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