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Translation

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8 views

Translation

Uploaded by

epiliouschilufyajr1
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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TRANSLATION

AND

INTERPRETATION
TRANSLATION AND INTERPRETATION

 This topic provides an introductory exposure to basic principles


involved in translation and interpretation.
 It is hoped you will be able to grasp what is involved in the two
practices after and ultimately be able to translate and interpret
texts at the end of this topic.
 It is important to note that translation and interpretation are very
economically rewarding.
TRANSLATION
 Translation is a process by which ideas are expressed into a
different language in written form.
 The language from which information is taken is called
SOURCE LANGUAGE and the one into which the meaning is
turned is called TARGET LANGUAGE.
 The text in the source language is called the SOURCE
TEXT.
 If we have a text in English and we want speakers of
Nyanja to understand it, which one will be the target
language and which one will be a source language?
TRANSLATION
 Translation
makes it possible for information to
reach those who speak other languages.
 Thinkabout the Bible, and other pieces of writing.
Translation has enabled speakers of other languages
to get information in languages they do not speak.
 Whatare the other advantages you can think of?
How would life be without translation?
INTERPRETATION
 This is the transfer of messages from one language to another
in form of speech. It involves one person speaking in
Language A and another speaking the same message in
another Language B. E.g Language A being English and
Language B, Nyanja. Can you think of a situation where
interpretation is done in Zambia?
 What is the difference between translation and
interpretation?
Translation Principles

 Competence in languages involved: The translator must be competent


in both the source language and target language. The translator must
have a very good command of English, for example and Kaonde. For you
to become a successful translator, you must work hard at improving in
languages beforehand. Translation makes use of tools like dictionaries,
general or specialized ones. These could be monolingual or bilingual
dictionaries. For example, English –Bemba or vice versa.
 Understanding the topic in question: The translator must understand
the field covered by the source text. Knowledge of the field is important
because different fields have different sets of terms which bear special
meaning in those fields. Using specialized dictionaries helps.
Translation Principles

 Understanding the challenges of equivalence: Some content


items are not easily translatable. They lack equivalence. It is not
always the case that there is one-to-one correspondence in
vocabulary in the two languages involved. A word in SL only have
one word but the TL several words. For example, the word
broom may have several words in Bemba icipyango, iceeswa,
umukusao
 Thetranslator must know the problem of equivalence and make
choices according. What does the translator do when he finds a
word whose English or Nyanja counterpart is not known?
Translation Principles
 There are three possibilities: first, the translator may coin
his/her own words.
 Second, the words that are difficult to translate may be taken as
they are into the target language (of course with modifications).
The modifications that are normally done to these words are
phonological and morphological if the languages involved are
different in those aspects. For example, the Nyanja word nsima
is normally translated as nsima in English.
 Third, the translator may take a closely related word in a target
language.
Translation Principles
 Considering the style: the translator has to consider the style used by the
author of the next in the Source Language (SL). Here the translator has to
preserve or modify the style used in the source language.
 Sometimes it is important to change the style of the author in the source
language by adopting the form that the translator thinks will make readers
of the translated work understand.
 Avoiding personal opinions and prejudices: as a human being, the
translator is likely to have personal opinions and prejudices on what he/she
is translating. If you are translating something that is completely against
your religion, what will you do?
Methods of Translation

 Word-to-word Translation: this is a translation method in which words or


morphemes are translated in isolation on the basis of their basic meanings
without considering the context of use.
 Literal Translation: In this method of translation, words are translated in
isolation without considering the context of use but using the structure of
TL.
 Semantic Translation: this is a translation method in which the translator is
said to be biased to the Source Language in that he/ she translates every
word in SL but using syntactic and semantic features of TL.
 Communicative Translation: this is a kind of translation that pays a lot of
attention to the contextual meaning of the original text.
THE END

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