Translation and Interpreting

Translation is transference of a content, form and style from source text into an equivalent one in the target language. You consider textual elements, context and culture. 

What is Translation?

There are numerous definitions and perspectives of translation, but we will deal with the definition from two main perspectives (formal and functional)

Formalists

Translation is “the replacement of textual material in one language (SL) by equivalent textual material in another language (TL)” (Catford 20). It gives attention to form (Lexis and grammar)

Functionalists

Translation is “the production of a functional target text maintaining a relationship with a given source text that is specified according to the intended or demanded function of the target text” (Nord 182) It gives attention to content and textual relations (the context, the culture, the purpose and the requirements of the target audience).

Translation approaches

The method translators use to approach a source text in order to render it:

1.     Text-oriented

·        Text types

Informative (tells you something)

Expressive (expresses feelings of the writer)

Operative (tells audience to do something)

·        Translation technique of each type

2.     Audience oriented

·        Domestication (make the text exactly as the original: natural, e.g. Egyptianization)

·        Foregnization (keep the foreign elements in text)

3.     Function-oriented

Purpose (fulfilled/unfulfilled)

Translation loss

1.     Avoidable

2.     Unavoidable

Translation Techniques and Strategies

1.     Paraphrase

2.     Addition

3.     Omission (subtraction)

4.     Grammatical Transposition (changing word order)

5.     Cultural substitution

6.     Translator’s note (footnote-Endnote parenthetical)

7.     Conflation (merging two or three words in one word)

8.     Transliteration

Examples

Translation Classification

Documentary versus Communicative

Documentary (exactly as is with same words, structures and content)

1.     Legal Translation

2.     Medical Translation

3.     Technical Translation

4.     Religious Translation

5.     Bible

6.     Quraan

Communicative (communicate message, tone, ambience, aesthetic effect)

1.     Literary Translation

2.     Print media

3.     Subtitling

Interpreting

Interpreting falls into 7 forms:

1.     Simultaneous (real time-booth-microphone-earphone)

2.     Consecutive (short: memory-long: notes)

3.     Whispered (no equipment)

4.     Relay (multilingual)

5.     Conference (private- institutional)

6.     Judicial (court- any other legal station- SI-CI)

7.     Escort (accompanying person/delegation:tour-interview…)

In interpreting, an interpreter is a person who converts a thought or expression in a source language into an expression with a comparable meaning in a target language either simultaneously in "real time" or consecutively after one party has finished speaking. The interpreter's function is to convey every semantic element (tone and register) and every intention and feeling of the message that the source-language speaker is directing to target-language recipients.

1. Simultaneous

In (extempore) simultaneous interpretation (SI), the interpreter renders the message in the target-language as quickly as he or she can formulate it from the source language, while the source-language speaker continuously speaks; an oral-language SI interpreter, sitting in a sound-proof booth, speaks into a microphone, while clearly seeing and hearing the source-language speaker via earphones. The simultaneous interpretation is rendered to the target-language listeners via their earphones. Moreover, SI is the common mode used by sign language interpreters, although the person using the source language, the interpreter and the target language recipient (since either the hearing person or the deaf person may be delivering the message) must necessarily be in close proximity.

2. Consecutive

In consecutive interpreting (CI), the interpreter speaks after the source-language speaker has finished speaking. The speech is divided into segments, and the interpreter sits or stands beside the source-language speaker, listening and taking notes as the speaker progresses through the message. When the speaker pauses or finishes speaking, the interpreter then renders a portion of the message or the entire message in the target language.

Consecutive interpretation is rendered as "short CI" or "long CI". In short CI, the interpreter relies on memory, each message segment being brief enough to memorize. In long CI, the interpreter takes notes of the message to aid rendering long passages. These informal divisions are established with the client before the interpretation is effected, depending upon the subject, its complexity, and the purpose of the interpretation.

3. Whispered

In whispered interpreting (chuchotage, in French) sometimes called whispering simultaneous, the interpreter sits or stands next to the person. The interpreter speaks softly using normal (voiced) speech kept at a low volume. The interpreter's mouth and the ear of the person listening must be in close proximity so as not to disturb the others in the room. Without electronic equipment, chucotage is tiring as the interpreter's posture is affected.

4. Relay

Relay interpreting is usually used when there are several target languages. A source-language interpreter interprets the text to a language common to every interpreter, who then render the message to their respective target languages. For example, a Japanese source message first is rendered to English to a group of interpreters, who listen to the English and render the message into Arabic, French, and Russian, the other target languages. In heavily multilingual meetings, there may be more than one "intermediate" language.

5. Conference

Conference interpreting is the interpretation of a conference, either simultaneously or consecutively. Conference interpretation is divided between two markets: the institutional and private. International institutions (EU, UN, EPO, et cetera), holding multi-lingual meetings, often favor interpreting several foreign languages to the interpreters' mother tongues. Local private markets tend to bi-lingual meetings (the local language plus another) and the interpreters work both into and out of their mother tongues; the markets are not mutually exclusive. The International Association of Conference Interpreters (AIIC) is the only worldwide association of conference interpreters. Founded in 1953, it assembles more than 2,800 professional conference interpreters in more than 90 countries.

6. Judicial

Judicial, legal, or court interpreting occurs in courts of justice, administrative tribunals, and wherever a legal proceeding is held (i. e., a police station for an interrogation, a conference room for a deposition, or the locale for taking a sworn statement). Legal interpreting can be the consecutive interpretation of witnesses' testimony, for example, or the simultaneous interpretation of entire proceedings, by electronic means, for one person, or all of the people attending.

7. Escort

In escort interpreting, an interpreter accompanies a person or a delegation on a tour, on a visit, or to a meeting or interview. An interpreter in this role is called an escort interpreter or an escorting interpreter. This is liaison interpreting.a

KINDS OF SENTENCES AND PATTERNS

KINDS OF SENTENCES

SENTENCE PATTERNS

Suggested strategies used by professional translators

1-Translation by a more general word (Superordinate)

2-Translation by a more neutral/ less expressive word

3-Translation by a cultural substitution

4-Translation by a loan word or a loan word plus an explanation

              - Transliteration

              - Arabicization

              - Literal translation

5-Translation by paraphrase

6-Translation by omission

7-Translation by illustration
Translation by a more general word (Superordinate)

        Example:

A well-known scientist (some say it was Bertrand Russell) once gave a public lecture on astronomy. He described how the earth orbits around the sun and how the sun, in turn, orbits around the center of a vast collection of stars called our galaxy.

          To Orbit:

          Verb – Transitive and intranslaitive

          To move around a large object in space such as a planet.

Macmillan Dictionary

Translation by a more neutral/ less expressive word

   Examples:

   Mexican Fiesta Ideas

   An exotic hair style 

An epic voyage

 Translation by a cultural substitution
 This strategy involves replacing a culture-specific item or expression with a target language item which does not have the same literal meaning but is likely to have a similar impact of the target reader.

Example:

Enjoy watching your favorite songs, baseball games, and movies with your friends and domestic partner.

 Translation by a loan word or a loan word plus an explanation

This strategy is particularly common in dealing with culture-specific items and modern concepts. Following the loan word with an explanation is very useful when the word in question is repeated several times in the text. Once explained the loan word can then be used on its own; the reader can understand it and is not distracted by further lengthy explanations.

(transliteration, arbicization, footnote)   

            Examples:

          - الشريعة الإسلامية

         - العدة

- A webinar will be conducted tomorrow at 6 pm. 
Translation by paraphrase

If the concept  expressed is not lexicalized at all in the target language, the paraphrase strategy can be used.

Example:

- The process of triangulation is adopted to enhance the credibility of the research.

- الشرك بالله
Translation by omission

If the meaning conveyed by a particular item or expression is not vital enough to the development of the text to justify distracting the reader with lengthy explanations, translators can simply omit the word or expression in question.

Translation by illustration
  This is a useful option if the word which lacks an equivalent in the target language refers to a physical entity which can be illustrated, particularly if there is restrictions on space and if the text has to remain short, concise and to the point. 

The use of loan words

The use of loan words in the source text poses a special problem in translation. Quite apart from their propositional meaning (dictionary literal meaning) loan words such as chic, au fait (French) and alfresco (Italian) in English are often used for their prestigious value, because they can add an air of sophistication to the text or its subject matter. This is often lost in translation because it is not always possible to find a loan word with the same meaning in the target language. 

Examples:

- This is an in camera meeting.

- This session was adjourned sine die.

NB: Loan words also pose another problem for the unwary translator, namely the problem of “les faux amis” (false friends). False friends are words of expressions which have the same form in two or more languages but convey different meanings.

Example: An apology for culture. 

Advanced Trasnaltion Problem-Solving Strategies

Do we really know how we translate or what we translate?...Are we to accept “naked ideas” as the means of crossing from one language to another?...Translators know they cross over but do not know by what sort of bridge. They often  re-cross by a different bridge to check up again. Sometimes they fall over the parapet into limbo.

(Firth, 1957:197)

“The information they (translators) convey may be felt and judged to be equivalent, and the situations they communicate in may be felt to be interculturally comparable (or equivalent), but they are not the same.” (A.L. Jakobsen)

Equivalence

Is the preservation of the sound, the sense, the rhythm, the textual “material” and recreation of those specific sensation-sound, sense and association- despite inherent limitations in the TL

Holmes (1974:78)

E. Nida’s (1969) two types of equivalence:

Formal Equivalence: Focuses attention on the message itself, in both form and content

Dynamic Equivalence:  Based on the principle of equivalent effect, i.e. that the relationship between receiver and message should aim at being the same as that between the original receivers and the SL language

The equivalent effect is based on the “four basic requirements of a translation”:

* making sense;

* conveying the spirit and manner of the original;

* having a natural and easy form of expression;

* producing a similar response.

Non-Equivalence at the word level

* It means the target language has no direct equivalent for a word that occurs in the source text.

* In addition to the nature of non-equivalence, the context and purpose of translation will often rule out some strategies and favours others.

Some common types of non-equivalence at the word level:

1. Culture-specific concepts
2.  The source language concept is not lexicalized in the target language
3.  The source language word is semantically complex
4.  The target language lacks a specific lexical item (hyponym)
5. The use of loan words

 Culture-Specific Concepts

The Source Language (SL) word may express a concept which is totally unknown in the target culture. The target in question may abstract or concrete; it may relate to a religious belief, a social custom, or even a type of food.   

Example:

* القهوة (مكان)     -

Oriental coffee shop

Folk coffee shop

* العدة  Iddah

A period or retreat or await during which a woman observes and may not marry another after death or divorce from husband

* Pescado frito  (a traditional dish) بيسكادو فريدو

 

The source language concept is not lexicalized in the target language

The Source Language may express a concept which is known in the target culture but simply not lexicalized, that is not ‘allocated’ a target language word to express it.

Examples:

- Savories are usually served at parties

مقبلات السافوري وهي نوع من المقبلات تقدم مملحة ومضاف اليها توابل وتقدم في الحفلات الراقية

- landslide (elections)نجاح كاسح

The source language word is semantically complex

A single word can sometimes express a complex set of meanings than a whole sentence can do.

Examples:

- Marxism الماركسية

- liberalism الليبرالية

الشرك بالله

To associate a partner with god

The target language lacks a specific lexical item (hyponym)

 More commonly, languages tend to have general words (Super-ordinates) but lack specific ones (hyponyms), since each language makes only those distinctions in meaning which seem relevant to its particular environment.

- Igloo (a house made of ice) اجلو بيت مصنوع من الثلج

- All the university facilities were sold.  بيعت كل مباني الجامعة

-بنت مخاض She-Camel which is  one years old

بنت لبون She-Camel which is two years old

To be continued