direct way,
though it may go out of it in some way or another, in the form of exaggeration,
expressivity, and effective, rhetorical or formal language. It is the type we usually
understand by the term 'free translation'. Here are examples:

1. He got nothing at the end ( ‫عاد خايل الوفاض‬/‫(رجع خبفي ُحنَني‬

2. She was sad deep down )ً‫أصبح فؤادها فارغا‬/‫(تفطر قلبها من احلزن‬

3. You look quite cool )‫(تبدو رابط اجلأش‬

4. Swearing is a bad habit )‫(سباب املسلم فسوق‬

َ
5. East or west, home is best )‫وحنينه أبداً ألول منزل‬ ‫(كم منزل يف األرض أيلفه الفىت‬

Common among these translations is their expressive, effective, rhetorical and

very formal Arabic, by means of using:

(b) a Prophetic Tradition (i.e. ‘Sunnah’) (4);

(d) proverbs (1);

(e) collocations (2,3) (‫تفطر من احلزن‬/‫)رابط اجلأش‬

(f) poetry (5)

2.3.3.2 Loose Free Translation:

This free translation method goes far away from the direct linguistic context
to inferences. It is based on the translator's conclusions about what the
speaker/writer wants to say. In other words, it is the translation of intentions. In
this sense, it is a version of pragmatic translation. Therefore, it does not relate
directly to the original context, but is concluded from it. Here are some illustrative
examples:

1. Thank you, Mr. Wilson. Next please. )‫ عندان غريك‬.‫(تفضل ابالنصراف ي سيد ويلسون‬

2. It is half past nine. )‫حان الوقت‬/ً‫أتخران كثريا‬/‫علينا ابملغادرة‬/‫انتهت احلصة‬/‫(انتهى الوقت‬

3. Thank you, thank you ladies and gentlemen. )‫(هدوء أيها السادة والسيدات‬

4. I am frightened. )‫(ابق معنا‬

5. You are a bigmouth! )!‫اسكت‬/‫(أغلق فمك‬

6. No bacon with my breakfast, please )‫(أان مسلم‬

7. Honesty is the best policy. )‫(أنت خنت األمانة‬

8. Books are very expensive today. )‫(لقد عزف الناس عن القراءة اليوم‬